You won’t find many other clubs were a man who has played a part in some of the most important goals in your club’s recent history gets quite as much stick as Philip Billing has from some AFC Bournemouth fans throughout his time at the club. That is not to say it is all Bournemouth fans, it is only some, but the abuse towards him feels so misdirected – perhaps one of the most misunderstood players I have seen put on a Bournemouth shirt. Of course, football is a game of opinions, that’s what makes the game so beautiful, but I have just never been able to wrap my head around some of the things I have read about the Great Dane. It seems there must always be a scapegoat in football, and somehow, at AFCB, Philip Billing was chosen by some to be that man.

Billing has now departed the club on a permanent basis, with a fee rumoured to total €7M being agreed between AFCB and Danish Superliga club FC Midtjylland. Billing did temporarily leave in the second half of last season, to join Italian giants Napoli and help them win the coveted Scudetto, but this permanent exit marks the end of a very interesting, iconic chapter.

Here is a deep dive into one of the most important AFCB players of the very modern era, whether you like it or not.

Billing joined AFCB from recently relegated Huddersfield for a fee of £15M on a long term deal in late July of 2019. Billing’s introduction was important, with Lewis Cook still out with an ACL injury, Andrew Surman aging and Dan Gosling also missing the first couple of months of the season, and Billing’s height and technical ability meant he offered a very different profile to the others. Just a week later, he was straight into the starting lineup, partnering Jefferson Lerma in midfield as the Premier League season kicked off with a 1-1 draw against newly promoted Sheffield United. Billing’s first month went very well, starting all games, scoring the winning penalty in a shootout against Forest Green and getting nominated for the AFCB player of the month. Billing continued to start week in, week out, grabbing his first goal contribution with a nice assist to Harry Wilson in our 3-1 win at Southampton, and with the team looking good for another positive season, so was Billing, who was looking like a good signing, fitting in Eddie Howe’s system perfectly.

He was playing much deeper than we would eventually become accustomed to, but Howe didn’t play with any advanced midfielders like we see now, and Billing looked comfortable where he was. Fitness was thankfully not an issue for Billing (unlike a lot of the members of the squad that season), and although the team began to struggle as Winter approached, Billing’s performances remained solid. He scored his first two goals for the club in a 4-0 FA Cup win over Luton, and then weeks later scored his first league goal, which at the time seemed like a massive goal to put us 1-0 up over relegation rivals Aston Villa, accompanied by an epic knee slide (right in front of me).

As said, Billing’s performances were solid. They weren’t amazing, nothing to massively standout, but his game was very different back then, mainly in the team for defensive contributions. And those contributions were good, on paper, as shown in the image below.

But as we all know, AFC Bournemouth were relegated that season. Billing cut a dejected figure when picked up by cameras at the final whistle of the 3-1 win over Everton, now having the unfortunate record of back-to-back Premier League relegations to his name. Billing played 34 league games this season, starting 29 of them. But having been very keen not to drop back into the Championship the year before, there was a feeling that Billing’s career with Bournemouth may be a one-and-done scenario. He hadn’t set the world alight, but was good enough to suggest he may be picked up by another team in the top flight. That was the case for many players in the team, and despite Eddie Howe leaving by mutual consent, there was nowhere near the mass exodus that many expected, and despite the odd rumour here and there, Billing remained an AFC Bournemouth player heading into the Championship 2020/21 season.

It is safe to say that this was something of a whirlwind season for Billing, but in the end, perhaps one of the most important of his career. The campaign did not start how he would have envisioned: he started just three of the first 13 games under Jason Tindall, with a further three appearances off the bench, but at that time there seemed no clear role for him in the team, he was behind Dan Gosling, Jefferson Lerma and Lewis Cook in the pecking order, and when Tindall chose to play with a 10, it was usually Junior Stanislas or David Brooks chosen to play in that diamond formation. At that time, Tindall and AFCB were not doing too badly, and with Billing not at the forefront of the plans, perhaps the end of his Cherries career was near.

Billing was finally given a chance again in early December, and took it with both hands as he scored the opener of a 4-0 win against Barnsley at Oakwell, a lovely finish from outside the area after a driving Adam Smith run. Billing started the next five games after that, and it felt like this was the rejuvenation of his AFCB career – but that wasn’t the case (yet).

Perhaps one of the stranger moments of my own personal life, is when Jason Tindall told Sky Sports before a game against Derby that Billing was injured and therefore not in the squad, and I reported that information on my Instagram page, tagging Billing. Billing then responded in the comments section, saying: “I didn’t know I was injured”. There is no physical proof that happened, as Billing deleted the comment, but here is an article from the Bournemouth Echo, just to prove I’m not making this bizarre story up. https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/sport/19026166.billing-addresses-injury-social-media-post-spoken-tindall/

As said in the article, Billing and Tindall cleared it up and he started the next game – but it was another defeat, a harrowing (and flattering) 3-1 defeat to promotion rivals Reading. Performances were poor and results were simply not good enough under Tindall, and after a 2-1 home defeat to strugglers Sheffield Wednesday, where Billing was an unused substitute, Tindall was sacked.

