AFC Bournemouth | Club History

Intro Welcome to the Soccer Tavern, where  we're discussing the history, culture,   and philosophy of the beautiful game. My name is  Dave and we are starting a new series of videos,   discussing the history of soccer clubs  around the world. We're starting in   England with the Premier League and  going in alphabetical order. So,   first up is AFC Bournemouth. Pull up  a seat and let's start the discussion. AFC Bournemouth is located in the Northeastern  part of the town of Bournemouth. The town is   Club History located on the southern coast of England in the  United Kingdom. Bournemouth currently play in the   Premier League. The club's home ground, is called  the Vitality Stadium and holds 11,464 people.   Vitality is the stadium's corporate name. It used  to be called Dean Court, which was opened in 1910. The present club can trace its roots to 1890  when Boscombe St. Johns Institute Football   Club were playing locally. Boscombe is the  town right next to Bournemouth. That club   disbanded in 1899 and from its remains,  Boscombe FC were formed at a meeting on   Gladstone Road in Boscombe. The club changed  names a handful of times over the years before   making their final change from Bournemouth  and Boscombe Athletic to AFC Bournemouth in   1972. The logic behind this change? They would be  first in any alphabetical list of English clubs. What's up everyone future Dave here with a quick AFC update. The letters AFC in AFC Bournemouth literally stand for nothing. Sometimes, when you see AFC for other English clubs, it stands for "Association Football Club" But that is not the case for AFC Bournemouth. It is literally just letters at the beginning of the club's name To have them listed first in any alphabetical listing. Back to the video. Cherries The club's nickname is 'The Cherries'.  That nickname comes from 1910 where there   are 2 possible explanations. 1 - The first is that the club   simply wore cherry red striped shirts   and the nickname comes from that. 2 - The second is that Dean Court   was built next to the Cooper-Dean estate  which included many cherry orchards. Side note: the club actually  switched from their original   kit color of cherry red to plain  red from the mid-1930s to 60s but   switched back to cherry red in the 70s  and have been wearing it ever since. Now let's talk about the club's crest. Versions of today’s crest were first used   Crests from 1971 until 1981. It resembles a  computer animation of a player’s head   and a ball. There have been subtle  tweaks to the crest over the years,   but it's basically been the same crest since  1983. The silhouette is that of Dicky Dowsett,   the former striker and commercial manager of the  club who was instrumental in dropping the Boscombe   suffix in 1972. The black and red vertical stripes  on the right side of the crest are a reference to   the club's kit. And obviously the club's name  is at the top. Overall, a pretty simple crest. Personally, I don't love the current  crest. Instead, let's talk about   the Bournemouth Coat of Arms, which was  the club's crest from 1923 until 1971.   The tree and roses at the  top symbolize the city of   Bournemouth’s award-winning gardens and parks. The center section is a shield based on the Arms   of King Edward the Confessor, whose royal estate  was in the area that became Bournemouth.   The four salmon in the lower left corner,  represent fish from the local river.   Each of the lions on Bournemouth’s crest holds  a rose between its paws symbolizing England.   What look like six birds in the upper right  corner are martlets. Martlets have no legs   and are mythical but they do kinda look  like Sand Martins, which are real birds   that can be found close to the city. And the town’s motto at the bottom   is, “Pulchritudo et Salubritas” which is Latin  for “beautiful and healthy”. Apologies for the   pronunciation, I did not take Latin in school. Now let's discuss 3 important   Events events in the club's history (1) In January 1997, the club was   £4.5M in debt. Specifically, they had to pay the  Inland Revenue Department (British Tax department)   £350K or they'd receive a winding up order. A  winding up order is a British term for the forced   closure & liquidation of a business. Fans set  up a supporters trust and became Europe's first   community-owned club. The fans & players raised  £300K partially helped by a bucket collection.   Only 5 minutes before the noon press conference  on January 28, 1997, did the club executives have   enough money to pay the tax bill & save the club. (2) About 10 years later, is the second event I'd   like to discuss. In the 2007-2008 season, the  club went into administration (bankruptcy). The   club just couldn't get it together financially…  Bournemouth was seconds away from liquidation   until chairman Jeff Mostyn wrote a check  for £100K to pay off the debt. That saved   the club financially, but the English Football  league administrators had serious doubts about   letting the club play the following season in  League 2 (England's 4th division and its last   full professional division). The league decided  the club could play, but would need to start the   season with -17 points in the standings.  