THE STORY OF BOURNEMOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB
13 Jun 2009

The club was founded on 11 September 1875, and is one of the oldest clubs in the country being founder Members of the Football Association, the Hampshire F.A. and the Bournemouth F.A. The club was among founder members of the Hampshire League and up to joining the Wessex League in 1986 had played entirely in the Hampshire League, except for a short spell at the turn of the 20th century.
The club played the second game in the inaugural Hampshire League campaign of 1896/97, going down 1-0 to Ryde Sports on 12 September 1896, finishing sixth from eight.
The club has had three homes during its history with their first ground being at a place called East Common near the Bournemouth railway station and Dean Park (current home of Dorset County Cricket) before moving to Victoria Park, which was formerly a farmer’s field.
The first taste of County success came in winning the West Division in 1905 and then again in 1910. Poppies became County Division Champions either side of the Great War in 1914 and 1922. However in 1929 the club was relegated into the newly formed Division 2 regaining top flight status by winning the Division 2 Championship in 1932. The club languished in the bottom half of Division 1 for several seasons before finally falling back into Division 2 when football restarted after the Second World War. The club recovered some of its past glories by winning the Hampshire Intermediate Cup in 1950 and again in 1970 and 1972.
Division 1 status was regained for the 1979/80 season but relegation quickly followed in 1980/81 and again in 1982/83 when they slipped into Division 3 remaining there until being admitted to the newly formed Wessex League in 1985.
The Wessex League Championship has remained elusive coming close on two occasions with a 3rd place in 1990/91 under the guidance of Tommy Taylor and runners up spot in 1994/5 to Fleet Town when Alex Pike was the manager.
After a season of change in 2008/9; 2009/10 saw a number of new signings added to the squad; and we secured a top four finish. Last season saw the team secure a fifth place finish after being in the running for a possible second place finish until the final week of the season. There was some silverware though when Poppies picked up the Sydenhams League Cup for the first time. A lone goal from Hodgson was enough to beat Winchester City in the Final on 7 May 2011 at AFC Totton. This season we again hope to be amongst the clubs pressing for honours, and after Brockenhurst’s relegation in 2011, Poppies are the sole remaining club who have played in the top flight in each Wessex League season.
Tuesday 26 November 1878 is another significant date in the club’s history- when the club played under experimental electric lights at Dean Park for “a grand exhibition of the new electric light”; conditions weren’t perfect though with part of a cinder cycle track cutting the field of play. The club has also changed names; Bournemouth Rovers, Bournemouth Wanderers and now Bournemouth Poppies. Additionally the club has also had a change of colour several times, adopting the colour poppy red in season 1895/6 from green and white hoops (following the merger with Bournemouth Wanderers), since then being known as the Poppies.
One of the clubs most famous members was William Pickford (who later became Chairman of the English Football Association). Mr. J Joy, a local landowner and supporter of the club, gave the present Namu Road ground to the club. Victoria Park is squeezed in amongst surrounding houses and remains much as it was when the club first moved here in 1923. Bournemouth Council bought the ground after the Second World War for £4,500 providing a lease on a peppercorn rent.
The clubhouse was opened in 1985 and the current 205-seater stand provides adequate cover from the elements with several rows of bench seating replacing the old wooden stand that was destroyed by fire. This stretches about a third of the length of the pitch – next to the glass-fronted clubhouse. The remaining three sides are flat terracing just separated from the playing area by a permanent metal barrier.