Source: Bournemouth_Echo
Cherries: As a kid in Verwood, Lovell's aim was to score goals. Twenty years on, nothing has changed
ALTHOUGH his career may have gone full circle, Steve Lovell's aims have always remained the same.[LNB] Asked when he was nine what he liked most in life, Lovell replied: Scoring goals.[LNB] Little seems to have changed since he plundered more than 100 in one season for Phoenix Sports and Second Verwood Saturn Cubs in the early 1990s.[LNB] His exploits as a teenager saw Lovell invited to join the Cherries youth ranks before he secured a dream move to Portsmouth at 18.[LNB] Despite his undoubted potential, the £250,000 transfer fee certainly raised more than a few eyebrows, particularly as Lovell had played just 130 minutes in the Cherries first team.[LNB] His one start and six substitute appearances under Mel Machin at the end of the 1998-99 season came alongside Eddie Howe, his older brother, another of Verwood's favourite sons.[LNB] Lovell's move to Fratton Park also came just weeks after he had signed his first professional contract at Dean Court, while Cherries legend Ted MacDougall, then reserve team manager at Pompey, was instrumental in the signing.[LNB] Being so young, it was a lot to get your head around, said Lovell, speaking to the Daily Echo last night.[LNB] I was waiting to see whether I was going to get offered a pro contract by Bournemouth, let alone get a move to another club. One came pretty much straight after the other.[LNB] Ted had seen me play a few times and obviously liked what he saw. He spoke to Alan Ball and they signed me.[LNB] I had three years at Portsmouth and about 20 million managers![LNB] I was in and out of the team and still learning the ropes. I was loaned out to a few clubs to gain experience, which I thoroughly enjoyed.[LNB] In the end, I knew I wasn't going to be playing for them. Jim Duffy, who worked at Portsmouth at one stage, was the manager at Dundee and took me there.[LNB] I had three years with them and had the most incredible time. We got to the Scottish Cup final in my first season and finished in the top six. We played in Europe and I scored my first goal in Europe. I've got nothing but fond memories of pretty much all the clubs I've been to.[LNB] After doing well at Dundee, I was signed by Aberdeen. They were a massive club with a huge fan base. Again, I got to play in Europe and against the likes of Bayern Munich.[LNB] It was just an amazing time and an amazing experience. But things turned sour and I took a move to Falkirk. Again, in my first season, we got to another cup final so it was another great experience.[LNB] Although Lovell has made his home on the outskirts of Glasgow with fiancée Amy Macdonald, the Scottish singer-songwriter, he does not foresee any problems with moving to the south coast as she leads a busy life so I will probably see her as much as I do now anyway![LNB] Former Cherries boss Kevin Bond was keen to sign Lovell following his release by Aberdeen, only for a transfer embargo on the Dorset club to scupper his plans. And a similar fate befell Howe in October 2009 even after Lovell had offered to play for nothing. The 29-year-old trained with Cherries last summer and scored during their pre-season friendly at Dorchester.[LNB] I thoroughly enjoyed it, he said. I got on really well with all the players. They are a hard-working group and I'm looking forward to getting going again.[LNB] I was delighted to see them win promotion. I don't think too many people thought they would finish second at the start of the season. It was credit to everybody at the club.[LNB] I know how good the team can be. It is going to be exciting going into a new league and, first and foremost, it will be about establishing ourselves in that league.[LNB] Asked what his hopes were for the season, Lovell replied: I want to score as many goals as I can and I want to help the team finish as high as we can.[LNB]
