Cherries' Away days - Liverpool was epic - we out sang the Kop!

My good friend Damien Hill recounts his away trip as an AFC Bournemouth fan to one of the greatest grounds in England - Anfield. Here is his account. Big thanks Damien!

Destination Anfield to watch AFC Bournemouth.

If you are like me, you would have been watching or listening to Sky Sports News on the 17th June to find out our fixtures and the first one I was looking for was Liverpool away. Great it was going to be in the summer holidays and hoping we had enough points, it was a definite - I'll be going and taking my son Deklan too.

So I was straight on net to book a hotel as I didn't fancy the drive back after the game, a few weeks later and oh hang on! Sky, have now changed the date to the Monday night, so a quick phone call to the hotel and we changed the date. Phew!

So the road trip begins, having gone on the coach to Tranmere Rovers (7 long hours of a numb bum) and as we were staying overnight, we decided to drive up. So myself, Deklan, Joe and Steve “the Sweeney Barber” Young left Bournemouth at 8am on the Monday morning as wanting to experience the whole build up and visit the club shop, go around the ground and head into town. We had to leave early.

So the roads were clear and in no time at all we were in Oxford and the first question from my son might have been expected: “Are we there yet”! “ NO!!” came the reply but it was a chance for a quick stop. Back on the road we discussed the possible line up and to predict the score line (failed on both counts) but the day would not be ruined by any score line as this was a history making day and we were going to enjoy and embrace it. “Are we there yet?” rang out again from the back of the car, so another stop was in order but we were now well up the road on the M6 toll road. We stopped at the services for a quick bite to eat, because as soon as we would arrive in Liverpool we had one overriding ambition - to head straight for the ground.

Watch out, Cherries fans on the road again.

So we made it to the ground, passing Everton’s Goodison Park first and parked up a side street about 1pm, so not bad 5hrs with two stops. Having done a stadium tour last year and visited the museum, we walked around the ground taking in the new development and looking at the memorials for the Hillsborough and Heysel tragedies.

There are more pictures on Match Day Gallery.

Football fans will never forget them.

Rest in peace.

Soaking up the atmosphere and the sun we headed into the shop to see what was on offer, well we have a long way to go before our club shop will have so much history to sell, but this is the start of our future and hopefully a past to remember, and for Barry and the club shop to get ideas of merchandise that people would buy, lots of retro kits, photos, clothing, mugs, sweets, NEW kits! (hint, hint) sweets and so much more. As we didn't want to carry any bags in during the game, we purchased our items and decided we would leave them at the hotel. So we headed to our hotel and got lost in the city's flyovers and after a couple of laps around we finally made it. After quickly stashing the bags and a joyous bounce on the bed! (mainly Deklan) we headed into to the city for some shopping ( ladies if you have never been to Liverpool, you need a weekend here shopping) as the hour or so we spent looking around was not enough, but having been here before Deklan only wanted to visit the Lego store. 

The Paisley Gates.

Deklan really did try out the bed - glad he took his shoes off.

Having made his purchase and dad wanting to get something for his dry throat, we headed over to the Albert Docks for a drink and another bite to eat. What was nice is that everywhere we went the locals were friendly and showed us support and even wished us well, well the blue ones did! And all the taxi drivers have a story to tell and to tell you, which players they have had in the back of the cab, etc. [Ed - I bet if they had Stirling in the back they might have also got lost in the flyovevers - might have had a bit to say to him].

Down at the docks.

The Pump House.

Time for a drink.

It's all friendly on Merseyside so far.

Hope the players don't have to get to the ground on one of these.

Having made it to the Pump house which buy now had a good showing of cherry fans we had a couple of shandy’s   [Ed - few beers more like!] and soaked up the sun, and watched the world go by. "Okay, lets go!" was the shout and after a quick return visit to the hotel we made our way to the ground getting there for just after 6pm, mingling with all the fans outside and looking at all the stalls on the pavements - and yes, it was finally sinking in that we were playing Liverpool, in the Premier League and that we were part of that. We walked past all the players' cars and made our way down to the away end and started to queue. Just before 7pm the gates opened and we headed to our seats. The build up began and the keepers came out to train and the team followed after to an arousing round of applause and “Eddie’s Howe barmy army!”

Shankley's statue - now we're talking.

