IT HAS been 5,172 days since Adam Smith first set foot on the Dean Court pitch as a Cherries player.

The then-19-year-old right back on loan from Tottenham Hotspur played all 90 minutes and got an assist as AFC Bournemouth beat Carlisle United 2-0 in League One.

A permanent move and fourteen years later, Smith has recently extended his contract with the now-Premier League club to 2026 and is the side’s captain.

The new year promises the next step in Bournemouth becoming ever more the established top-flight side, with the first team set to move into its new state-of-the-art training ground in Canford.

Speaking with the Daily Echo, Smith explains that he never could have envisioned the club reaching the top tier when he first arrived on loan in 2010.

(Image: Sally Adams) “Even when I first joined here on the permanent, I didn't really see Bournemouth as a Premier League team,” Smith said.

“I just saw this as kind of a stepping stone to do well and then try and get a move into the Premier League.

“So it worked out like 18 months later we got promoted anyway.

“It was great for my career personally and I never thought it would have happened, to be honest.”

The main change at the club is the facilities, Smith said, with the club coming a long way in 14 years in that respect – although importantly he says it still has the same feel, with a good group of lads and staff.

On the new training ground, Smith said: “It's meant to be amazing.

“So myself and the lads are really looking forward to it because we've been here a while now and I think it'd be great for the community and the club going forward for sure.

“It just shows where this club's going.”

(Image: Corin Messer) Smith recently extended his stay with the south coast club to 2026, and with Neto’s departure, Andoni Iraola was clear that he was his man for the captaincy in the Brazilian’s absence.

But the 33-year-old said not much had changed with him taking the armband.

“Obviously it's nice to have it, for sure, but it's not something that I ever thought about or I ever craved,” he said.

“But yes, it's obviously nice to have it. It's a huge honour for this club to be the captain, but nothing's really changed, to be honest. I'm always the same.

“I always help out the younger lads, etc., anyway, so nothing's really changed.”

Nowadays, the younger lads make up the vast majority of the Bournemouth squad – Smith is something of an elder statesman.

(Image: Richard Crease) “It's a young squad, I kind of feel like a granddad here,” he said.

“Everyone just keeps getting younger and younger and obviously when I was one of the younger ones, it was never really like that.

“There was still quite a few 30-year-olds, but now it's just like there's hardly any, so it makes it worse, you know.

“But yes, something that I feel proud of, that I'm still playing at this level, at this age, so I must be doing something right, I suppose.”

From that first Premier League promotion side, only Smith remains in the Cherries playing squad.

But this week, he caught up with Charlie Daniels and Dan Gosling, both coaches at Watford’s U21s, as the Hornets met the Cherries in the Premier League Professional Development League.

(Image: Corin Messer) Seeing former teammates from that squad is nice, Smith said, although he feels it’s odd as many have hung up their boots.

“Obviously I see Franno [Simon Francis], Junior [Stanislas] regularly and it was nice to see them [Charlie Daniels and Dan Gosling],” he said.

“I've always been in contact with them anyway, but obviously I don't really get much time to see people and it was nice to see them for sure.

“They seem to be enjoying the coaching at Watford and it's nice to catch up. It feels a little bit weird because I'm still playing and obviously everyone just keeps retiring!”

With his new contract extension, Smith is set to be still playing for another season at the least.

(Image: NQ) “It was nice to get rewarded for another year and carry on doing what I'm doing and helping the lads and the team,” Smith said about his extension.

“So that's what I'm here to do and see after next season how I feel.”

Before then, though, there’s the small matter of 27 Premier League games for the Cherries to contend with.

Bournemouth came into the international break off the back of a defeat at Brentford, with the Bees continuing their exceptional home form.

Smith said the mood in the camp after that game was one of disappointment, particularly after a string of good results against top teams.

(Image: Corin Messer) He said it took him a few days to recover mentally from it, but that it is quickly forgotten, and the focus becomes the next game, against Brighton.

In the three games previous to the trip to the Gtech Community Stadium, the Cherries had picked up seven points from clashes with Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester City.

Earlier in the season, Andoni Iraola said he felt his side’s performances against the top teams needed to improve – and this term they have.

On what had changed to produce those performances, Smith said: “It's tough to pinpoint.

“I think, just him bringing it up, maybe subconsciously we just, not put more effort into it, but just concentrated a bit more on trying to get a result with the bigger teams.

“Obviously the Arsenal game we started really well and then they got a sending off.

“So you do need a little bit of luck at times, which helped us. Then after that it gives you more confidence playing the bigger teams like Villa and the City’s and more belief, more confidence.

“And that's what I think just happened, to be honest.”

AFC Bournemouth host Brighton and Hove Albion at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, November 23.