Early Tuesday morning AFC Bournemouth became the 47th team to officially gain Premier League status.
In amazing scenes at Dean Court – Bournemouth’s home ground – the south west English club defeated Bolton 3-0 to virtually seal a promotion spot to the land of dreams.
Only a ridiculous loss, and a big win to Middlesbrough, would change that. With a 19-goal difference it looks impossible.
The story of how Bournemouth, who are nicknamed the Cherries, got to this position is something that looked impossible for the last 30 years. Six years ago, the club were on their knees, and almost dead as a club.
The story starts though in the late 1980s, and early ’90s, when the Cherries were managed by two coaches in this year’s Premier League.
Harry Redknapp, who managed QPR this season, led the team from 1983 to 1992, which was the most successful period in the club’s history until today. A famous win over Manchester United – the defending champions – in the 1984 FA Cup gave them national headlines.
In 1988 AFC Bournemouth would win promotion to the second division – the Championship – for the first time in their history. One year later, after a promotion push, they would finish 12th – or 32nd in England – in the second division, which would be their highest position in their history.
Unfortunately for the club the high finish would impact on their finances. The next season they would be relegated, with a loss to Leeds on the final day sending them back to the third division.
In 1992, after Redknapp just fell short of the playoffs twice, he would resign and be replaced by current West Bromwich Albion manager Tony Pulis. He didn’t have a successful period at the club and only lasted two seasons as the financial problems worsened.
Bournemouth would remain in the third division until 2001-02 when they would be relegated to the basement division. In the next season, they would win promotion through the playoffs, and remain in the third division until 2007-08 when trouble struck the club.
Keeping the club competitive for the last few seasons, combined with a rebuilding of their home stadium, put the club four million dollars in debt. This forced Bournemouth into administration, which gave them a ten-point penalty, and saw them relegated as they didn’t have enough points to avoid the drop with the punishment.
Worse was to follow though.
With no clear future, and no owners found in the early stages of the administration, the Football League put strict rules on the club to compete in the fourth division – renamed League Two – for 2008-09.
Because the club couldn’t follow the rules set out by the Football League they were given a 17-point penalty for the 2008-09 season. This almost sent the club out of the Football League and they only just survived the season.
Three managers would be used during the year and no owner was found until halfway through the season. After 25 games, and four straight losses, they were still second to last on the ladder and in serious trouble.
This was when the club started to turn around.
New owners finally took over the club in 2009 and Eddie Howe was appointed manager at just 31 years of age. He became the youngest ever manager in the Football League and had to recover the club from 10 points down in the table in the final few matches of the season.
With 12 games to go they got out of the bottom two but they remained in contention for relegation right until the second to last day in the season. Dubbed ‘The Great Escape’ by fans, players, and the board, Bournemouth defeated Grimsby 2-1 at home to spark wild scenes on the pitch.
Had they not got the point deduction they would have finished in the top ten. The 17-point penalty almost killed the club.
The next season, with their off-field future secured, and no penalties, Bournemouth thrived and climbed the league. They would finish second – behind Notts County – and be promoted to League One.
Howe – who had managed the incredible recovery – started to get head hunted from other clubs and would leave for Burnley in their first season of League One. One year and six months later, after Bournemouth made the playoffs and finished 1tth, they were struggling in the relegation zone in the early part of their third season.
Up stepped Howe again – who left Burnley for family reasons – to save the day.
With more investment in the squad than during his last stint, Howe would get the club out of the relegation zone and promote the team to the Championship for just the second time in their history.
In the Championship they have been extremely competitive. Last year the team finished tenth before being in the top two for all of this season. This morning the pain of six years ago became a distant memory as the team sealed promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history.
Much of the credit of the performances has to go to Eddie Howe. The former player has won over 50 per cent of his 243 matches he has managed. Not many managers are there for all three promotions, but Howe was there for all of them and was able to keep the club competitive as it climbed the ladder.
One player has also been at the club for all of the triumphs.
Brett Pitman, who has made more than 150 league appearances, has been a part of every promotion. The board room also deserve plenty of kudos with heavy investment in the squad for the last few years. Much of that has come from Russian businessman Maxim Demin, who has been heavily involved in the club since 2011. He is also a big part of the town outside of football with his business.
To say that money has got them here today would be underselling the club and what they have done. It has taken guts, determination, hard times, and suffering to get to today.
They have inspired the town and inspired other clubs who dare to dream of the Premier League.
Now the big challenge for AFC Bournemouth is building a squad to stay in the league beyond 2015-16.
For all of them they will say, bring it on.
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