FOREST AWAY: Bournemouth, Sunday 26th October – Fan Guide
On paper, Sean Dyche was handed an extremely difficult opening game against a very good and a very in form Porto, but he also had the extreme good fortune of not being the other guy he had just replaced. His new players also looked like they had a new sense of freedom; something similar to this was uttered by Morgan Gibbs-White after the game, but maybe freedom is actually the wrong word. Because maybe it was the chaotic freedom of recent weeks which got us into this mess. On Thursday we looked like we had rediscovered a bit of that old resolve.
I wouldn’t say it was inevitable that we’d record our first win and our first clean sheet for many weeks, but there was certainly a sense of it being a night when things were very possibly going to click back into place.
Dyche was welcomed by a crowd who felt like they were ready to hurriedly leave the much vaunted ‘new history’ behind and leap onto anyone and anything who might offer a dash of hope. Recent months have been an utter disaster, but there is also a desire to make the most of these European nights. Quickly it felt reassuring to see Forest operating in a manner that plays to their strengths and, crucially, they’d been reminded about defending their goal.
Arguably, Bournemouth represents the first proper test of the new Dyche era. It’s a ground where we have often struggled, and they will be a considerable threat for our recently resurrected defensive wall. Maybe our hosts can also serve as a good role model of a club who have similarly punched above their weight, but have approached things very differently. Theirs is a steady and solid trajectory of progression and, from what I gather, exciting football. They’ve also shown how you can fly under the radar, diligently going about your business and riding out setbacks with minimal fuss and panic.
The Postecoglou Experience, while thankfully over, was an escapade caused by our own stupidity and recklessness. Quite simply, I think we got too big for our boots and were once again dashing to the next level rather than even bothering to think about solidifying after a wonderful season. I also look at many of our Premier League counterparts, those who have established themselves in the top flight like Bournemouth, Fulham and Brighton, and I see an identity and an ethos. Even I, far removed from any real interest in these clubs, could tell you something about who they are what they are about in terms of style of play and their type of manager. At Forest, a club I follow every week, I don’t really have much of a clue.
We have lurched from the grand reshape of the philosophy of the summer where a new more expansive style was lauded, and then repeated ad nauseam at the point of Postecoglou’s arrival. Then, much to my bemusement, the arrival of Dyche this week was accompanied by a rather weird, dare I say very A.I influenced statement, which repeated the phrase ‘tactical acumen’ twice and specifically stated the new head coached aligned with the club’s ‘footballing identity.’ I’m frequently bewildered how our football club talk to us like we are all fools. That wasn’t what we were saying only a matter of weeks ago. Maybe I’m being unfair to Dyche, but I’d put his brand of football much closer to the philosophy of both Cooper and Nuno, a style we were seemingly trying to move away from.
I realise that football clubs are not particularly good at admitting their mistakes but let’s not at least start making up nonsense. If the Sean Dyche model is what we have eventually settled on then I think most of us can get on board with that, but in a week where we have regularly been reminded about the Forest heritage the new coaching team possess from days of old, lets also be willing to suck up the mayhem of recent weeks and own those mistakes. Rather this than hurriedly throwing it all in the closet and hoping the supporters are naïve enough to fall for it.
Away Day No. 7: Bournemouth, Sunday 26th October, 2pm KO
Last Visit: A 5-0 horror show in January.
Famous Visit: At a ground where we have a pretty torrid modern record, and given last season I used the 2014 win under Stuart Pearce for
this same feature, I’m going to go right back to our very first visit at Bournemouth in November 1949 when we helped the club then known as Bournemouth & Boscombe AFC celebrate their 50th anniversary. Two goals from Fred Scott earned Forest a 2-1 win.
Away End: Forest fans will again be accommodated at one end of the Vitality East Stand. It’s common for the queues to reach the turnstiles to get quite heavy closer to kick-off due to excessive searches, although things has improved a little bit last season.
Sunglasses / hat requirement: 6/10 (this increases if sat towards the front)
TRAVEL
RAIL: I’ll be brief on this as it doesn’t feel like a very feasible option for most. The first service to Bournemouth out of Nottingham departs at 08:21 and involves changes in London and at Basingstoke. It takes just over 5 hours, arriving into Bournemouth at 13:27. Given it’s 2/3 miles to the Vitality this is going to be leaving it very, very late. There is also no option to get to London earlier as the 08:21 is the first train there from Nottingham.
Looking around at other local-ish stations, going via Derby only saves a matter of minutes and you can arrive at around 12:30 if going from Birmingham at 9am. All seems a lot of faff.
There is also Pokesdown Station much closer to the ground, which may serve as an option too.
ROAD: The most direct route from Nottingham appears to be M1 / A43 at Northampton / M3 / M27 / A31 / A338.
In terms of parking, I’d recommend arriving early if you can and searching in the little strip between the A338 and the stadium. Last season there was some parking being advertised at right by the ground, specifically a school with some fairly extensive parking, but there are some shouts on the surrounding streets too.
One option is to come off the A338 at the junction before the ground near the Royal Bournemouth Hospital; the benefit of this being it will offer a quick getaway afterwards and avoids the bit of chaos to join the dual carriageway closer to the ground.
The best thing to do is just have a quick look at the streets around the ground and if you are early enough there is usually decent options.
The below is a direct extract from the Dorset Police briefing I received a couple of seasons back which gives more detail on the final leg of the journey to the Vitality Stadium. As it’s old, I suspect the pricing info is out of date:
From the A31, take the A338 to Bournemouth at the Ashley Heath roundabout
Carry on straight over the flyover
Take the next slip road off to the left (signposted ‘Football Ground’) to Kings Park
At the mini roundabout go straight across into Kings Park itself
And for the less adventurous of you, whack BH7 7AF into your sat nav.
There is also parking available on match days in the multistorey Sovereign Centre Car Park (BH1 4SX) on Christchurch Road. This car park is available all day and every day but be advised that this is the main car park for the high street so can get busy with everyday local cars. Parking fees are £2 or £2.50 depending on how long you stay. This car park is a 10-minute walk from the stadium via Ashley Road and across Kings Park.
Most of the residential roads around the stadium have parking restrictions, which supporters are advised to adhere to as local traffic wardens do actively patrol on match days.
The briefing also notes Harewood College as a usually reliable parking spot for £2 per car but does suggest this may only be available on Saturday’s.
PUBS
For the last few seasons, our trips have mainly consisted of a stroll down to the sea front at Boscombe and a start the Neptune, a big Harvester, right on the beach which opens at 9am. We then head back up the hill into Boscombe and head to Chaplin’s just down the hight street. It’s a funky little place with a really good beer garden and the best place we have found within walking distance of the ground. It is not due to open until noon, however.
The designated away venues are Mello Mello and the Bell Inn close to Pokesdown Station.
All of these options are about a 20-minute walk to the away end, bar the Neptune which is about 25/20 mins.
Thanks for reading. See you down there if you are travelling.
You Reds
Matt