Only 26 miles seperate Poole and Salisbury, so there can be no surprise that there would be overlap in mutual players.
In fact, Salisbury currently have five former Dolphins in their ranks – whilst Poole employ two ex-Sarum players.
In terms of ex-Poole players currently in Wiltshire, most notably would probably be Marvin Brooks, who came through Poole’s youth system to make over 350 appearances for the club.
Brooks inexplicably dropped two divisions to sign for Salisbury in summer 2017, but shortly after returned back to Poole, claiming that he was not Salisbury manager Steve Claridge’s ‘cup of tea.’
Either Claridge became a reformed character in Brooks’ eyes or something else convinced him to return to Salisbury during the pandemic, with Brooks scoring in Salisbury’s comeback against Poole last campaign.
Another former Dolphin that haunted his previous employers that day was Harry Baker, another ex-Poole player that Claridge and co. snapped up after impressing at Poole.
Keeper Pat O’Flaherty previously featured for Poole, whilst Josh Wakefield and Charlie Davis once lined up in Dolphins’ midfield.
In terms of current Poole players with experience at Salisbury, Dolphins captain Jamie Whisken‘s first taste of non-league football was with The Whites.
Whisken’s early non-league days saw him bounce around Conference South sides, before dropping to the Southern Premier with AFC Totton. Since joining Poole, he has made exactly 350 appearances.
Luke Holmes had a miserable short stint at Salisbury, and upon his departure was chastised in the press by Steve Claridge.
Of course, there are further Salisbury connections at Poole – with current boss Tom Killick once a player, and assistant manager at the Ray Mac.
In an odd twist of fate, Killick was the right hand man to Taffy Richardson – who became player-manager at Salisbury in 2001 for a brief stint.
Despite Richardson already being in his late 30s at the time, the non-league veteran would go on to play under Killick at Poole – and then complete the role reversal, becoming Killick’s assistant manager.
Like Whisken, Jon Davies was another to have gone from three clubs in the same order – Salisbury to Totton, and then to Poole.
Now on the wing for Frome, Davies is still a midfielder with an eye for goal.
Tom Whelan was another Poole player that dropped two divisions to sign for Salisbury. Whelan, a late addition to the Poole squad that fell slightly short of the Southern League title in 2015, dropped down to the Wessex Premier League.
He helped the reformed Whites to rise back up the leagues, before a big move to Yeovil followed. Since then, Whelan has carved a name out for himself as a quality attacking midfielder at a National League level.
A long term target of Tom Killick, Warren Bentley scored 17 goals for Poole in his sole season – before being snapped up Weymouth upon Poole’s relegation from the National South.
Concussion at the Terras meant his game time was limited, paving the way for a move to Salisbury in 2019.
When Killick moved back to Poole from Salisbury, he used his contacts at the club to convince a few players to join him at Tatnam.
South African born Stuart Brown was one such player – Brown did feature for Poole on dual registration terms in 2003, but was loaned to Dolphins from the Ray Mac during the 2004/05 season, Killick’s first.
Darren Crook was an FA Cup hero for Salisbury, but apart from a goalscoring debut for the Dolphins, had an unremarkable stint at Tatnam during the 2005/06 season.
The two clubs have a lot of strikers in common, with Toby Holmes starting his Southern League career at Poole Town. It took a while for the poacher to find his feet in the 7th tier, before impressing Whites boss Claridge whilst at Wimborne, who would bring the goal threat to Wiltshire.
Jordan Alawode-Williams initially joined Poole on loan during the 2017-18 season, before signing permanently the next campaign. However, he only lasted at the club until January 2019, when he moved directly to Salisbury.
Another double barrelled player to have featured for both clubs was Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain. Brother of Liverpool’s Alex, Christian had two very short loan stints at both clubs whilst at Portsmouth.
Abdulai Baggie briefly featured for the previous incarnation of Salisbury, using the club as a platform to re-enter the Football League with Tranmere Rovers.
He dropped back into non-league football with Poole, before beginning his climb back up the leagues with Weymouth.
Jake Wannell featured for Poole on loan from Exeter, before eventually winding up at Salisbury some years later.
All Poole Aren't We 