Tiny Bournemouth secure EPL promotion

By Nabil Hassan - BBC Sport


Bournemouth fans sang the Match of the Day theme tune as they celebrated during the game

Bournemouth all but promoted to Premier League
Three points and 19 goals ahead of Middlesbrough
South-coast club were minutes from liquidation in 2008
Title race with Watford goes down to final day


Bournemouth effectively sealed a £100m promotion to the Premier League - just seven years after the south-coast club almost went out of business.
Victory over Bolton took the Cherries three points clear of third-placed Middlesbrough with just one game left.
Only defeat, a Boro win and a 20-goal swing on the final day of the season can deny them a top-flight spot.
Goals from Marc Pugh, Matt Ritchie and Callum Wilson sparked wild scenes of celebration amongst the home fans.

Charlton, who play Bournemouth on Saturday, could yet spoil the promotion party
Bournemouth's impending promotion marks an amazing rise through the Football League for the club, who were in administration and close to liquidation in 2008.
They only just avoided relegation in 2009 - Eddie Howe's first season as manager - but promotion to League One followed the season after.
Former Cherries defender Howe then led them into the Championship in 2013 after returning to the south coast from Burnley.
Howe's contribution cannot be overstated, with the 37-year-old set to join an elite band of managers to guide a club through the Football League and into the top flight.
"This club was on its knees six years ago," Howe told BBC Radio 5 live.
"We had nothing. A group of supporters put their money in their pockets to keep the club alive and they are reaping the rewards. It is the club I watched as a kid, the club that gave me an opportunity in the game as a player and a manager.
"It shouldn't be them thanking me, it should be me thanking them. It is a family club and deserves its moment in the sun."
Bournemouth's success this season owes much to the goals of record signing Wilson, a £3m capture from Coventry at the start of the season.
Both Wilson and Ritchie went close to giving the Cherries the lead several times in a frenetic opening.
But after several fine saves from Adam Bogdan, the opener arrived on 39 minutes, when Pugh beat the Bolton goalkeeper with a left-foot shot.
It prompted joy in the stands of the 11,700-capacity Goldsands Stadium - and there was better to come just four minutes later, when Ritchie latched onto Yann Kermorgant's lay-off to drive home from 12 yards.
Bournemouth's fans started signing the theme tune to Match of the Day as the realisation hit home that they would be seeing their side in the top flight of English football for the first time in the club's history.
Kermorgant had the chance to make the final 20 minutes a formality, but he blazed over the bar from the penalty spot after Dorian Dervite was dismissed for hauling down Wilson.
Wilson made it 3-0 after he spun and shot smartly past Bogdan to turn the remaining 12 minutes into a carnival.
The final whistle sparked a pitch invasion from home fans, who could yet be celebrating the Championship title if results go their way on Saturday.

Wiki page en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.F.C._Bournemouth

Great stuff

Cloud 9 stuff! :woohoo:
I can imagine all the fans feeling they're walking on air

Plenty fans suffering from a corporatised, soulless EPL so good luck to Bournmouth and their supporters. A real feelgood story. I hope by some miracle they can stay up.

Well done to the fans, players and Eddie Howe. It reminds me of Wimbledon FC about 30 years ago.