Cherries relishing ‘Match of the Day’

Eddie Howe says seeing his Bournemouth side on Match of the Day next season will be beyond his wildest dreams after the Cherries effectively sealed their promotion to the Barclays Premier League on Monday.

The sold-out Dean Court crowd sang the theme music from the BBC’s football highlights show throughout the second half of their 3-0 win at Bolton as it began to sink in that they will be watching the Cherries tackle the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Chelsea on a weekly basis from August — just seven years after they almost went out of business.

And for Howe, who will be celebrating his third promotion with his home-town club this week after preventing them from dropping out of the Football League altogether in 2009, Saturday nights will be a really surreal experience next season.