Premier League club and fans in civil war as stadium redevelopment set to force supporters out

Martin Macdonald

• 28 Feb 2026 07:30 CST
• 3 min read

News

There's disharmony at Bournemouth at the moment as fans and the club are at loggerheads over new stadium development plans.

At the moment, the Vitality Stadium holds around 11,000 spectators but there are plans to increase the capacity to around 20,000, with a significant portion of that set to become hospitality seats.

The club hopes to not only receive revenue from these new seats, but also to improve the atmosphere in the stadium.

Unfortunately, 600 fans, some of whom have had their season tickets for more than 20 years, will be forced out of their seats due to the redevelopment

"This is the hardest discussion that we've had since we've been here," Bournemouth president of business operations Jim Frevola said on the Cherries Unpicked podcast.

"We are completely sympathetic.

"We have looked at different ways to do this. I understand that no matter what we did... If we built a new stadium, 11,000 people would have to relocate in some fashion of another.

"This is the plan. It is difficult. I've gone through this with other organisations. If you've worked in the sport industry and you've redeveloped a stadium, you go through things like this. It's not easy. It doesn't make it right that some people have to move but sometimes difficult decisions have to be made."

Bournemouth receive 40% of their matchday revenue from hospitality seats that make up just 6% of the stadium capacity so this has been identified as an opportunity to make more money. The club are at a disadvantage to most other Premier League sides who have stadiums with higher capacities.

The need for increased revenue is becoming more and more of a factor for clubs in the top-flight due to the new squad cost ratio, which will limit spending.

"The reality is for a football club, this is pretty normal," Frevola explained.

"The reality is that a redevelopment programme needs lots and lots of money, we've got to be able to add hospitality, as that's really what drives our revenue.

"It's critical for the programme to go through. Without growing the matchday revenue, we're not keeping up with the revenue.

"Squad cost ratio is a real issue - we were one of six clubs to vote against it - it puts us at a competitive disadvantage."

Manchester United, Chelsea, Fulham, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Leeds, Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Liverpool, Brentford and Aston Villa have all redeveloped their stadiums recently or are planning to.

'A massive own-goal'

One Bournemouth fan, Andrew, has had a season ticket since 2001 but will be forced to move.

He said: "Me and my parents have had season tickets since the stadium was opened back in 2001. A good chunk of our family life has been spent attending Bournemouth games at home.

"The important thing to stress to people is this isn't us being anti-progress for the club at all. We understand revenue needs to be driven with off-field activities.

"The issue for me and a lot of fans is timing and trust and the treatment of long-standing supporters. The club is making a choice and that seems purely driven by commercial reasons at the expense of 600 fans."

Bournemouth Echo senior sports reporter Alexander Smith added: "As Andrew said, and others I have spoken to, they don't feel the stadium is growing by enough capacity that they and the groups they sit with will be able to stick together. It's a cause for concern for a lot of people."

"The club have scored a massive own goal with this."

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