Champagne Cherries

Since entry into the Football League Third Division South in 1923, AFC Bournemouth supporters had searched in vain for the Holy Grail, promotion to Division Two. For 63 years, including several heartbreaking promotion near misses, the Cherries remained in a Third and occasionally Fourth Division prison. 4 May 1987 marked the date when the club broke free from their Third Division shackles. Older supporters talked of an old wives’ tale that the club never wanted promotion, but manager Harry Redknapp had other ideas and expressed his ambition to be the first manager to win promotion for the club. Redknapp’s shrewd leadership and eye for a bargain enabled the Cherries to build a Championship winning squad that finally achieved the promotion so desperately yearned for by the Dean Court faithful.

The author was just one of thousands of loyal Cherries supporters who over the years were desperate for his team to reach the dizzy heights of Division Two. His dream came true during season 1986/87 as he watched every home match from the South End and travelled to many away fixtures, keeping a personal diary of events as the season unfolded. The final result is this book, a personal detailed record of AFC Bournemouth’s promotion Championship winning season, including details of every League and Cup match played, the behind the scenes events, away match travel adventures and several photographs never published before.

As a first-time author Robert Neesam has captured and produced a remarkable record of action, facts and statistics cleverly interspersed with a series of exciting and amusing reminiscences of each game. Relive the exhilaration and the anguish of each match, the amusing banter and idiosyncrasies of mid-eighties terrace life, a half-time postponement at blizzard-swept Wigan, the stone throwing at Swindon and the roller-coaster promotion-securing win at Fulham.

With a foreword by Harry Redknapp, and a contribution by ex-skipper Mark Newson, 'Champagne Cherries' is the detailed account of AFC Bournemouth’s promotion season of 1986/87 through the eyes of a dedicated supporter who was there when it happened. It is the remarkable story of a season to remember and a must for any Cherries fan or supporter of a small football club.

The book is available in the Club Shop at Dean Court, priced at £9.99, or direct from the Champagne Cherries web site.