Cherries ripe for the sweet life once again
When unfashionable Bournemouth won promotion to the Premier League for the first time in 2015, it felt a bit like a football fairy tale.
This was a club that had spent its entire history in the lower divisions but had somehow finally achieved the Holy Grail.
In addition, with the Vitality Stadium only having a capacity of just over 11,000, it was by far the smallest club to reach the lofty heights of the top flight.
Most pundits thought the Cherries would be relegated immediately but they survived for five seasons and won many admirers playing attractive football under the guidance of young manager Eddie Howe.
Relegation finally consumed them in 2020 and many wondered if that was the last we had seen of this south coast club.
But after two seasons in the Championship they are back, clinching second spot on Tuesday night in a tense 1-0 home win over promotion rivals Nottingham Forest.
Howe has of course since moved on to a high-profile job at Newcastle while Scott Parker has stepped into the gaffer’s shoes at Bournemouth.
Parker, who won promotion with Fulham two years ago, told the Daily Echo: “I am immensely proud of the team… they are a special group. Our aim was to get promoted and we have done it.”
Parker will be very relieved to have avoided the play-offs which are incredibly demanding after a long season. But that’s what awaits Forest who have been the form team in the league and are currently in third place.
Whatever happens in today’s closing matches, Forest will start favourites to join champions Fulham and Bournemouth in the top flight.
However, play-offs can be highly unpredictable and we will have to wait until May 29th for the Championship final.
Forest have experienced an extraordinary season.
After eight games, they were bottom of the league and already facing talk of relegation.
But the appointment of Steve Cooper as manager turned things around in remarkable fashion which saw them so nearly clinch automatic promotion.
Many neutrals would like to see Forest back in the Premier League after 23 long years.
For Bournemouth and Parker, their immediate task is to ensure the club stays in the top flight and avoids becoming a yo-yo club similar to Fulham and Norwich City.
It won’t be easy and will require some astute dealings on the transfer market.
They will need players of similar quality to Callum Wilson, now at Newcastle, and Nathan Ake (Manchester City) who played key roles in the success of Bournemouth last time they were in the Premier League.
Bournemouth’s rise through the divisions should not be forgotten.
At the start of the 2007-8 season, the club was in dire straits in the basement of League Two with minus 17 points.
But they miraculously managed to escape relegation to the Conference, defeating Grimsby Town 2-1 in the penultimate game of the season.
Their recovery under Howe was helped by the injection of muchneeded funds by Russian-born owner Maxim Demin who still remains in charge.
Demin is a British citizen and thus not subject to sanctions from the UK government concerning the war in Ukraine.
What makes Bournemouth such an inspirational story is that they had always been one of the most ordinary clubs in the entire Football League.
For an incredible 44 years, from 1923-70, Bournemoth and Boscombe as they were called, remained rooted in the old Third Division.
When they finally made a move, it was into the Fourth Division.
Since 1971, when they were renamed AFC Bournemouth, the club had remained in the third tier of English football apart from a brief foray into the second tier from 1987-90. And that was the situation until Howe came along.
The fact that Bournemouth are already amongst the favourites for relegation next season indicates the enormity of the task that lies ahead.
Bur let them savour this moment as they prepare for a return to life amongst the elite.