 Panorama of Dean Court from East Stand | |
 Interactive map of Dean Court | |
| Former names | Goldsands Stadium Seward Stadium Fitness First Stadium |
|---|---|
| Location | Kings Park Bournemouth Dorset BH7 7AF England |
| Coordinates | 50°44′07″N1°50′18″W / 50.73528°N 1.83833°W /50.73528; -1.83833 |
| Owner | Black Knight Football Club[1] |
| Capacity | 11,307[2] |
| Record attendance | 28,799 (Bournemouth vManchester United, 2 March 1957) |
| Field size | 105 by 68 metres (114.8 yd × 74.4 yd)[2] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1910 |
| Renovated | 2001 |
| Tenants | |
| AFC Bournemouth (1910–present) | |
Dean Court, currently known asVitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is afootball stadium inBoscombe, a suburb ofBournemouth,Dorset, England, and is the home ground ofAFC Bournemouth. The stadium has a capacity of 11,307.
In 1910,Boscombe were given a piece of land by the town's Cooper-Dean family, after whom the ground was named. The land was the site of an old gravel pit, and the ground was not built in time for the start of the 1910–11 season. As a result, the club played at the adjacent King's Park until moving into Dean Court in December 1910. However, the club facilities were still not ready, and players initially had to change in a nearby hotel. Early developments at the ground included a 300-seat stand.[3]
In 1923, the club were elected to Division Three South ofthe Football League, at which point they changed their name to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. The first Football League match was played at Dean Court on 1 September 1923, with 7,000 watching a 0–0 draw withSwindon Town. Subsequent ground improvements were made following the purchase of fittings from theBritish Empire Exhibition at Wembley, which allowed the construction of a 3,700-seat stand. A covered terrace was added at the southern end of the ground in 1936.[3]
The club's record League attendance was set on 14 April 1948, when 25,495 watched a 1–0 defeat toQPR. The overall record attendance was set on 2 March 1957, when 28,799 spectators watched anFA Cup match againstManchester United.[4] Shortly afterwards, a roof was added to the western stand.[3] The club also purchased more land behind the northern end of the ground, with the intention of enlarging the stand and building a leisure centre. However, the club ran out of money during its construction and abandoned the scheme in 1984. As a result, the half-built structure was demolished and housing was built on that part of the site.[3] The club's lowest Football League attendance was set on 4 March 1986, when only 1,873 saw a 2–2 drawn withLincoln City.[3]
The ground was completely rebuilt in 2001, with the pitch rotated ninety degrees from its original position and the ground moved away from adjacent housing.[5] Because the work was not finished in time for the start of the 2001–02 season, Bournemouth played their first eight games atthe Avenue Stadium inDorchester.[3] When Dean Court reopened with a game againstWrexham on 10 November, it gained its first sponsored name, becoming theFitness First Stadium.[3] Although it was rebuilt as a three sided stadium with a capacity of 9,600,[3] seats were placed on the undeveloped south end in the autumn of 2005. On 24 February 2004 Bournemouth'sJames Hayter scored the Football League's fastest-everhat-trick at Dean Court, scoring three goals in 2 minutes and 20 seconds during a 6–0 victory over Wrexham.[6] The club sold the stadium in December 2005 in asale-and-leaseback deal with London property company Structadene.[7]
In the 2010–11 a temporary south stand was built, but was removed during the 2011–12 season after attendances fell. In July 2011 the stadium was renamed theSeward Stadium after thenaming rights were sold to the Seward Motor Group.[8] Following Seward entering administration in February 2012, the ground was subsequently renamed theGoldsands Stadium in a two-year deal.[9] During the summer of 2013 a 2,400 seat stand was built on the undeveloped end of the ground as a result of the club's promotion to theChampionship. In July 2013 it was named after former club strikerTed MacDougall.[10]
In August 2014, chairman Jeff Mostyn revealed that the club were looking at the possibility of redeveloping the stadium, rather than moving to Matchams.[11] With a limited capacity of 11,464 (considered small even for a League One/Tier 3 club, and until the promotion ofLuton Town in 2023, the smallest in the Premier League's history), the club were exploring the option of building a new, permanent stand and filling in the stadium's corners, bringing the total seating to around 14,000, should they continue to be successful in thePremier League. The naming rights changed once more in July 2015 when the stadium became theVitality Stadium.[12]
In May 2016, Bournemouth announced that they would not be adding new capacity to its ground in time for the next Premier League season. The club has taken the decision to delay redevelopment plans following a meeting of its board. A statement from the Cherries blamed "ongoing negotiations with the club's landlord to purchase the stadium". The club had previously said improving the stadium's size was needed as "demand for tickets far outweighs our current capacity". Dean Court was the smallest ground in the Premier League.[13]
In December 2016, the club announced plans to find a new site due to the ongoing issues regarding ownership of the ground.[14]
In July 2017, the club confirmed it was looking to build a new stadium near the current site in Kings Park.[15]
In April 2025, Bournemouth chairmanBill Foley announced that the club had agreed to buy the stadium back from Structadene, who had owned the stadium since 2005, and that instead of building a new stadium, plans were being made to redevelop the stadium in the next two and a half years, with plans to expand to around 20,000 seats, and potential to increase higher to 23,000 seats, without the need to close the stadium.[16]
In February 2022, the stadium was damaged byStorm Eunice, an unusually intense storm. It caused anEFL Championship game againstNottingham Forest, scheduled for 18 February, to be postponed.[17]
In 2013 both England Ladies and Under 16 sides played games at the ground.[18][19] The stadium has also been used for music concerts, hostingElton John in 2006.[20]
v
Latvia| 5 September 20172019 UEFA U-21 Group 4 Qualifier | England | 3–0 | Latvia | Bournemouth, England |
| Match 354 | Report | Stadium:Dean Court Attendance: 8,514 Referee: Vasilis Dimitriou (Cyprus) |
v
Germany| 26 March 2019International friendly | England | 1–2 | Germany | Bournemouth, England |
| Match 372 | Solanke 43' | Report | Stadium:Dean Court Attendance: 10,942 Referee:Marco Di Bello (Italy) |
v
Andorra| 25 March 20222023 UEFA U-21 Group G Qualifier | England | 4–1 | Andorra | Bournemouth,England |
| Match 396 | Balogun 6' J. Ramsey 34'Gibbs–White 54'Gordon 80' | Report | Rosas 65' | Stadium:Vitality Stadium Attendance: 8,852 Referee: Jasmin Sabotic (Luxembourg) |
v
Ukraine| 11 October 20242025 UEFA U-21 Group F Qualifier | England | 2–1 | Ukraine | Bournemouth, England |
| McAtee 88',90+2' | Report | Mykhavko 71' | Stadium:Dean Court Attendance: 9,858 Referee:Joakim Östling (Sweden) |
v
Canada| 12 November 2014International friendly | England | 2–2 | Canada | Bournemouth, England |
| Report | Stadium:Dean Court Attendance: 6,986 Referee:Simon Hooper (England) |
v
Northern Ireland| 8 November 2013Victory Shield | England | 0–1 | Northern Ireland | Bournemouth, England |
| Report |
| Stadium:Dean Court Attendance: 2,810 Referee:Tim Robinson (England) |
v
Belarus| 21 September 20132015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 6 | England | 6–0 | Belarus | Bournemouth, England |
| Report | Stadium:Dean Court Attendance: 6,818 Referee:Riem Hussein (Germany) |
Authority control databases: Geographic |
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