CHERRIES legend James Hayter has been snapped up by non-league club Bournemouth Manor ahead of the 2023/24 season.

Hayter, 44, dropped out of the Football League in 2015, before going on to feature for the likes of Havant & Waterlooville and Weymouth.

He made five appearances for Weymouth in the 2017/18 season, making one assist only.

Isle of Wight-born Hayter came through the youth ranks at Cherries, making his first-team debut under Mel Machin in the 1996/97 campaign.

He would go on to play more than 400 times and end with a goals tally over 100, across his 11 seasons with the Dorset club.

Hayter grabbed national headlines in 2004 when the fastest hat-trick in EFL history.

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He scored three goals in a mere 140 seconds, in a 6-0 win over Wrexham at Dean Court, having only come on as a substitute in the 84th minute.

He went on to play for Doncaster Rovers and Yeovil Town, also winning promotion with them, as he had done with Cherries.

Hayter, who is now a fully-qualified electrician, has been helping out with coaching in the younger age groups at Cherries’ academy, and is now set to get his boots back on with Bournemouth Manor.

Manor are joining the Dorset Football League in 2023/24, set to play in Division Two alongside the likes of Bere Regis, Piddlehinton United and Swanage Town & Herston reserves.

The team will be co-managed by Ryan Stringer and Colin Dand.

The club took to Twitter to reveal the news, writing: “Bournemouth Manor FC are extremely pleased to announce the signing of ex-AFC Bournemouth striker James Hayter.

“The holder of the fastest football league hat-trick has agreed to join our journey back into Dorset League football. Welcome to the Manor James.”