Bournemouth renamed itself to top the alphabet, then climbed the leagues
In 1971 a small Dorset club chose a new name partly so it would appear first in alphabetical lists of English teams. For decades that was about as high as AFC Bournemouth got. Then, after two spells in administration, a young manager led it from the fourth tier to the Premier League in six years.
The club took shape in the autumn of 1899 from the remnants of Boscombe St. John's Institute, playing first as Boscombe in a local junior league. In 1910 local businessman J. E. Cooper-Dean granted a long lease on wasteland beside Kings Park, and the ground was named Dean Court in his honour; the team still plays there. The nickname, the Cherries, probably comes from cherry-red striped shirts, though some say the neighbouring Cooper-Dean estate was full of cherry trees.
Renamed Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in 1923, the club joined the expanded Third Division South that year and lost its first league match 3–1 at Swindon. It then stayed in that division for 35 years, and it remains on record as the longest continuous member of the Third Division. The first trophy as a league club came after the Second World War, beating Walsall in the Third Division South Cup at Stamford Bridge. The switch to AFC Bournemouth came for the 1971–72 season, kept the initials for Athletic Football Club, and a year later brought a badge honouring 1950s striker Dickie Dowsett heading the ball.
The following decades swung between divisions, including a Third Division title in 1986–87. Financial trouble hit hard, with administration in 1997 and again in 2008, when the club also dropped into League Two. At the end of that year it appointed Eddie Howe, who delivered three promotions in six years: runners-up in League Two in 2009–10, runners-up in League One in 2012–13 and Championship winners in 2014–15, taking Bournemouth into the top flight for the first time.
Five Premier League seasons ended in relegation in 2020, but Scott Parker led the club back as Championship runners-up in 2022. Under Andoni Iraola it then finished sixth in 2025–26, its best league placing ever, earning a first Europa League campaign.
Source: AFC Bournemouth
