How was it to watch Derby 2 v 0 AFCB - live stream at Dean Court?

Damien Hill is one of my friends who has the misfortune to have a season ticket that's right next to Cherry Chimes, but on Tuesday night he was lucky enough to have secured one of the tickets to watch the Cherries play against Derby, not in his season ticket seat or at the iPRO stadium, but in the Balfour Suite at Dean Court. Here is his view of how the game was experienced, as the first AFCB live TV match to be streamed back to Dean Court for the fans to watch.

AFCB fans get their first taste of live stream football at Dean Court.

Having been to the impressive iPRO stadium last season and having to be at work on the Wednesday after the game against Derby at 5am I was pleased that this game was selected to be beamed back to Dean Court live, so fans could watch there.

The night was well run as a Black Label event.

The tables and chairs were all set out waiting for the first
fans to arrive in the Top Floor Restaurant.

The 1910 bar and Balfour Suite was gradually getting busier.

The club announced that it would be free of charge and the would open up the Balfour Suite and if demand was high the Top Floor Restaurant would be opened up as well. The Balfour sold out by Monday afternoon on the first day, and the restaurant by Wednesday lunchtime with all 500 tickets given to season ticket holders only.

AFCB were beamed back to Elland road when we played Leeds Utd on 16 September, and I spoke a Leeds fan Gareth Lally who went to Elland road as he couldn't get down to Dean Court to watch the game.

He was charged £10 for entry, but this included a Pie and a Drink and there was about 1000 supporters at the ground of all ages, they had a conference room with the live feed with LUTV providing the commentary, and with high demand they opened up Billys bar to allow the extra fans to watch. He enjoyed the experience and would do it again if it was made available but would much prefer to go to ground, so with my ticket I headed to Dean Court for 6pm to gain the full use of the bar and facilities our club has to offer and to see if our club could make good use of the stadium on a non-match day.

Everybody was keen to get a good view even if it meant sitting on someone's lap.

The match was also shown via a projector on a big screen.

I arrived at Dean Court just after 6pm and made my way to the Balfour Suite and there was a few people sat and ready to go already, so I picked my seat at a table and got a beer. The room had four large tables in the centre and not many other chairs around for people to sit on and with a slow steady stream this was okay until 7pm when most people started to arrive. The staff then produced some extra seats out of the store room and everyone was happy.

The rooms started filling up quickly.

The bar staff had a busy night.

We were told when we got our tickets that there was to be no sound and just a picture feed, but to our surprise we had a live feed from BBC Solent sport with Kris Temple and Willo giving us commentary. There was a separate area for people to sit and order food and there was the small TV's on the wall, so no matter where you sat in the room you could see the TV's or the large projection onto the stage area. The Top Floor Restaurant did not have a big screen but had several TV’s all around the room, so again good views all around. The atmosphere was slowing building and when the teams walked out a large arousing around of applause broke out with the “Come on Bournemouth!” bellowing out in the club.

The game began and we all sat and watched and hoped for a result to go in our favour and to come home with a point at least. During the game the TV was shouted at several times as expectations and hopes with hearts on our sleeves showed passion to win, pass, tackle and head every ball that we watched on the screens.

Half time came and the score was still 0-0 but a fair result and the plan was working, not too much from us, but the Cherries kept Derby at bay at the top of our box. The second half got under way and hopes were high.

Much discussion about the game took place and that disallowed goal. 

Goal!!! no wait, the ref has changed his mind, Camp sent off and free kick given instead, bizarre comes to mind, but it was still 0-0 and hope to hang on to for nearly half an hour down to 10 men. Nine minutes to go and Hughes broke our hearts and in extra time Martin sealed our fate to a 2-0 defeat!

Fans are glued to the action.

So the final whistle went and the crowd headed off home disappointed but a very enjoyable evening was had. The club will have made some money on this trial and I believe this is a good idea, as we all know that the club still needs an income on non-match days, and with 500 supporters using the bar and having food this can only be good for the club. We have a small but growing fan base and can't compete with Leeds who had 1400 at Dean Court and another 1000 back at Elland Road when their match was beamed back, but 500 people in my eyes is just the beginning and I'm sure AFCB will come up with a bigger and better option next time with more people being able to come. The atmosphere was good and to sit and watch our beloved Cherries with friends whilst drinking a beer and having some food is always for me a good evening.

The evening was a pretty big success with fans like Damien,
even if the Cherries didn't win on the night.

So would I go again? Yes, but You cant beat the atmosphere at a away fixture, so I would still travel to away grounds, but I like Gareth couldn’t make it to the ground, so this was a good replacement and with a few small tweeks, this will be a good adventure and hopefully a prosperous future for the club. UTCIAD!

There's always a pint on offer to drown your sorrows.