Towering centre half, Roger Brown sadly passed away on Wednesday, aged just 58.
The centre back signed for AFC Bournemouth in February 1978 for £10,000 from AP Leamington, making his debut for the Cherries against Brentford on February 4th, 1978.
In two spells for the Cherries (1978-1979 & 1983-1986) Roger made 146 appearances, scoring 8 goals.
Former Cherries boss, Harry Redknapp is quoted in the Bournemouth Evening Echo as saying: "I first met Roger when we played together at Leamington after I had come back from America. John Benson was the manager at Bournemouth and I told him Roger would walk the league. Benno watched him and signed him. He was a proper centre-half. He used to dominate and win every header. He was a rock. He was a good character and a great leader. I was very sorry to hear of his passing".
Ian Thompson, who scored one of the goals to knock Manchester United out of the FA Cup is quoted as saying: "Roger was a real tower of strength in terms of keeping going Harry’s beliefs about us being able to beat them. He was a great pro and brought a wealth of knowledge to the dressing room. My lasting memory of Roger is not from the United game. The week after, we went to Preston and played poorly in a 2-0 defeat. He had a sense of realism about the whole thing and kept our feet on the ground. We had gone from being on top of the world to down in the dumps but Roger always kept a level head. He was a really professional person. He would make sure you enjoyed the moments but didn’t get carried away and lived through the times that weren’t so good. He was a great guy to be with and a steadying influence to us".