Club Profile

Bournemouth

This “little club that could” is back in the Premier League, and seeing a game in Bournemouth means visiting a posh and lovely seaside town for a game in a tiny stadium. Good luck getting tickets, though.

LOCATION: In Dorset on the South Coast of England, about two hours from Waterloo station in London

CONTACT: afcb.co.uk, 0344 576 1910, #AFCB

NICKNAMES: The Cherries, for their shirts, or Boscombe, for their former home and name

History

If you just started paying attention to the Premier League in the last few years, you might have noticed Bournemouth and thought, Where’s that? and Gosh, that’s a small stadium. What you would be missing is that this little club came from almost nowhere to get into the top division in 2015, thus becoming a model for small clubs with big…

Rivalries

Asked about rivalries before a game, a steward said they used to have rivals in the area, but they’d left them all behind. Then he added, “Honestly, we’re just living the dream, punching way above our weight, and we don’t have a problem with anybody!” You would think that fellow South Coast clubs like Southampton and Brighton would qualify, but…

Women's Team

The women’s team is called AFC Bournemouth Development; they are in the Women’s National League Division One South West at level 4 of the pyramid. Home games are at the Verwood Town FC ground, a little north of town. Somewhat confusingly, in the same league is a women’s team affiliated with Bournemouth Sports FC, which also fields a men’s team in…

Songs

They like to sing “Keep the Red Flag Flying High from Dean Court to Wembley.” They also do a cool old-fashioned tribute to their former selves with a simple “Boscombe—Back of the

Stadium

The Vitality Stadium, named after a sponsorship deal with an insurance company, was called Dean Court until Bournemouth made the Premier League. It is tiny—like, 11,360 seats tiny. There are at least 10 high school football stadiums in Texas bigger than that and that’s almost what the place feels like. The new stadium was thrown together in…

Going to a Game at Bournemouth

GETTING THERE: The main rail station in town is about a 30-minute walk or about a £10 cab ride. You can also take the P2 or P3 Yellow Bus for six stops to Queens Park Hotel. It’s a five-minute walk from there. Or just get a cab and make sure you have their number for postgame, especially if you’re staying closer to the center of town. PUBS: There…

AFC Bournemouth Tickets

Because the stadium is so small, this was probably the toughest ticket in the Premier League when they were last up there. Memberships don’t seem to help, hospitality sells out before the season starts, and your best bet is probably a cup draw against a small team.

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