A.F.C.
Bournemouth is a football club playing in the Championship, the second tier in the English
football league system.
The club plays at the Goldsands Stadium in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset
and have been in existence since 1899.
Nicknamed The Cherries, the team traditionally played in red shirts with white sleeves until
1971, when the strip was changed to red and black stripes, similar to that of A.C. Milan.
A predominantly red shirt was chosen for the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons before announcing
a return to the stripes for the 2006–07 season due to fan demand.
After narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League in the 2008–09 season, Bournemouth
were promoted to League One at the end of the 2009–10.
After making the League One play-off semi-finals in 2010–11 and achieving a mid-table finish
in 2011–12, Bournemouth won promotion to the Championship at the end of the 2012–13
season, putting them in the second tier of the league for only the second time in their
history.
History Boscombe F.C.
Although the exact date of the club's foundation is not known, there is proof that it was formed
in the autumn of 1899 out of the remains of the older Boscombe St. John's Lads’ Institute
F.C.
The club was originally known as Boscombe F.C..
The first President was Mr. J.C. Nutt.
In their first season 1889–90 Boscombe F.C.
competed in the Bournemouth and District Junior League.
They also played in the Hants Junior Cup.
During the first two seasons they played on a football pitch in Castlemain Avenue, Pokesdown.
From their third season the team played on a pitch in King's Park.
In the season of 1905–06 Boscombe F.C.
graduated to senior amateur football.
In 1910 the club was granted a long lease upon some wasteland next to Kings Park, as
the clubs football ground, by their president Mr. J.E.
Cooper-Dean.
With their own ground, named Dean Court after the benefactor, the club continued to thrive
and dominated the local football scene.
Also in 1910 the club signed their first professional football player B. Penton.
Around about this time the club obtained their nickname 'The Cherries'.
Foremost there are two tales on how the club gained this pet name.
First, because of the cherry-red striped shirts that the team played in and, perhaps more
plausible, because Dean Court was built adjacent to the Cooper-Dean estate, which encompassed
numerous cherry orchards.
For the first time during the season of 1913–14 the club competed in the F.A.
Cup.
The clubs progress was halted in 1914 with the outbreak of the war and Boscombe F.C.
returned to the Hampshire league.
In 1920 the Third Division was formed and Boscombe were promoted to the Southern League,
with moderate success.
Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic Football Club
To make the club more representative of the district, the name was changed to Bournemouth
and Boscombe Athletic Football Club in 1923.
During the same year the club was elected to the Football League.
The first league match was in Swindon on 25 August 1923, Bournemouth lost 3–1.
The first league game at Dean Court was also against Swindon, Bournemouth gained their
first league point with a goalless draw.
Initially Bournemouth struggled in the Football League, but eventually established themselves
as a Third Division club.
Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic Football Club remain on the records as the longest
continuous members of the Third Division.
As a league club, Bournemouth had to wait until after the Second World War before winning
their first trophy.
This was accomplished as they beat Walsall in the Third Division Cup in the final at
Stamford Bridge.
A.F.C.
Bournemouth Under manager John Bond the club adopted the
more streamlined A.F.C.
Bournemouth name in 1972.
However, this is only a trade name; the club is still officially registered as Bournemouth
and Boscombe Athletic Football Club.
At the same time, the club adopted a new badge as a symbol of the club's progress.
The stripes in the background were based on the club shirt, while in the foreground is
the profile of a player heading the ball, in honour of Dickie Dowsett, a prolific scorer
for the club in the 1950s and 1960s.
Their red and black kit, introduced in 1971, was based on the old A.C. Milan strip.
This was the era of Ted MacDougall, a prolific goalscorer who, in an FA Cup tie in November
1971, scored nine goals in an 11–0 win against Margate.
Following an ownership change in 1997, they became Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Football
Club.
Late 20th century
The club recorded a famous victory over holders Manchester United in the FA Cup in January
1984, while they were managed by Harry Redknapp.
Redknapp took Bournemouth into the second tier of the English league for the first time
in their history as Third Division champions in 1987.
After comfortably surviving in their first season in Division Two, Bournemouth made a
serious challenge for promotion to the top-flight in the 1988–89 season; they ultimately fell
away after a poor run late in the season, but their eventual finish of 12th place remains
their highest-ever Football League finish to date.