This, as it turns out, was the sliding doors moments for not just Philip Billing’s AFCB career, but his football career as a whole.

Jonathan Woodgate had only just come in as a coach, but was now caretaker manager, and in his first game, Billing came off the bench to score the winner against Birmingham. In his first start under Woodgate, playing in the ’10’ position which he had not played in before, Billing scored the winner in a 1-0 win against Rotherham. Had Woodgate unlocked something in Billing here, starting him in an advanced position?

Of course, we now know that he indeed had. Although results did not immediately pick up under Woodgate, they did eventually when he was named interim manager. And he absolutely had found a way to get the best out of Billing. There were some glimpses of beautiful link up play with Dom Solanke, especially evidenced in a 4-1 dismantling of Millwall, where Billing scored and assisted. The front four of Billing, Solanke, Arnaut Danjuma and David Brooks was truly frightening for Championship defenders.

Billing had one goal and one assist when Tindall was sacked – and ended the season with eight goals and four assists in the league. There were some fantastic moments for Billing under Woodgate, he scored five goals and got two assists in seven games as the club won all seven, the best of which was his stunning overhead kick against Swansea. He also scored a great diving header against former club Huddersfield, showing what they might have been missing if they had also started him in an advanced position.

Of course, the club were not promoted that season, but Billing had found new life at the club, and despite rumours of him leaving in the summer, he stayed around as Scott Parker was named manager of the football club, promising great excitement and promotion back to the Premier League. Billing quickly became a spearhead figure to Parker, reliable, influential and a great presence to some of the younger, inexperienced players coming into the squad.

Billing scored in the first competitive game of the season, a league cup game against MK Dons, as they were swept aside 5-0. In the first league game against a strong West Brom team, Billing stepped up, with many young players making full league debuts, and scored to put the side 2-1 up, before the visitors eventually levelled. Billing maintained his scoring start to the season at Nottingham Forest the week after, scoring the winner at the City Ground, which would end up being massive in the context of the season.

Very much a theme of Billing’s season was scoring very important goals. Early on in the season came a winner at Cardiff, a nice finish from outside the area, almost identical to the one he scored at Barnsley a year before, and the week after that an important goal in a 2-1 win over Luton. Just one week after that, a massive goal from the Dane as he slid home a winner against promotion rivals Sheffield United, having been 1-0 down earlier in the game. Billing’s performances were vital as AFCB went on a 15 match unbeaten run to start the league campaign, which eventually came to an end as Parker’s side lost 2-1 to Preston, which Billing did score in.

As goals faded slightly from his game, assists came into it, including a famous assist to Dom Solanke against Fulham from kick-off. He ended up assisting Solanke six times over the course of the campaign, as they built up an outstanding partnership. Results were starting to drop off, as well as performances, and some fans were beginning to question Billing, which given his contributions to the season, felt extremely harsh. From the midway point to that season, to now, where he is no longer an AFCB player, it felt like there was always some level of stick given to Billing by areas of the fanbase, whether that be in the stands, or on social media, no matter what he did.

At stages this season the goal contributions did dry up, but there was a reason he started 37/40 games he was available for – he was vital for what Scott Parker wanted to do with his patient style of play, and Billing could make something happen out of nothing. His performances, despite what was said by others, were not worthy of being dropped, either.

After scoring a winner at Barnsley in January, Billing did not score until three games to the season end (he did pick up some vital assists in that time, mainly to Solanke). But that game, at the time, the biggest of the season, Billing showed what a big game player he was. He netted twice in the second half, two brilliant finishes in front of the away end, to take his total of league goals for the season to 10. He picked up an assist for Solanke, too, a great header to set the lethal striker through on goal. At that time, there was a lot of noise about Billing not doing enough – he sure did silence the haters.

Do I even need to mention what happened in the next game? Those eyes, that little glance to Kieffer Moore, is something that will live long in the memories of AFC Bournemouth fans. It is, perhaps, one of the most iconic moments in the history of the club. In a promotion decider against Nottingham Forest, Billing stepped up to a free-kick just outside the area, and I think every single person in the ground, players, fans and staff alike, expected Billing to shoot. The likelihood is that it was too close to score from, so the decision to lay the ball off for Kieffer Moore to smash home was truly a moment of genius, fitting for a player of Billing’s quality. Everything that happened that season ended up boiling down to one moment, and it was Billing’s calmness and confidence to pick out the pass that meant all the hardship of the 44 games previous had come to fruition. AFC Bournemouth were heading back to the Premier League, and they had Billing to thank for it.

An assist on the last day against Millwall meant that Billing ended the season with a double-double, exactly 10 goals and 10 assists, as well as a well deserved place in the official Championship team of the season. The campaign may solely be remembered for *that* moment, but the integral role he played across the whole year should also be celebrated.