Then the moment I wanted to hear, and my son, for the first time is "You’ll never walk alone!" rings out. And the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, but wait all I can hear is our fans singing and sing with all of their hearts and sing they did all through the game. What a night even though the result didn't go our way, to say I was there, I out sung the Kop, it was something that will stay with me forever and to share it with my son was amazing. After the game we headed back to the hotel for a good nights sleep. When we got up, we had our breakfast and had just finished when the fire alarm sounded and everyone had to evacuate, but not before Damo grabbed a cup of tea and a cake and few people had grabbed a towel to spare their dignity.

Bit of injustice in the final score line, but we live to fight another day.

Amazed to see a cup of tea rather than a pint in hand!

False alarm! And after a 10 or so minutes and no fire brigade we were allowed back in. We finished packing our bags and started our journey home. All I can say is, it was a day I will never forget and it was a day I thought would never happen. The people of Liverpool were friendly and hopefully they will remember how lucky they have been, as I never thought I'd see the Kop begging for the final whistle to go so much when they were playing against AFCB.

If you fancy having a crack at writing an away match trip to a big Premier League ground this year you are welcome to send them in, especially if you have a very eventful trip. 

It's a special evening when you can spend it with your heroes

Last night some of you may know that it was the players' shirt sponsors evening at Dean Court and Cherry Chimes along with many other player sponsors had the opportunity to meet and mingle with the AFCB squad and to just enjoy the moment of being among our heroes. Eddie Howe was his beaming self and full of admiration not only for his team and staff, but also for all the supporters who have stuck with the club through the good and bad times this season.

Cherry Chimes meets Mohamed Coulibaly and poses for a photo.

As one of the sponsors of Mohamed Coulibaly it was not long before my name was called out for a photo call with Mo and two of my invited guests, Damien Hill who has written a few times as a guest blogger, and fellow season ticket holder in the Family stand, and Michael Dunne, who also sits next to my family as a season ticket holder, and is the author of the famous All Departments podcasts and View From the Stands. We hurried out on to the veranda where club photographer Steve Cook snapped the moment for the archives, but thanks to Mike we also took a few unofficial photos which you can see here. 

And, yes I did get Mo to sign the shirt - star struck!

The night passed very quickly and we had a fabulous time seated at a table with Mo and Eunan O'Kane. I'll admit we were hopeless at the quiz although Matt Ritchie knows just about everything when it comes to who's who and we were firmly put in our place by Mike Botto's table! 

We found out that Coulibaly is still working on his fitness and feels that he is still some way behind where he would like to be but still hopes that he can make a squad appearance again before the end of the season - I jested that scoring the winner at Wembley in the play-off final would be okay with me. He seemed very excited about the team's prospects as did Tommy Elphick and many of the others and it was good to hear them feeling confident that they will go into the next few games with the possibility of really trying to make some dreams come true.

Sponsors and guests are seated ready to meet their AFCB idols.

I can't tell you too many secrets but It was great to see that the players were happy to be open and in the presence of a group of fans who were loving every moment of the evening.

Eddie Howe got up to answer a few questions from Mike Botto, one being which game did he feel was the best performance this season? Eddie pointed to two games in particular that probably turned the season around. He picked the Reading away game as the one that had the biggest impact for the squad and he also felt that the team played extremely well in the Brighton away match.I remember that day - boy did we get wet! "The support has been crucial," he said. "In the home games the crowd have ignited the players and in the away games the support has reached another level this season."

Eddie and Tommy Elphick are questioned by Mike Botto.
A special mention  for Mr Botto - good luck in your
walk Mike from Blandford Forum before the Sheffield Wednesday match on Friday.

Eddie also praised the unity of the club and acknowledged that we have a special club where players and supporters can meet on nights like this. Eddie said he had thoroughly enjoyed the night and I can say from the fans point of view that opinion was well and truly shared.

Some of the players catch a bit of the evening sun before the meal.

Four men who are certainly massive heroes to AFCB fans -
a relaxed Eddie Howe, Jason Tindall, Stephen Purches and Steve Fletcher. 

This afternoon I'll be chatting with Owls Alive as we ramp things up for the visit of Sheffield Wednesday - make sure you come back and Cherry Chimes later - it's a good one. UTCIAD!

Is Dean Court soon going to be too small for the Cherries?