On 5 May 1990, the final day of the 1989–90 season, Leeds United had the chance to win
the Second Division and gain promotion into the First Division by beating Bournemouth
at Dean Court.
Some United fans had already caused trouble in the town during the morning and the atmosphere
was tense as Leeds won the match by a single goal.
Combined with the results of other matches, this meant that Leeds were promoted while
Bournemouth were relegated.
The violence and destruction by visitors to Bournemouth continued over the holiday weekend,
causing more than £1 million worth of damage and injury to opposing fans and police officers.
The town's Daily Echo newspaper reported that 'spectators, including many young children,
had to run to safety as missiles were hurled and riot police waded in to control the crowds'.
The matter was raised in Parliament by one of the town's MPs.
Financially, the Leeds trouble affected the club for more than a decade, as Bournemouth
were prevented by local police from staging home games on Bank Holidays until a game against
Shrewsbury Town on 21 April 2003.
Redknapp remained at the club for two more seasons, both of which ended with the club
falling three points short of the play-offs.
However, mounting financial pressures caused him to resign his position at the end of the
1991–92 season, and he subsequently rejoined former club West Ham United as a coach.
He was replaced by Tony Pulis, who built a much cheaper squad which could only manage
two consecutive 17th place finishes before Pulis walked out of the club, blaming financial
pressures much as his predecessor had done.
Bournemouth went the first few months of the 1994–95 season without a permanent manager
in place, and a dreadful start saw them bottom of the table for much of the first half of
the season.
Despite a minor upturn in form when Mel Machin was appointed as manager, they looked highly
unlikely to survive, given that there were five relegation spots in Division Two for
that season due to league reconstruction.
However, a late run of form combined with collapses by relegation rivals Cambridge United
and Plymouth Argyle saw them survive on the last day of the season by just two points.
Machin ultimately remained in charge for six years, most of which were marked by unremarkable
mid-table finishes.
The 1998–99 season proved to be arguably the highlight of his tenure, with the club
making a serious play-off challenge for most of the season, but ultimately falling short
and finishing 7th.
However, a drop to 16th place in the 1999–2000 season followed by a bad start to the following
season saw Machin removed from his position and given the job of director of football.
Early 21st century
Sean O'Driscoll was promoted from the coaching staff in place of Mel Machin at the start
of the 2000–01 season.
In O'Driscoll's first season as manager, Bournemouth narrowly missed out on the Division Two playoffs,
but were relegated a year later in the new stadium.
The board kept faith in O'Driscoll and they were rewarded with promotion via the Division
Three playoffs in 2002–03.
The club became the first to score 5 goals at the Millennium Stadium when they beat Lincoln
City 5–2 in the 2002–03 Division Three play-off final with goals from Steve Fletcher,
Carl Fletcher, Stephen Purches and Garreth O'Connor.
Under O'Driscoll, Bournemouth narrowly missed out on the play-offs for the 2003–04 and
2004–05 seasons, and just avoided relegation in the 2005–06 season.
Long-serving player James Hayter scored the fastest league hat-trick in English Football
League history during the 2003–04 season.
The Cherries were leading 3–0 against Wrexham thanks to goals from Stephen Purches, Warren
Cummings and Warren Feeney when Hayter was brought onto the field as a substitute.
With 86 minutes gone, Hayter managed to net three goals in the space of 2 minutes and
17 seconds, making the final score 6–0 to Bournemouth.
In September 2006, with the team in eighth in the League, Sean O'Driscoll left to become
manager of Doncaster Rovers.
He was replaced by Kevin Bond.
In February 2008, Bournemouth were forced into administration, suffering a 10-point
deduction which put them in relegation trouble.
Bournemouth had debts of around £4 million and almost went out of business completely.
The off-field uncertainty continued throughout the season, with only one, ultimately unsuccessful,
bid for the club accepted, and the club ended the season being relegated to League Two.
Ahead of the 2008–09 season, the team's future in the Football League was put into
doubt when the league threatened to block Bournemouth's participation in League Two,
due to problems with the team's continuing administration and change in ownership.
It ordered both Bournemouth and Rotherham United to demonstrate that they could fulfil
all of their fixtures and find a way out of administration, eventually allowing the club
to compete with a 17-point penalty for failing to follow the Football League insolvency rules.
