AFC Bournemouth

AFC Bournemouth are an English football club based in Bournemouth, England who play their home matches at Dean Court, known as the Vitality Stadium.

Dean Court is one of the smallest stadiums in the top four professional divisions of England, with a capacity of just over 11,000, with the club having played their home games at the ground for over a century, first competing there in 1910.

They have won four trophies in their history, the most notable being the Championship in the 2014/15 season, and have spent five years of their existence in the top flight of English football.

Jefferson Lerma is their record signing, joining for a fee of £25 million in August 2018, while their most expensive sale is that of Nathan Ake, who left the club for Manchester City, for a price of £41 million in August 2020.

The club were originally founded in Autumn 1899, competing under the name Boscombe Football Club. The club played at an amateur level for the first six years of their existence, competing in local leagues, before moving up to senior amateur football in 1905.

The South Coast-based side first played in the FA Cup in the 1913/14 campaign, and while they were beginning to move towards a more professional setup, World War One put a stop to this progression, as then-Boscombe were back in the Hampshire League.

In order to better reflect the geographical position of the club, the team's name was changed to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Football Club in 1923, with the side entering the Third Division South that same year.

From 1923 onwards, the Cherries - so nicknamed, it is believed, due to the colour of their shirts - remained in the Third Division until 1970, making them the longest continuous members of the division in the history of English football.

During that time, the club won their first trophy, defeating Walsall in the final of the Third Division South Cup in 1946 at Stamford Bridge - one of four trophies that the club have won in their existence.

In 1971, the club adopted the name by which it is known today, in the form of AFC Bournemouth, but it coincided with a first relegation in almost 50 years, and after going up and down between the Third and Fourth Division, they ended up remaining in the latter for seven consecutive campaigns throughout the 1970s.

Also in the early 1970s, a new kit design was created, with red and black stripes based on the home strip of AC Milan - the design which has remained a signature of the club ever since.

The club's second top goalscorer ever, Ted MacDougall, famously scored nine goals in one game, as Bournemouth beat Margate 11-0 in the FA Cup, during the 1971-72 season - to this day, that is the most number of goals in a single FA Cup game ever.

After coming back up to familiar grounds in the third tier, a second trophy came in 1984, as they beat Hull City 2-1 in the final of the Associate Members' Cup - now better known as the EFL Trophy in the modern day.

It was the late 1980s when Bournemouth truly started to make themselves known, under the leadership of Harry Redknapp, who guided the team to the second division for the first time ever, winning promotion in 1987.

The club made it as high as 12th place in 1989, but ended up going back down to the Third Division once more in 1990, remaining in that position for over a decade.

While performances on the pitch were keeping Bournemouth in the same division, financial troubles in 2008 led to the club going into administration, for which they received a points deduction, and were ultimately relegated to the fourth division, now known as League 2.

That saga ended in a consortium taking over the club in 2009, which ended up being the spark that ignited a meteoric rise to the top division throughout the early 2010s, as Eddie Howe took over as manager, first on a temporary basis, and then permanently in October 2012.

In that October when Howe took over, the club were languishing near the relegation places, but he succeeded in turning things around and incredibly achieved promotion to the Championship, where they finished in 10th place the year after.

Following just one more season in the Championship, the Cherries won the second division, and made their way to the Premier League for the first time in their history.

They outlasted many expectations there too, finishing as high as 9th place in their second season, becoming something of top flight mainstays as they were in the league for five straight seasons.

The 2019/20 season ended in disappointment, as the club were relegated back down to the Championship, finishing just one point short of safety in the end, leading to Eddie Howe leaving the club, having been there for eight years.

Back in the Championship, the Cherries came close to returning on their first effort, losing out in the play-off semi finals of 2020/21 to Brentford, with Jonathan Woodgate the manager at the time.

One year later though, with Scott Parker in charge, the club did make it back to the top flight as they finished in second place of the Championship, meaning they would be playing Premier League football once again in the 2022/23 campaign.

Most Appearances

1. Steve Fletcher - 728 (1992-2007, 1994-2008)
2. Neil Young - 483 (1994-2008)
3. Sean O-Driscoll - 441(1984-1995)
4. Ray Bumstead - 436 (1958-1969)
5. James Hayter - 407 (1997-2007)
6. Keith Miller - 398 (1968-1979)
7. Tommy Godwin - 389 (1952-1962)
8. Steve Cook - 388 (2011-2022)
9. Ron Eyre - 378 (1924-1933)
10. Paul Morrell - 368 (1983-1993)

Most Goals

1. Ron Eyre - 229
2. Ted MacDougall - 142
3. Steve Fletcher - 122
4. James Hayter - 108
5. Brett Pitman - 102
6. Dickie Dowsett - 85
7. Stan Newsham - 78
8. Doug McGibbon - 68
9. Jack Cross - 67
10. Callum Wilson - 67

List of Managers

• Vincent Kitcher (1914-1923)
• Harry Kinghorn (1923-1925)
• Leslie Knighton (1925-1928)
• Frank Richards (1928-1930)
• Billy Birrell (1930-1935)
• Bob Crompton (1935-1936)
• Charlie Bell (1936-1939)
• Harry Kinghorn (1939-1947)
• Harry Lowe (1947-1950)
• Jack Bruton (1950-1956)
• Fred Cox (1956-1958)
• Don Welsh (1958-1961)
• Bill McGarry (1961-1963)
• Reg Flewin (1963-1965)
• Fred Cox (1965-1970)
• John Bond (1970-1973)
• Trevor Hartley (1974-1975)
• John Benson (1975-1978)
• Alec Stock (1979-1980)
• David Webb (1980-1982)
• Don Megson (1982-1983)
• Harry Redknapp (1983-1992)
• Tony Pulis (1992-1994)
• Mel Machin (1994-2000)
• Sean O'Driscoll (2000-2006)
• Kevin Bond (2006-2008)
• Jimmy Quinn (2008-2009)
• Eddie Howe (2009-2011)
• Lee Bradbury (2011-2012)
• Paul Groves (2012-2012)
• Eddie Howe (2012-2020)
• Jason Tindall (2020-2021)
• Jonathan Woodgate (2021-2021)
• Scott Parker (2021-)