Having recovered from his exploits of writing up his away day excursion to the Leeds United away game earlier this season, Damien Hill is back and has another guest writer's piece on Cherry Chimes. This time he is looking to get away from Dean Court again, and it may be a permanent move away from home for all of us if the Cherries can one day reach the Premier League. With the closing of the Legend's Cafe this week and the need for more space at Dean Court, perhaps Damien has a point.

Over to you Damien!

With the recent England ladies 6-0 world cup qualifier against Belarus and the up coming event of England school boys U16 victory shield game against Northern Ireland at Dean Court, on Friday 8th  November, it is exciting times to be a football fan here in Bournemouth. Not only do we have championship football here at our stadium, but we can watch the future stars perform the skills and entertain us.

Legends cafe 

Running out of space?

I remember going to Wembley stadium to watch these games back in the early 1980's and although the stadium was not full there was always a fairly good turn out and hopefully there will be a big crowd for the game and another chance for Dean Court to be show cased on Sky TV again.

With Jeff Mostyn now as chairman hopefully we will get more of these sort of high profile international games at Dean Court. Also it's not just football that has graced the stadium, the one and only Sir Elton John has performed on the hallowed turf and as football now has a massive global market the opportunities are endless.

I work for a leading super market and we often use the Exeter Chief's rugby corporate facilities and conference rooms to hold various meetings, so it's not just about football anymore at football grounds which leads me to the question of is Dean Court too small? We all have to look at the bigger picture and hopefully this year or in the next couple of years the mighty Cherries will be promoted to the Premier League and then, Yes, it will be too small.

View from the corner of the Ted MacDougall and West stand.

View from the car park before the Ted MacDougall stand went up..

So where do we go and how big does the ground have to be? It's not just about the football bringing in the money anymore, we have to offer a variety of options, not forgetting the possibilities of a hotel at the ground. So what size of ground would we need? Looking at some of our nearest clubs, 30,000 is a minimum I believe that we need as a premiership club. It might not always be full but you need bums on seats for revenue and turnover because if you limit it to 20,000 I believe you are then restricting the income you can receive and you would then limiting your options.
Most of us do not want to move away from Dean Court but we need to if we are to move forward and wake this sleeping giant inside the club, as I believe we now have the best chance to do this with the best management, chairman and with the financial backing from Maxim Demin, the club needs to move to a new stadium.

This could be the scene more often outside the 1910 club.

If you are a Cherry fan that wants to write an article on Cherry Chimes you are welcome to get in contact with me at cherrychimesblog@gmail.com  
It is great to hear from other fans and what's more I get a day off then!  Many thanks to Damien for his contribution.

Please look out for Cherry Chimes answers to being interviewed by Leicester City FC World. A safe journey to Leicester if like us you are travelling up north today. I'm going for a 1:3 away win despite Leicester's impressive home win. We want to beat one of these big sides well away from home so I'm backing Eddie's lads to do it today. UTCIAD!

AFCB's team spirit was clearly evident at Elland Road

While Leeds came away with the points at Elland Road, it was AFCB that looked to most as by far the stronger outfit. There were times during the game when the Cherries played their beautiful football. Okay, in the first half they were really stretched when Leeds pushed hard after missing the penalty, but for much of the game it was the Cherries that were playing the clever football and with 10-men. 

Far from letting their heads go down, the team dug in with 10-men and probably deserved something out of the game. That team spirit though will see them do okay this season in my opinion. Teams that struggle don't fight like that. They don't pass the ball as well as that and they don't continue to play that well without picking up points.

As the game went on, Collison was heard more and more and when Surman entered the game he acted as the main pivotal spearhead for the team to work the ball around. Eddie Howe also pulled Grabban and Rantie to play closer to each other in the second half and in Grabban, AFCB certainly have a striker who is in great form.

Usually I feel pretty downhearted after a defeat, but I think I am starting to see where AFCB are in this league. You don't always beat those teams that you are better than, but in the course of the season you will probably end up with more points. The fight was there against Leeds and the players wanted to prove that they can be a match for anyone in the Championship. Good on them for showing how good they are. Now they need to recover quickly because the next match is not far away. 

Do read Damien's Hill's post earlier this week on his Leeds excursion if you have not already. It really gives you a perspective on what it is like to go on an away day with the AFCB supporters coach and there are some great pictures of Elland Road . I heard he did not get back home until gone 3am!

