Bournemouth Awaydaze Thursday, 27th Apr 2023 21:39 by Tim Whelan Our vital game at AFC Bournemouth has been put back to 2pm on Sunday, but it’s not live on TV. You might think it was moved to reduce the danger of a bit of bother, but officially the change was because of Bournemouth’s game tonight. On our three previous visits to Dean Court since the infamous riot of 1990 the Dorset police made a special request for this fixture to be scheduled for midweek, and at a time of year when we really wouldn’t want to make a trip to the seaside. So it was a bit of a surprise when the fixture computer sent us to the south coast on a bank holiday weekend. Dean Court is currently known as the ‘The Vitality Stadium’, though the fans still refer to it by the traditional name. The stadium is about three miles to the east of Bournemouth town centre, in the district of Boscombe, and in fact the club were known as Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic when they first joined the league in 1923. They became AFC Bournemouth in 1972, and ever since they’ve been top of the Football League in alphabetical order, if never by any other criteria. If you’re driving you’ll come into town on the main A338 dual carriageway. You will eventually see the tops of the ground floodlights to your left, and you will then need to take the next exit and turn left towards the ground. There is a large car park to the south of the ground, but it can take a while to get out from there after the game. An alternative is Harewood College across the park on Harewood Avenue (BH7 6NZ), which offers free matchday parking. The Sunday timetable means it will be impossible to get there from Leeds by train, but I’ve included the following directions for the benefit of those living more locally. The nearest railway station is Pokesdown, which is roughly a mile from the ground but is only served by stopping trains from London Waterloo. Turn right outside the station, then after about a quarter of a mile turn right again into Gloucester Road. Dean Court is at the bottom of this road. The main Bournemouth Central station is about two miles away, and from here you can either catch a local train one station to Pokesdown, or catch a number 2 or 33 Yellow Bus. Most of the pubs near to the ground are for home fans only, but one establishment that was admitting Leeds fans last time was the Wetherspoons on Christchurch Road in Boscombe (the ‘Percy Florence Shelley’). You can expect to find it heavily stewarded, but they are usually quite relaxed as long as we don’t get too boisterous. Dean Court was completely re-developed in 2001, with the pitch rotated by 90 degrees and three new stands being built. And since we last came a fourth new stand has been built to replace the temporary open stand at the south end, named in honour of legendary striker Ted McDougall. The current away allocation is usually 1,500 in the East Stand, to the side of the pitch, but this can be increased to 2,000 if required. Or reduced to only 1,282 if Leeds are the visitors. This stand gives a good view of the action, and beer is usually served in the concourse of the East Stand, though somehow I doubt that will be the case for this fixture. The Leeds section has of course sold out and the tickets cost £30 for adults, with concessions from £7 to £17, though there are some restricted view seats a couple of quid cheaper. Bournemouth’s official website tells us that tickets for the home areas of Dean Court have also sold out, and while they offer tickets for resale, you will only be able to get one if you have something called ‘1+ home point’. Last year owner Bill Foley said that the club need a new home for “the whole of Bournemouth”, with a capacity of 24,000 and the all important corporate hospitality , plus some additional commercial units. It’s not clear when this is likely to happen, but we can always dream of getting a bigger allocation if we come back to Bournemouth in the future. Some of the info also comes from www.footballgroundguide.co.uk. Reuters Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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