As recently as 2008, Bournemouth sat slumped at the very foot of the four levels of the English league pyramid. Of the 92 teams spanning League Two all the way up to the Premier League, the Cherries, who began the season with minus-17 points as a penalty for entering bankruptcy with £4 million worth of debt, were no. 92. Bournemouth weren’t just on the brink of dropping out of the division structure,1 but out of existence altogether. Seven years later, a club that recorded an annual turnover of just £5.1 million for the 2012-13 season will be flooded with about £120 million in additional Premier League revenue.
Graham Ruthven 