You can't reach the Premier League without investing

It is clear that clubs have to invest to make it to the Premier League and AFCB have had a helping hand with the financial backing of Maxim Demin. While the Daily Mail has reported that the Russian owner has stumped up around £25m in the form of loans the club was far from being a major spender in the Championship in the 2013-14 season. AFCB met the necessary Financial Fair Play regulations set for the Championship and a loss of £10.3m in the 2013-14 season will be swallowed up by the successes of the 2014-15 season, although further outlay will have been made in the second return season to the Championship. 

Dean Court has seen much improvement, but to reach the Premier League the club
needed to invest in players, training facilities and infrastructure to compete with the best teams.

Some will have seen Maxim's support as a gamble, but with the talent of Eddie Howe and his coaching staff and the quality of the players that are at AFCB it was more of a shrewd business decision to back a football club that was headed in the right direction. In the last season there has been player investment with Artur Boruc and Kenwyne Jones joining the club on loan and there have been wages to pay for last summer's free signings of Junior Stanislas and Dan Gosling. It has been sensible investment though and the sale of Lewis Grabban and funds from the Adam Lallana move from Southampton to Liverpool have to be noted as well for bringing finance into the club.

Moreover, Eddie Howe and Jeff Motsyn have reiterated how the club could not have got where they are now without the support of Maxim Demin. AFCB still has to operate according to its means and player recruitment we have already heard from Eddie Howe will not see him spending 'silly money', which is not his. It is now important as it always has been to bring the right players in for the right amount of money and the club has announced today that seven players are being released by the club - Ian Harte, Josh McQuoid, Benji Buchel, Joe Partington, Mohamed Coulibaly and Miles Addison, while Darryl Flahavan has asked to seek first team football elsewhere. 

Maxim Demin's financial support will not be forgotten by fans just as the club will not forget the fans that gave all they had to keep the club in business during the dark years. This is a new era and AFCB have the opportunity to secure the club's future. The wage bill is going to be bigger in the Premier League, but as long as the club structures its spending and keeps within its means I expect to see some additions in the next couple of months that will give AFCB every chance to fulfil its next dream of surviving and possibly thriving in the Premier League.

Finally, a big thanks to those players that are being released by the club who all made contributions to the team and all the best for the future.