Will small stadium size be a hinderance to the Cherries?

AFCB will be the smallest team in the Premier League for the 2015-16 season on fanbase as well as experience, but that needn't be a big handicap. There will still be 11 players versus another set of 11 players on the pitch and I suppose that over the last eight to nine years the Cherries have been a team that have been underdogs and have been fighting against problems that seemed insurmountable to other teams, and yet the Cherries have come through with the red flag flying higher than ever before.

Fans are used to being squeezed in at Dean Court.

Whether the wind in AFCB's flag is about to blow hard or will find it hard to flutter in the Premier League is something that nobody can really predict, although the bookies are putting AFCB at evens not to stay up. That is kind of how the Cherries like it. Write us off if you like, but don't be surprised if you see a team next season that destroys a few reputations on its way to a second season in the Premier League. The victory for the Cherries will come when the media stop talking about the size of Dean Court and the number of years that they have adorned the lower leagues, and start commenting on how well the players have adapted to life in the Premier League.

Eddie Howe has already said that his team will play in the same way that they have done over the past few years. It is something that AFCB fans are used to seeing and it will be more talked about than before, not only on the south coast but everywhere. Eddie Howe likes doing the impossible and his stock is going to be unbelievably high if he can keep the wins coming now. This summer is going to be vital to get everything right, but there are so many more challenges coming at the club as a whole that it is important that they don't change what has been successful for them in the past. Being small is one thing that has been a benefit so I don't mind holding on for that for a bit longer.

Dean Court's capacity to remain 11,700 for 2015-16

It did not take Neil Blake, AFCB's chief executive, that long to reach the conclusion that Dean Court could not be expanded in time to make the start of the 2015-16 season. While it would have been satisfying for everyone to have a bigger ground with more people able to see the games, making a bigger temporary stand would I suspect only have increased capacity for away fans and any improvements would have been taken with as a short term fix rather than a long term view of what can be achieved with the available space.

Dean Court is not the biggest of stadiums but it's
home and AFCB will make do with what it has.

The knowledge that the South stand is located on former waste ground seems to have been the final factor that just made it too difficult to sort out quickly, as further tests are needed for a larger permanent structure at that end of the ground. Neil Blake refers to this as, "one of the major stumbling blocks in our proposed plans."

The question now is whether the ground will be able to host larger crowds in 2016-17? Mr Blake said that: "If we are able to retain our place in the Premier League, stadium capacity will be a priority for the following season." 

Even that though would need testing to be done at some stage and plans will have to be advanced to create a stadium that would pass building regulations and safety standards if the club is to build during next summer when the time period to build I imagine would be from the end of May to the start of August. It would probably mean that any pre-season games next season would have to be held away from Dean Court, while this summer the ground may also be out of use with so many revisions needing to take place such as the underground heating, new pitch and expansion of the media section with hard wiring and new floodlights.

It's a lot to take on and as Jeff Mostyn indicated earlier in the month, this promotion allows the club to invest in the team and that will be a priority to try and retain Premier League status. It does mean that away fans will probably be restricted to around 1500-2000 fans while it will be important for AFCB fans who don't already have season tickets if there will be a number of seats available to new season ticket holders. The news on season tickets is said to be announced on 19 May 2015.

Dean Court will host AFCB's matches next season

Dean Court will host AFCB's games no matter what division they are in during 2015-16. That was the message that club chairman Jeff Mostyn was keen to share to dispel any thoughts of those who thought AFC Bournemouth might have believed that there would be issues with the stadium if AFCB were promoted to the Premier League.

While some decisions will have to be made about how to accommodate 100 press seats and perhaps up to 2000 away supporters for games, Jeff Mostyn was reported in the Bournemouth Echo as saying: "At this moment in time, no final decision has been made regarding the possibility of increasing the capacity."

We'll squeeze you all into Dean Court somehow.

Everything is up in the air and available for discussion if you will, and the Board will wait to see what happens in the remaining games of the 2014-15 season before making decisions on what possible ground improvements might be undertaken before the start of the 2015-16 season. Apparently there is no stipulation on the number of seats a ground should have in the Premier League and the floodlights and the press area appear to be top of the queue along with where to put away fans if the number does increase. But with AFCB not meeting its full capacity in all it's home games this season a decision on what is 10 per cent for an away allocation may be lower than many think.

I must admit that I am sure that the club will make the right decisions and consider all aspects fully if they need to, and as long as any criteria are met for TV and the Premier League it should be pleasing to most fans that Dean Court will be up to the task of hosting home matches next season. Over the summer we should hear more about what the club has been thinking of in terms of options on what happens on a match day at Dean Court, but I am just pleased that the idea of ground sharing is a complete no, no. 

In Jeff's words that was: "Finally, I can categorically confirm to supporters that irrespective of which division we are playing our football in next season, it will certainly be staged at Dean Court."