The new company was also ordered to pay unsecured creditors the amount offered at the time of
the original C.V.A.
within two years.
Early into the season, manager Bond was sacked and was replaced by former player Jimmy Quinn,
who would himself leave the club only a few months later.
Former player Eddie Howe took over as manager with the club still 10 points adrift at the
bottom of the league and initially on a caretaker basis, becoming the youngest manager in the
Football League at the age of 31.
At the end of 2008, it was announced that local businessman Adam Murry completed the
purchase of 50% of the club's shares from previous chairman Paul Baker.
However, in January 2009, Murry missed the deadline to buy Baker's shares.
In the final home game of the 2008–09 season the Cherries guaranteed their Football League
status by beating Grimsby Town 2–1 with a winning goal 10 minutes from time by Bournemouth
legend Steve Fletcher, sparking wild celebrations after a fairytale ending to 'The Great Escape'.
They finished their troubled season with their best away win for 30 years with a 4–0 victory
at Morecambe.
In June 2009, a consortium including Adam Murry finally took over AFC Bournemouth.
The consortium included Jeff Mostyn, former vice-chairman Steve Sly, Neill Blake and former
Dorchester Town chairman Eddie Mitchell.
Howe's first full season in charge brought success as Bournemouth finished second in
League Two to earn promotion with two games to spare.
Howe subsequently left the club for Burnley during the following season; his successor,
another former Bournemouth player, Lee Bradbury, led Bournemouth to the League One play-offs.
The two-legged semi-final against Huddersfield Town finished 3–3 after extra time, and
Huddersfield went through the final by winning the penalty shoot-out 4–2.
Bradbury was unable to lead Bournemouth to another promotion challenge in the 2011-12
Football League One, placing eleventh after a season of indifferent results.
Subsequently, Bradbury paid the price and was replaced by youth team coach Paul Groves
for the final games of the season.
Groves remained in charge at the start of the 2012–13 season, only to be sacked in
October 2012 following a disastrous start which left the club near the bottom of the
table.
Eddie Howe returned as manager, and not only did he pull the club away from their early-season
relegation battle, they achieved promotion to the Championship, returning to the second-tier
of English football for the first time since 1990.
The club also revealed a new club crest which was to celebrate a new era in the Championship
as well as encapsulating their ambition and vision as a club.
After a promising Start to life in the Championship the club was handed a fourth Round FA Cup
tie with Premier League club Liverpool which ended in a 2–0 loss.
Joe Roach was reappointed as Head of the Cherries Youth Academy returning to his beloved passion
of his life, Bournemouth AFC.
A fan favourite he is enjoying his time in the limelight as one of the true heroes of
Bournemouth's recent success.
This is reflected as they beat Leeds 4–1 at a riveting Dean Court.
Despite outside chances of making the playoffs, Bournemouth were ultimately unsuccessful but
finished their first season back in the Championship in a very respectable 10th place.
Players Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan Note: Flags indicate national team as defined
under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Development squad The club introduced a development squad for
the start of the 2012–13 season, as part of the club's new academy plans, aiming to
"bridge the gap between the youth team set-up and the first team".
The team is managed by coach Stephen Purches and often feature members of the first team
squad.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Retired numbers Note: Flags indicate national team as defined
under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Management and coaching staff Manager: Eddie Howe
Assistant manager: Jason Tindall First-team coach: Simon Weatherstone
Player / development squad manager: Stephen Purches
Goalkeeping coach: Neil Moss Physio: Steve Hard
Head of Sports Science: Dan Hodges Performance analyst: Garvan Stewart
Sports therapist: Dave Gardener Kit Manager: Chris Jeffes
Ambassador: Steve Fletcher Past managers
Honours Football League Division Three:
Winners: 1986–87
Football League One: Runners up: 2012–13
Football League Two: Runners up: 2009–10
Football League Division Four: Runners up: 1970–71
Football League Third Division: Play-off Winners: 2002–03
Football League Division Three South: Runners up: 1947–48
Football League Associate Members Cup: Winners: 1983–84
Football League Third Division South Cup: Winners: 1945–46
Southern League: Runners up: 1922–23
League history
References
External links Official website