On this day in 2011, Bournemouth were 21st in the third tier of English football, with 12 points from 14 games, after losing at home to Bury. Later on that season, they would lose away at Bury, Rochdale and Oldham.
“Back then, we had to get changed in one part of Bournemouth then drive somewhere else to train before driving somewhere else for lunch,” says Partington, who featured in that game against Bury 15 years ago.
Tovey, from the Cherries Red Army fan channel, recalls home crowds of 6,000 around that time.
“As a fan, you could just rock up 10 minutes before kick-off and walk in,” he says.
Not any more.
While Bournemouth’s Vitality stadium is comfortably the smallest in the Premier League in terms of capacity, work is under way to expand it and last week’s attendance figure of 12,070 for the 3-0 Europa League win over Sturm Graz was easily their highest of the 21st century.
Another 12,000-plus will pack in for the visit of an AC Milan team managed by former Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim, with many fans resigned to watching the match on television after missing out on a ticket.
“My niece loves Bournemouth but she’s missed out because she hasn’t got enough points to get a ticket,” adds Tovey. “She’s gutted.”
Pulis has been impressed with the club’s significant progress under the ownership of US billionaire Bill Foley, who completed his takeover in 2022.
“They are now an established Premier League club, with a brand new training facility that can rival most in this country,” he says.
“A top-class academy facility for the boys and girls and a group of first-team players that not only play but run themselves into the ground every game.”