AFCB posts its message loud and clear

I was scanning the Internet to see what might have popped up on AFCB in the last few hours only to find a message 'writ' large as they say in Landsdowne. The club's official message to the people of Bournemouth is really being laid down to come out and support your local club.

The new banner poster reads "Anything is possible" and I share the club's optimism although I predict a Championship finish next season of somewhere between 10-15 for the Cherries. I don't see that as being a bad return for the first season back in the Championship and I have no misconception about the largeness of the task facing the team, Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall. Of course, I hope I am wrong and see AFCB fly to the top of the table.

Getting a message out to new supporters is what this season should be all about though. I think it is a smart move naming the South stand after Ted MacDougall as it links the past history of the club and may make some of those who used to come decide that they should really come down again and look at how the club has developed. How much the Real Madrid match will have done to get the message out there is incalculable at the moment but you would not have been able to avoid all the commotion about it if you lived within a few hundred miles of Bournemouth.

The club is doing well though at appealing to all kinds of people, young, old, families, the new people to the area and above all the waverers who are not sure if they should come or not. Those are the potential fans that I would like us to tap into as they have heard all about AFCB and Eddie Howe, Real Madrid and new stand developments, but they are not sure if they would enjoy watching a match. If we get them to the ground once, they are likely to return. Could we get back to the crowds of the 1970s? I would say if things go well in the next five seasons and we remain in the Championship or higher, AFCB could become one of the main clubs of choice to come and see a game on the south coast.