Will Cherries stadium plan bring support boost?

Promoted to the Championship, AFC Bournemouth are intending to expand their ground over the summer to provide an extra 3,000-4,000 of capacity.   At present the ground only has stands on three sides (which always feels odd) and has a capacity of less than 10,000.

Promoted to the Championship, AFC Bournemouth are intending to expand their ground over the summer to provide an extra 3,000-4,000 of capacity.   At present the ground only has stands on three sides (which always feels odd) and has a capacity of less than 10,000.

The Bournemouth chairman argues that the club serves a big conurbation, bigger than that of some Premier League clubs.   It certainly houses some of the wealthiest people in Britain at Sandbanks. Without questioning the good sense of the Bournemouth plan, the correlation between population and attendance shows a lot of variation.

A number of factors may come into play.   First, a large incomer population may have football allegiances elsewhere.  Just consider the case of the new towns.   Harlow, Basildon and Brackley are not even that far up the non-league system.   Stevenage and Crawley have made it to League 1.   MK Dons relied on the transfer of a ‘franchise’ and Cumbernauld moved a team (Clyde) from Glasgow. Even then it takes time to build up a support base.

A substantial elderly population may not help, particularly if they are drawn from social groupings that regard football with some disdain.   This is relevant to Bournemouth, as is the existence of a large and transient student population.

Finally, areas with strong rugby traditions may find that it undermines the support base for football. Bristol, Bath and Gloucester come to mind.

AFC Bournemouth should, however, get good away support.   Seaside resorts attract fans who often make a weekend of it.