A football fan has expressed his dismay at AFC Bournemouth not being a ‘proper football club’.
Like Pinocchio’s desire to be a real boy, AFC Bournemouth fans can see that the club is building something special and may have to wait a few more years before they can claim to be a real football club with a substantial history beyond winning the Associate Members’ Cup – whatever that may be.
“We aren’t a proper football club.”
“It’s really disappointing,” said Howard Becker, 26, from Boscombe, Devon. “Bournemouth have been on fire this year but, despite competing with the top sides in the country and challenging for European football, we still aren’t a proper football club.”
“Even teams like Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich have a rich history and several accolades to support the evidence of being a proper club,” continued Becker, “but they are all likely to get relegated soon, and they will still be proper clubs, even in the lower leagues.”
The ground has the atmosphere of a busy allotment.
With a ground capacity of just a little over 11, 300, AFC Bournemouth’s stadium has all the atmosphere of a busy allotment. It is not dissimilar to that of a Yorkshire non-league ground which attracts a few hundred retired steelworkers.
Speaking about the ground, Howard said, “A local family owned a bit of land in the 1920s and weren’t doing anything with it so they put some grass on it and surrounded it with stolen benches from a local pub.”
“Later that year, a few locals introduced a Sunday morning team to it and had a kickaround with their mates. A little over a hundred years later, apart from the quality of football – mainly thanks to Androni Iraola’s diligence and footballing ingenuity – nothing has really changed in the stadium.
No fans; no rivalry.
“When satirical Wallstreet sociopath, Scott Parker, got us promoted alongside proper clubs like Fulham and Nottingham Forest, we soon realised how insignificant we were,” said Becker.
“We don’t have a decent stadium or a derby game that is significant enough to call it a genuine rivalry. I suppose Southampton and Portsmouth are our neighbours but they aren’t even in the same county as us (Bournemouth). They are in Hampshire and they certainly don’t regard AFC Bournemouth as rivals or even a proper football club.”
This weekend, Bournemouth will entertain Nottingham Forest who have won two European Cups, a UEFA Super Cup, and countless other trophies, and have more away fans than Bournemouth bring to a home game.
A proper football club with ambition.
However, AFC Bournemouth have a host of talented players and are looking to upset a far bigger club with another win this weekend. Bournemouth sit in 7th place in the Premier League, seven points behind Forest, and are looking to improve on last year’s respectable 9th place.
They are a team to be respected despite being nothing more than a non-league outfit. They have some exciting players who can be a phenomenal threat going forward. They recently thrashed Newcastle who managed to open up Forest earlier this season and they have ambitions to be a top-six club.
Our prediction at Tree Seasons is a draw. It’s not ideal but most Forest fans will take a draw considering Bournemouth’s form and how they always beat us with the help of inept or corrupt referees.
AFC Bournemouth 2 – 2 Nottingham Forest
