If you’ve read information elsewhere on this site, looking at the nicknames of clubs like Nottingham Forest and Bristol City, you will be aware that sometimes such nicknames make complete sense, whilst other times they seem to be reasonably abstract in nature. It is also not uncommon for some clubs to have more than one nickname, but you’d be wrong. You might think that Forest are only ever referred to as that, but they are also known as ‘the Reds’, ‘the Garibaldis’ and even ‘the Tricky Trees’. What, then, of Bournemouth? What are they known as and why?
It’s All About the Club’s Past
It says something about Bournemouth’s history that the club’s exact date of formation isn’t known. It was created at some point in the autumn of 1899, being built out of the remnants of Boscombe St. John’s Institute Football Club, hence its original name of Boscombe Football Club. The first President of the club was Mr J.C. Nutt, who did a deal with a local businessman in order to allow them to play football on wasteland next to King’s Park. The businessman’s name was J.E. Cooper-Dean, which led to the club’s decision to name their new football ground in his honour.
So it was that Dean Court came into existence, allowing to the club to thrive. By 1920 they had moved up from the Hampshire League to the Southern League, then three years later they became known as Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in order to be more representative of the district. At the start of the 1971-1972 season, the club became known as AFC Bournemouth, largely so that it would appear at the top of the listing of clubs in the English Football League. It was, as we’ll discover, the link with Cooper-Dean that, at least according to some, resulted in the club earning its nickname.
The Cherries
There are two main explanations of why it is that Bournemouth are known as ‘the Cherries’. The Premier League’s most southernly team might well have been given a different nickname if the area’s golden beaches had been used as the inspiration, but they weren’t. Instead, it is all about that wasteland that J. E. Cooper-Dean allowed them to play their matches on back in 1910. The Cooper-Dean estate was lined with cherry orchards, which stood right next to the newly created Dean Court. Football fans are, a lot of them time, quite simply creatures, hence the nickname was born.
It is not difficult to imagine someone strolling along the beach on their way to watch Bournemouth play not long after the turn of the century and before the outbreak of the First World War, soaking up the April sun and picking a few cherries from the trees near to the ground, using them to refresh themselves prior to heading into the newly opened Dean Court in order to shout their support for their local team. Quite whether this is actually the reason the club is known as the Cherries is a matter of some dispute, but it’s the most romantic version of the story.
A Cherry-Red Kit
The other version of events is much more prosaic and far less fun. From the moment that the football club was formed, the players have lined up in kits made up of red and white stripes. At other points over the years, the side has also played in all-red shirts, a red shirt with white sleeves and, since 1990, a kit that is red and black. Most importantly, though, is the fact that the red used in the kit ever since the club’s first match has been ‘cherry red’, hence the link to the nickname of ‘the Cherries’. As we said, boring. It may or may not be true, with no proof available either way.
It is certainly more interesting that the option that supporters of clubs like Liverpool and Nottingham Forest have opted for, with the pair of them often being referred to simply as ‘the Reds’. At least putting a shade to the colour of red used in the kits adds a bit of interest to the nickname, much as Forest are sometimes referred to as the ‘Garibaldis’ on account of the fact that they ordered some caps in ‘Garibaldi Red’ when the team was first formed back in 1865. Whereas that nickname hasn’t really stood the test of time, however, the same cannot be said of Bournemouth and ‘the Cherries’.
Not to Be Confused with ‘The Poppies’
If you’ve heard anyone talking about a football club in Bournemouth then you might well have heard someone discuss ‘The Poppies’. You shouldn’t be confused, however; this isn’t another nickname for the team that has established itself as a Premier League club. Instead, it is the nickname of the older club in the coastal town, Bournemouth FC. Founded as Bournemouth Rovers in the September of 1875, the club changed its name to Bournemouth Dean Park after moving to Dean Park in 1888. That, though, wasn’t the final change of name.
Instead, Bournemouth Football Club became its moniker after the side was amalgamated with Bournemouth Arabs, a local side, in 1889. Quite where the Poppies nickname came from isn’t clear, but the club is often called the ‘Bournemouth Poppies’ in order to differentiate itself from the more successful and better-known club.