Damien's Leeds excursion - beware AFCB fan on the road!

Damien Hill gives us the full experience of travelling up to Leeds in an away day special for him as an AFCB supporter. Five and a half hours on the coach there and the same again on the way back! And he's written this report for Cherry Chimes. Damien is also the guest tonight on All Departments' Kangeroo Court. He should be shattered.


Some one told me Leeds was a long way away - well north of Kinson!

Kings Park fills up with AFCB supporters.

As soon as I heard the tickets were on sale for the away trip to Leeds I rushed down to Dean Court to get mine. I don't often go to away games due to work and family commitments, but this one was on my list of grounds to visit and I was going. I paid for my ticket and booked a seat on the supporters bus.

At 12:30 we were due to leave, so I made my way to the ground at 12pm as I only live across the road at Kings Park. A quick visit to the club shop and then queue for the bus. The bus arrived and the names were checked off, like passengers boarding a palmair flight at Bournemouth and I took to my seat with the daunting prospect of a 5 1/2 coach journey. As I had only booked 1 seat I was waiting nervously to see who was going to share this journey with me, hello mate my names Damien I said, Damian he said "yes" I replied "no" he said my names Damian, well that broke the ice and we both got chatting about the one thing we had in common apart from our names, the love for AFCB.

Is that the bus driver trying to get off already?

1 hour went past, then two, then three hours, ouch my back is killing me but soon we would be making a pit stop at Warwick . Great, 45 mins to stretch the legs and get some fodder. Back on the bus and back on the road, only 2 1/2 hours to go!

Quick stop, then back on the coach.

We made it and news had filtered through about the new signing Jack Collison and all the talk then turned to team formation and selection, who would miss out and who would play. We got to the ground just after 6:20pm and headed for the nearest pub, sorry home fans only we were told (should have paid more attention to Rival Lines) so a quick walk around the ground and then made our way in. Nothing fancy in the away end just a bar and toilets, so after a quick pint or too we took to our seats, well we stood up all game. "We are Bournemouth, we stand were we want" was the chant to the police and stewards. 

Billy Bremner - now he could tackle or was it foul?

Elland Road - impressive.

Gosh! It really is north of Kinson.

I don't know where to sit.

Plenty of space then.

Corner seating.

The big screen.

Here we go!

The teams line up.

Come on you Reds!

The ground wasn't full but the Bournemouth faithful were in full voice and out singing the Leeds fans with some good banter going on. The game kicked off and we looked settled and not stage struck and were playing some neat if not penatrating football. Off, off! is the cry from the home fans, one on one with Allsop and Allsop takes out the forward, penalty red card! Oh no 10-men again, Frazer goes off ( surprise to us in the ground) and Flavhavan comes on as sub. He saves it and the rebound is cleared, we go mad and the atmosphere is electric and the banter continues to the home team. 

15mins to hold out until half time. We made it half time and 0-0. Second half kicks off and we are battling hard but a few mistakes and tired legs we give the ball away a bit to easy and oh no they scored! We get back into full voice and try and cheer the ball into their net, then the cry comes "Noddy, noddy give us a song". "Red Army!" comes the reply and for about 5 minutes Noddy gave his all at "red army" and we all followed, he'll stop in a minute we thought but no he carried on and on but wait Grabban is through we scored! The travelling faithful goes wild and there is a god! 

A quick check of the impressive score board (we want one of these please AFCB) and we have 17 minutes to hang on. Batten down the hatches, keep the ball do what ever it takes we deserve a point here. But no we can't clear our lines and it's 2-1, with 10 minutes to go but still we cheer and chant " Barmy Army" we push forward searching for the equaliser but to no avail the final whistle goes. We played well in this game but going down to 10-men is always going to hurt you and we battled hard but little mistakes cost at this level and we must learn from this, yes disappointed with the result but positive about our future. In EH we trust.

It's not to be but the boys put everything into it tonight.

Not the score we wanted to see after 90 minutes.

We are not downhearted.

AFCB 'til we die!

Eddie applauds AFCB the supporters.

Damien's player AFCB Ratings: 
Allsop 5 (Flavhavan 7), Francis 5, Cook 8, Ward 8 Harte 7, Pugh 6, O' Kane 6, Collison 7, Rantie 5, Grabban 6, Surman 7, Pitman 6 - Oh and I almost forgot the 5 1/2 hour coach journey home, what will we talk about! 

