AFC Bournemouth

AFC Bournemouth

AFC Bournemouth, known as the Cherries for their distinctive red-and-black shirts and founded in 1899 as Boscombe FC before adopting their current name in 1971, play at the intimate Vitality Stadium (Dean Court) in Bournemouth, one of the Premier League's smaller grounds with a capacity of approximately 11,300. The club spent most of their history in England's lower divisions until Eddie Howe guided them to their first-ever Premier League season in 2015, a genuinely historic achievement for a provincial seaside club. After a brief relegation in 2020, they won the Championship again in 2021-22 and returned to the top flight. Under Andoni Iraola, appointed in June 2023, Bournemouth achieved their best-ever Premier League finish of 9th in 2024-25 with 56 points, establishing themselves as one of English football's most tactically progressive and overachieving clubs.