Quick reminder a win is worth 3 points,   so they basically spotted every other club  in the league 6 wins. During the season,   the club went through 2 managers before being  forced into hiring Eddie Howe on New Year's Ever   2008. Howe was a 31 year-old former club legend  who had no managerial experience at all. He turned   the club's fortunes around and on April 25, 2009,  Bournemouth recorded a dramatic 2-1 home win over   Grimsby town to save the club from relegation  to semi-professional soccer. It was likely   the most important season in the club's history. (3) The third event happened on May 2, 2015. After   waiting 125 years to play first division soccer  in England, Bournemouth won 3-0 away against   Charlton Athletic to seal their promotion to the  top flight for the first time in their history. An interesting fact about Bournemouth supporters  is that the Cherries Supporters Trust, which   Interesting Fact goes back to the organization that helped  save the club in 1997, still acts as the   main voice in communications with the club for  supporters both domestically & internationally. Due to Bournemouth's relative infancy at playing  at the top level, the 2 most famous players are   Most Famous Players likely Jermaine Defoe and Rio Ferdinand, who  each only had short stints with the club. Defoe had a loan stint in the 2000-2001 season  and at the time of recording is back playing   with the club, signing this past offseason.  He's scored over 100 goals in the Premier   League for a number of different clubs and  has many caps for the English National team.   Rio Ferdinand, then a West Ham player, spent  two months on loan between December 1996 and   January 1997, when he was 18 years old.  He went on to have a legendary career with   Manchester United and the English National team. And the club certainly has legends and players   who are important in the Cherries' history, but  these two are likely to be the most well-known.   The club's 2 most famous managers are  likely Harry Redknapp and Eddie Howe. Most Famous Managers Harry Redknapp was the Cherries manager during  some of the most exciting times in the club's   history. Bournemouth came close to promotion  out of the old Second Division and even beat   Manchester United in an FA Cup match under his  tenure. Harry's famous for his interactions with   the press and has managed numerous clubs  all over England's different divisions.   The other manager, Eddie Howe, was a former player  with 313 appearances for the club. Injuries forced   him into management in 2008 (as youngest manager  in all of English soccer). He proceeded to lead   the club into League 1 before becoming manager  of Burnley for a couple seasons. He came back   in 2013, led the Cherries to promotion to the  Championship before following up with a promotion   campaign in 2015 into the Premier League. He is  current manager of Bournemouth and is thought of   as one of the best young managers in England. Now it's time to talk about   Rivals rivalries. Unfortunately, Bournemouth  doesn't have any true rivals. Southampton would be the closest thing to a rival,   but Southampton doesn't really consider  Bournemouth to be much of a rival. Bournemouth also consider Portsmouth,  Brighton & Hove Albion, and Reading as rivals. The Reading supporter message boards  dismiss Bournemouth as a rival,   so I'm not going to discuss them too much  since it appears to be a one-sided rivalry. Southampton, Portsmouth & Brighton &  Hove Albion are all down to proximity.   All 4 clubs are in towns located along  England's south coast. That's where I'll   leave Portsmouth & Brighton since  it doesn't appear to be too much   backstory to those rivals beyond  just they play in a surrounding town. Southampton is definitely Bournemouth's main  rival from the Cherries perspective. Both clubs   faced liquidation in 2008 before being saved. Both  play in the Premier League now but their rivalry   stretches back to 2011 when both clubs were in  League 1 (England's 3rd division). Southampton   went on a somewhat meteoric rise to the Premier  League and Bournemouth followed suit a couple   years later. The two towns get along extremely  well. The clubs actually get along well too,   which makes this whole rivalry a bit odd. Also,  Bournemouth has only beaten Southampton a handful   of times in the league dating back to 1958, so  it's not much of a rivalry in Southampton's eyes.   It's definitely a weird, quirky rivalry  but it is a rivalry to Bournemouth fans. Time to talk some stats & records as of  February 2018, when I am recording this video: Stats Records Bournemouth have spent 3 seasons in  the top flight in their history.   The Cherries have never won a major trophy in  English soccer but they have won the Football   League Trophy, which is a cup competition  played only by lower league teams.   The club's biggest success by far was  winning the Championship (England's   second division) and promotion to the  Premier League in the 2014-2015 season.   The club's record league appearance holder  is Steve Fletcher with 493 appearances.   Bournemouth's record league goal  scorer is Ron Eyre with 202 goals.   The club's record transfer purchase was Nathan Ake  from Chelsea FC on June 30, 2017 for about £20M.   The club's record transfer sale was Matt  Ritchie to Newcastle United on July 1,   2016 for about £10M initially with £2M in add-ons. And one last fun fact about AFC Bournemouth:  Dean Court/Vitality Stadium is the smallest   ground ever in the Premier League's  history, which dates back to 1992. So there you have it… a bit of history  on AFC Bournemouth. Let's continue the   discussion in the comments  section below this video. Thanks for stopping by the Soccer Tavern.  Hope to see you again sometime soon. Cheers.