Cherry Chimes comment -  Hang on Harte got a 7 - I mean a SEVEN! Well done Ian.

AFCB fans: sang their hearts out - all heroes 10 out of 10.

Thanks for the great report Damien. If any Cherry fans would like to write a report for Cherry Chimes at any of the away games this season, give me an email bellp2103@gmail.com 

I won't be able to make all the away games, so if you can add to Cherry Chimes by writing your away day experience we can share it with many more AFCB fans. Every one benefits, because we all live and breathe AFCB - UTCIAD!

AFCB mascot joy for Deklan Hill

I have always been pleased to offer up the chance for fellow AFCB supporters to come on Cherry Chimes and tell us something about the club if they have had a valuable experience or have something to share and I'm pleased to say today I can have a day off! Damien Hill, who sits next to me in the Family Stand (poor him) has finally given in to my demands and has kindly written the following piece on the day his son, Deklan, had as an AFCB mascot at a recent match. It should give those wondering how the day is organised a little more idea of the kind of time that their son or daughter will have as well as the proud parents. Here's Deklan's story told by his dad.

Wow, meeting the players in the changing room before the game.
Deklan and the other mascots fill their autograph books.

Deklan's day to remember

My son's birthday was in September and due to the international break there was no game on his birthday weekend, so we booked for him to be the mascot at the home game verses Blackpool. We booked as soon as the fixtures were released as we heard that places can quickly sell out and to make sure we got this fixture.

We are season ticket holders in the family stand, Deklan, Andy (nephew) and myself, and we enjoy going to the games. My wife (Nelia) wanted to come to the game as she had never seen our beloved AFCB play, so after a little persuasion of upgrading Andy's ticket, the wife was able to go.

We had a confirmation letter from the the club to be at the ground for 1 O'clock to meet at the players entrance, and as Nelia had never been before we arrived at the ground for 12:30 so she could meet all the players, as they arrived and to have a walk around the club shop, and to look at the wall of fame, behind the east stand (she actually new some of the faces on the wall to my surprise!). 

So with 1 O'clock fast approaching, we made our way back to the players entrance where we were greeted by an AFCB official and were told to wait inside the red barrier, which made Deklan feel very proud and important. Here we were told that Deklan and the other mascots would go inside the changing rooms to meet the players, and to get their autographs and pictures taken with their favourite player, this would take about 1/2 an hour, so the parents had time to get a coffee and a beer in the Legends Bar.

Deklan with Tommy Elphick.

When we returned to pick Deklan up, he had been given a goodie bag with a programme, pen and autograph book, of which he had filled with all of the players signatures. Not surprisingly, he had the biggest smile on his face that you could imagine. 

We were then told to come back at 2 O'clock and Deklan would go inside the stadium before being taken onto the pitch to play football. The it would be an even more exciting moment for him a bit  later when he would come out of the tunnel with the players before joining into the line up on the pitch and shaking hands with all the Blackpool players, just  moments before the kick-off. So at 2 O'clock we left him once again and made our way into the ground to watch the players warm up and to see Deklan have his kick around on the pitch.

Deklan and other mascots have a knock about before kick-off.

Deklan was having fun with all the other mascots and Cherry Bear playing football and then it was time to go into the tunnel, wait for music to start and to come out with the players. Nelia and I eagerly took to our seats and waited to see the teams come out. With the wife and crowd in full voice (taught her a few songs before we left home) the teams entered the field and Deklan lead the team out with Simon Francis, as Tommy was on the bench, mum had a little tear in here eye and one proud dad as pleased as punch stood happy cheering on. Deklan then had his photo taken with the captains, referee and other mascots and was then shown back to his seat with us to watch the game.

On to the pitch with Simon Francis leading the team out.

Deklan shakes hands with the Blackpool players.

All the mascots and Cherry Bear.

The referee, assistant referees and captains join in.

The result didn't go our way as we lost 1-2 but that didn't spoil our day and we all went home happy and wait eagerly for the Football League Show to see Deklan on the TV, leading out the team. A great day was had by all and it was a day Deklan will always remember. Thank you AFCB for the memory stick, full of pictures, that we received in the post and for a wonderful day.