That season back in the Premier League was a different one for Billing, but he was just as important to the team – if not more. Scott Parker was sacked early on in the season after his bizarre comments and the 9-0 trouncing at the hands of Liverpool, but Gary O’Neil had a similar role for Billing, playing behind Dom Solanke (and sometimes Kieffer Moore). Billing started every single game he was available for under O’Neil, highlighting his importance to the team. He scored some absolutely massive goals for the club that season: goals worth their weight in gold, as they kept the team in the Premier League, when everyone told them that wasn’t going to happen.

Billing kickstarted the 3-2 comeback at Nottingham Forest with an absolute screamer, almost identical to one he had scored their years prior with Huddersfield. He scored a crucial goal in a 1-1 draw against a very strong Newcastle team just a week later, and two weeks after that scored the equaliser against Leicester, before Ryan Christie scored a winner against the side that would eventually go down. After scoring in the infamous 4-3 loss to Leeds, Billing did not score until he would net the second fastest Premier League goal of all times, taking just 9.11 seconds to open the scoring at the Emirates. That game was even more infamous for its outcome, but a week later the feeling was much greater around the club, as Billing scored the winner in a 1-0 win over Liverpool, which, it goes without saying, was absolutely massive. His next goal, and last one of the season, was also humongous, as he scored the only goal in a relegation clash at the King Power, sinking Leicester even closer to the Championship, and pulling AFCB even further away from it.

The football under O’Neil meant we were never going to see the absolute best of Billing, he got just one assist that season, but those seven league goals, making him the top scorer, were massive, and we would likely not be in the position we are today without him. That year, he was the man you turned to in the big occasion.

O’Neil was sacked, and Andoni Iraola came into the club. It may be forgotten now, but Billing was a starter under Iraola when he first came in, even signing a new deal until 2027. Of course, the results were not there, and Billing was not perhaps best suited to Iraola’s style – not because he is ‘lazy’, as some people will claim with next to no evidence to back that up, but because he is not as quick in the press or as agile as Iraola needs for his system. Don’t ever let anyone tell you Billing was lazy, he never was. His tall frame meant it didn’t look like he was moving as easy as others, but for me it was easy to see that ‘laziness’ was never an issue for Billing – if it was, he would never have started a single game under Iraola. Billing started all 11 of Iraola’s first league games – including his most underrated goal, the goal that turned it all around for Iraola. With the game poised at 1-1 against fellow strugglers Burnley, Billing won the ball back on the halfway line, took a few (long) strides forward, and spotted James Trafford off his line. What happened next was yet another moment of improvised genius from Billing, as despite Trafford’s best efforts, he was unable to claw the shot away, and into the back of the net it went. AFCB went on to win the game, Iraola’s first for the club, and the rest is history. Another absolutely massive moment in the club’s history, provided by Philip Billing.

After missing the game against Newcastle, allowing Justin Kluivert to come into the ’10’ position, Billing only started two further league games for the rest of the season, as Kluivert nailed down that position. But Billing was still a very important member of the squad, making 29 league appearances that year. He had another iconic moment, with what turned out to be his final goal for the club, scoring a rare header at Old Trafford, for the club’s first ever win at the home of Manchester United. He was also the first onto the scene in the shocking incident when Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest at Dean Court, and was thanked publicly by Lockyer and Luton Town for helping to bring attention to Lockyer to get the medical treatment he needed.

Billing was unable to win his place back into the team last season, starting just once in December at Craven Cottage in a 2-2 draw, as well as making nine appearances off the bench. Billing was not doing anything bad off the bench, he made positive impacts, despite idiotic shouts aimed towards him by some at games around me, but for whatever reason he did remain a scapegoat to some. It’s not a failure for Billing that he could not get in Iraola’s team, some players are better suited to certain systems than others, that’s just how football works. It does not make the player bad, or mean they need to be scapegoated.

Billing headed on loan to Napoli in January, with a €9M option. He made 10 appearances, with just one start, in Serie A. But the one goal he did score will have him forever in Napoli folklore, as his late equaliser against Inter Milan eventually meant Napoli won the much coveted Scudetto, for just the second time in 40 years. It was another iconic moment from a big match player, winning him the nickname ‘Billingham’ from Napoli fans.

Billing returned to the club in pre-season, and played a large role in pre-season, scoring an impressive goal against Everton and captaining the side against Man United. But he was an unused substitute against Liverpool on opening day, and was not named in the squad against Wolves. It was clear this chapter was finished, and the day after the Wolves game, Mark McAdam revealed Billing was set to return to his native Denmark to join FC Midtjylland. Technically, the club made a roughly £10M loss on him, but his contributions have been worth hundreds times more than that.

Billing summed it up perfectly in his ‘goodbye’ post on Instagram: “To be able to look back and say “I was a part of that” is something that will always put a smile on my face, I hope when you look back on my time at the club, it will put a smile on yours too. It was an honour to represent the badge.”

It will always baffle me how anyone could look back at Billing’s time with anything but incredible fondness and gratitude, whatever incredible things happen in the future with this football club, they won’t have been able to happen without Philip Billing. No one can ever write this man out of the history of this football club, and he may go down as one of the most under-appreciated players to put on the red & black shirt.

Thank you for everything, Phil Bill, and good luck. You will always be welcome back at Dean Court.