AFCB is starting to out grow Dean Court

For the first time on Saturday I could clearly see that on such days with big football matches Dean Court is really beginning to feel the strain. Okay, it's not every week that AFCB play Liverpool but you can see that there is trouble ahead. It is beginning to look ever clearer that the club is starting to out grow the ground which is something that I didn't think would happen so quickly. AFCB has managed in the Championship when big teams have come down, but you can see that if the club went up another division it would not be able to sustain itself with a crowd of 12,000.

The Goldsands stadium was packed from early on Saturday.

While AFCB could have drawn a team like Liverpool at any stage of their previous 13 years or so since the new Fitness First and then Goldsands stadium has been built, it has rarely happened that a side has caused the ground to basically bulge at the seams. But that was the case on Saturday. The electronic hoardings were cramped in down the edges of the pitch, cameras had to be marooned in islands of seats and the car park had to be very carefully managed. As we left the ground it took almost an hour just to get to Wessex Way!

Is there a way to expand Dean Court while improving
traffic congestion around the ground?

The frustration of drivers and local residents will be hard to contain if and when this happens regularly and as a supporter I want the club to do well and to be able to host big football matches. We already know that the Legends Bar was closed in part because the team needed the extra space for match preparation and Hot radio is similarly under pressure to remain at the stadium. We also heard that Jeff Mostyn is looking at plans for a new slip road exit to the Wessex Way to ease congestion from the ground.  A new slip road appears to be heading up the agenda.

In such circumstances buying the stadium back may not be such a priority unless a new stadium with a bigger capacity can be built on the same land. Otherwise AFCB may find that it is looking for a new home and I got the feeling that such a consideration is not a wild pipe dream but a possibility that the club has to take seriously in the next few years. Success brings growth and we know that the Liverpool game could have been sold out two or three times over. But such new stadiums take years to get planning permission for and are fraught with costly planning applications, delays and possibly years when AFCB is still trying to fill a new stadium with enough supporters. 

Standing room at the edges.

Moreover, who would fund the project? Would Maxim Demin and his fellow board members support such a venture? We only have to look at Brighton's Amex stadium to know that such new stadiums are difficult to build, but in the long run it may be the option that the club ultimately goes for. At the moment the temporary stand at the South end is evidence that Dean Court is still in transition, but will expanding that stand to the same size as the North stand itself create problems over more numbers coming through the turnstiles?

There will come a tipping point when some kind of action is taken. The first has already begun with all available space at Dean Court being carefully monitored and ensuring that best is made of all resources at the club. The car parking is an ongoing discussion with local residents and the council as AFCB would still like to make use of all the space by the ground. It is evacuating the immediate vicinity of the ground that is the problem when there is a capacity crowd. I wish I knew the answers but there are cleverer people than me working on this aspect of AFCB every day I would imagine.

While it would break my heart to leave Dean Court I can clearly see the need for the situation to improve as the club continues to grow with more potential supporters becoming aware that they have an excellent footballing side on their doorstep.  

BREAKING NEWS: AFCB appear to be making a bid for Yann Kermorgant of Charlton Athletic.

Vocal home crowds are crucial to AFCB

There were signs last weekend that the home crowd were very dismayed and disillusioned about the way the team gave away possession and did not compete strongly enough against a very determined and skillful Blackburn Rovers team that made life very difficult for the Cherries, pressing them high up the pitch. The North stand really tried to pick everyones' spirits up in the second half, but sitting in the Family stand, I could not hear much support getting behind the lads when they were three nil down. It was as if the wind had been sucked out of us and certainly there was an inevitability about the result.

While the team will have games at home when it is up against it the crowd really do have to make up the 12th man. When Dean Court is in full voice it is a passionate place to be. I felt that within 10 minutes of the game starting Blackburn Rovers supporters were giving as good as they got and before long they were giving their team an extra lift. I am hoping that today the fans really can get behind the team from the start. We have to have that passion and enthusiasm in this league. If we go quiet it will play into the hands of the opposition.

In some ways it shows you that we are not used to seeing a team come to our ground and play us off the park. We expect the Cherries to win our home games and the disappointment when they don't is really heart felt, but as fans we have to give that bit more. This is a much harder league than League One and the teams AFCB are up against will come to quieten the crowd and keep the ball. We have to be noisy and stop their fans having an impact on the game. We are in this as much as the players and the staff. If we do our part the players will feel it easier to put in a positive performance. Let's make the Goldsands stadium a difficult place for any team to come to.

Eddie Howe spoke about the during the week . We need to stay with the team, sing for 90 minutes and help them to a vital win. If you are going today sing up. Give the team your full support. We have a couple of players that are new and on loan so they need to settle quickly. If we can remind Millwall of their last away game they could buckle, so let's put them under pressure.

AFCB home form:
WWLWL

Millwall Away form:
LDDWL
 

You can now read up on Millwall FC, the next visitors to Dean Court. Our Rival Lines feature offers a chat with Merv Payne who is a regular writer for Sabotage Times. He discusses Millwall's sudden improvement under Steve Lomas.

