Cherry Ripe

Homer the Cherry Hound

Bournemouth won their first competitive match in Europe against Real Sociedad last night.

In the early 21st century, this club led a hand-to-mouth football existence, crowdfunding the return of Eddie Howe, as a player, from Portsmouth. After their dalliance with oblivion, the club started the 2008-09 season on minus-17 points in League Two, with Barnet’s Underhill Stadium and Aldershot Town’s Recreation Ground among the away trips, and by Christmas they looked doomed to non-League. But Howe, an untested coach, was appointed at the turn of the year and not only did he save them, he would eventually lead them to the Premier League.

Europe was first considered a possibility under Howe. In 2016-17, the club, then owned by the Russian millionaire Maxim Demin, finished ninth and Uefa were invited to assess the suitability of the Vitality Stadium for hosting European games.

But it was under Andoni Iraola that a European tour became reality. After five years in the Premier League under Howe, relegation and then returning to the top flight under Scott Parker, the club was bought by the Black Knight Football Club group, led by American businessman Bill Foley.

It made the ruthless call to dismiss Gary O’Neil after he kept them in the Premier League, replacing him with Iraola, who led the club to 12th, ninth and then, last term, sixth in his three seasons in charge. They managed this while navigating a high turnover of players. Last season, Antoine Semenyo, Dean Huijsen, Ilya Zabarnyi, Milos Kerkez and Kepa Arrizabalaga all departed, yet Iraola improved on his previous campaign’s work.

As qualification for Europe became more realistic, the club began planning for their first experience of continental football. They have reviewed the performance of clubs of a similar stature in Europe, to try to assess what worked and what didn’t.