Celebrating 20 Years of The Vitality Stadium

AFC Bournemouth fans have witnessed ups, downs, and everything in-between but this year will be a jubilant one. The Cherries find themselves one point off the top of the Championship however the prospect of promotion will not be the only reason for elation as the club will be celebrating 20 years since the Vitality was completely rebuilt, which helped to create the stadium that you can see today.

The Boscombe based club have been on a rollercoaster of a journey since the stadium was re-opened in November 2001; when the stadium was reopened after the start of the 2001/02 season, Bournemouth were in the Second Division of The Football League.

The work done on Dean Court – the original name for the stadium – was very impressive. The pitch was rotated 90 degrees and the whole ground was moved away from near-by houses. The work was not finished in time for the beginning of the 2001/02 season, so the club’s first eight games were played in Dorchester at Avenue Stadium.

The stadium was finally reopened for a 3-0 win against Wrexham on November 10th where it gained its first sponsored name as it became the Fitness First Stadium. Despite it being built as a three-sided stadium with a capacity of 9,600, they placed seats on the empty south stand in 2005. The south stand was eventually built in 2013 after the club’s promotion to the Championship; the stand was named the Ted MacDougall Stand in recognition of his service to the club.

Ted MacDougall was a prolific Scottish striker who joined The Cherries for just £10,000 in 1969; he scored 126 in just 165 appearances for the club. In 1971, MacDougall set an FA Cup record that still stands today when he scored nine goals in an 11-0 win against Margate. The Scotsman eventually left Bournemouth in 1972 when he was sold to Manchester United for £200,000 – at the time this was a 3rd Division record.

Craig Beazley, an AFC Bournemouth fan who runs his own YouTube channel, said his favourite moment at The Vitality was: “Winning against Bolton in the penultimate game of the 2014/15 season to promote the club to the Premier League” because of the “pure elation” that cascaded around the stadium when the full-time whistle blew.

He also went onto say that despite it being criticized by other clubs, his favourite thing about the stadium was its size because: “the atmosphere can be unique and amazing”.

Something that annoyed Mr Beazley was that he wanted more fans in the stadium however he was keen to make it clear that he: “Wouldn’t be for leaving but we may have to”. He thought of some extravagant ideas as he went on to say he was: “Open to a ground share with Poole Town” which would involve a new-build ground because he thought they may be able to get a grant from the FA to help fund it. However, this would be extremely unlikely due to Poole Town playing in the seventh tier of English football.

The Vitality Stadium has had a wonderful effect on the community as the stadium is not only used by the men’s team but the women’s as well. The pitches on the side of the stadium are used by Steve Cuss’ women’s team for training.

The 20-year anniversary of The Vitality’s rebuild highlights the sense of community that AFC Bournemouth have created. Community can be measured by the compassionate actions of its members, and this is only emphasised by the way the club has rallied around David Brooks following his diagnosis of stage two Hodgkin Lymphoma.

AFC Bournemouth isn’t just a club, it’s a family.