The bright side of sport: Bournemouth put the beauty back in the beautiful game

Every week, Steve Neville will be looking at the positives in the world in sport. This week he looks at AFC Bournemouth and how they went from near financial ruin to a chance of playing in the Premier League.

AFC Bournemouth's humble Dean Court stadium has a capacity of just 12,000.

To put its size in context, Cork City FC, in the Irish Premier League, have a stadium capacity of nearly 7,500.

Not a very vast difference when you consider other Championship clubs such as Leeds, Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough can boast space for over 35,000 fans each.

But what Bournemouth may lack in stadium size, they make up for tenfold with heart and entertainment value.

As recently as the 2008/09 season, the club had no money and faced a 17 point deduction in the league. Bournemouth took on Grimbsy in a decider for League Two survival on the second last day of the season and anything other than a win would mean the end of the club as a professional outfit.

An 80th minute winner later, a 2-1 win saved the Cherries from being wound up and it sparked a six year journey that would end with reaching the Premier League, under the watchful eye of manager Eddie Howe.

In managerial terms, Howe is a youngster. At 37, there are many a similar age still playing the game, but not many managers could achieve what the former defender has.

At 37 Eddie Howe will become the 2nd youngest manager in the PL - we'll have more Bournemouth reaction on #SSNHQ pic.twitter.com/NjlSOx6J0X

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 28, 2015

Surprisingly for his age, it is his second stint in charge at Bournemouth. In his first, he saved the club from relegation then won promotion to League One before being offered a job to coach at Burnley. Almost two years later he left citing personal reasons and he returned to the Cherries and the team he had played with for most of his career.

And his latest stint at the helm of the club is true fairytale stuff.

Eddie Howe

Under Howe Bournemouth have gone from League One stability to the Premier League in just five years.

This season in the Championship their expectations were a mid-table finish or a playoff spot at best but they have lost just eight times all season, the lowest number in the league so far.

Bournemouth: Boast both the longest (14 games) and second longest (12 - currently) unbeaten streaks in the Championship this season #afcb

— WhoScored (@WhoScored) April 28, 2015

An incredible feat by anyone’s standards but the old cliché of the "hard work starts now" rings true now more than ever.

Hanging on to star players is a prime concern for all clubs but not least from Bournemouth. They're rise from nothing put a microscope on the team this season which means their stars such as Matt Richie, Callum Wilson and Harry Arter will all surely have potential suitors in the form of bigger clubs, all three helping the club boast the most goals in the league.

Bournemouth: Have scored more goals than any other team in the Championship this season (95)

— WhoScored (@WhoScored) April 27, 2015

Harry Arter is a player Irish eyes will be following closely. The 25-year-old could be in line to win his first cap at some stage in 2015 having been called into the international squad for the first time last March.

Arter has chipped in with eight goals this season, equalling his best tally in a season so far, with games still to play.

Next season the club will face a titanic task to stay in the Premier League. Chairman Jeff Mostyn, whose money saved the club from winding up back in '09, is confident they can survive. But in a league of mega rich oil barons and 80,000 seaters that confidence may merely be early adrenaline.

Jeff Mostyn celebrating his sides 3-0 win over Bolton, which all but assured his clubs promotion to the Premier League.

Playing the teams in the bottom half of the Premier League, the Hull City's, the Aston Villa's, the Newcastle's - assuming they all beat the drop as they should - will be difficult. Those teams have a wealth of Premier League experience and know how when it comes to toughing it out in the top tier. But they are the teams they have to beat.

They also have to try and hold onto their manager. The usual axe wielding that tends to take place at the end of the season will see Howe in high demand with many seeing his efforts of the last few years as miracle like.

The Cherries do have hope by looking at another team who rose through the ranks, from League One to the Premier League.

Southampton have shown how a team can climb the tiers of English football. The Saints went from the third tier to the top in three years and in their first two season back they cemented themselves as side who should be at the top table and among the elite teams.

This season despite having the heart of the team ripped out through transfers of a number of stars like captain Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw, they have defied the odds and find themselves challenging for a spot in Europe.

So there is hope for Eddie Howe and his Bournemouth men. As they embark on the road for the Premier League cautious optimism should be the way forward, safe in the knowledge that the neutral will be cheering the underdogs on.

And perhaps a few more seats in Dean Court wouldn't go astray either.