Send in your match predictions before 9am and I'll post as many as I can. We actually had two Leeds fans get the result right in the week so let's see if we can get a Cherries win and some correct scores today.

The good life for AFC Bournemouth - back in the Championship

Having been feeling a little down after the result at the weekend I thought it might be nice to give everyone a bit of a pick up. Just to remind you all AFC Bournemouth had a great start to their 2013/14 Championship season with a 2:1 victory against Charlton Athletic at the Goldsands stadium on 3 August 2013.

As a bit of fun I took a few shaky video moments of the day Cherry Chimes had with Robert and Stephen starting off with a few moments down at Boscombe Pier, before making the trip up to the Goldsands stadium to see the team arrive. You may spot a few players and supporters you know in and amongst the footage.

I don't have the tripods and high tech gadgetry to make a professional video, but I hope you like what I did manage to capture.  It was always going to be a historic day for the club after such a long wait to get back to the Championship. UTCIAD! 

I am sure you all enjoyed things two weeks ago let's hope for another victory for the Cherries today.

This video can not be viewed in Germany.

Almost time to check the half time scores

I am probably a cheap skate some would say. I do have a smart phone, but it rarely comes out of its holder unless I have nearby internet access with the chance to get on the web and have the opportunity to tweet some things. It's pay as you go for me! That means at half time I am probably peering over your shoulder at your phone for which you have paid a fortune for full internet access, as you happily check out those all important half time scores.

Am I jealous? Yes of course I am. I can still learn about those scores the old fashioned way and that's either by waiting for the stadium announcer to clear his lungs and throat before reeling off the scores at such a quick rate that I just about manage to work out if our nearest rivals are winning or not. How much information I retain is questionable at this point, because I am probably balancing a bag on my lap, with a note pad and pen in hand, as well as hunting for the drink or chocolate bar that Robert or Stephen have asked me to find for them. Not to worry. I can always circumnavigate my way down the stairs from row O to A, before shimmying past the crowds with their burgers and phones in their hands to the space under the main stand where I can squint at the main TV screens, held up high for every one to see. I say squint, I usually forget to take my glasses, which is a bit silly if you are short sighted!

If I still haven't been able to work out what is happening in the other games, I usually bring my trusted digital radio, which picks up a slightly distant BBC Radio Solent. Only, oh no! They've finished the scores and are now telling us that its everybody's birthday at the Goldsands stadium or even worse they are updating listeners on the Saints being ahead in their game!

So how can I manage to get those half time scores? I have the answer, if you won't let me peer at your phone. Mr Mitchell, please can you give us all free wireless internet access at Dean Court for the duration of the game? It's a long shot, I know, but if you put all those half time scores on our official AFCB website next to the live blog, perhaps that is where we will go to check the scores? Either that or I'll have to save up for a better phone contract.

I know, get out of the Stone Age Peter!   

Ground safety should always be a priority

Ground safety is something that came to mind at the weekend when we went to the Matchroom Stadium. Leyton Orient have a fairly old stand in Brisbane Road for the away supporters and it made me think how lucky we are to have our new facilities at AFCB.

It did not escape anybodies attention on Saturday that we had an intricate set of passage ways leading to our wooden stairs and seats. No doubt fans have been sitting on those seats to watch football matches for many years. Once a few people decided to stand at the weekend's game it made it pretty well compulsory for every Cherry supporter to get to their feet to see the match. I'm not annoyed at this, it was just a fact.

Security at the game had been pretty tight apparently because a few games ago, when Crawley Town visited Leyton Orient, some of the Crawley fans let off a flare. I can imagine that that this could be a very bad idea in a stand that is made almost entirely of wood. Anyway, a few minutes of bag searching at the gate is no big deal. I wonder in the good old days if they used to let people smoke in that stand?

Of course a lot of effort is being made by AFCB to ensure that everyones' match day experience at the Goldsands Stadium is a pleasant and a safe one. The seating in the Family stand is superb in comparison to many league grounds at our level and at least we have concrete floors. Safety around the ground has also been stepped up another level with the new walkway to the ground along side of the car park, leading to Gloucester Road. At least you don't have to dodge the cars, at the end of the match, any more.


Fans track across the newly laid path way at AFCB

However, I am not so sure about the reasoning for now only having one exit from the car park. Traffic congestion on match day is pretty bad with so many cars and I wonder what the future plans for cars are if we do have the opportunity to build a new North stand at the ground? I imagine that the car parks near the ground will become busier as well as the residential streets. Perhaps our Chairman will pull out a new set of plans for a multi-storey car park - just kidding. I don't think it would be very easy to get that one past the Council.

Still, I am sure that the club is well aware of such issues if we have bigger crowds and more capacity at Dean Court in the future. Eddie Mitchell has already made several comments in recent weeks saying how he wants the club to work with local residents to keep parking problems to a minimum. I hope the club can keep finding solutions to everyones' satisfaction.

How do you feel about car parking now at AFCB?