As reported, the club have obtained a licence to host European football at Dean Court, but that is subject to conditions, which Bournemouth are working through this summer.
While UEFA push clubs to ensure their grounds are as compliant as possible, the confederation is helpful in committing to a plan with the club.
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Clubs like Bodo/Glimt have played Champions League football at their Aspmyra Stadion, which has 8,270 seats compared to Bournemouth’s current 11,300, although Dean Court is expanding.
As reported, plans for the expansion of the ground were approved at a BCP Council planning meeting in May, with enabling works well underway at the stadium.
(Image: PA)
The Cherries’ home is currently closed while work is progressing through the summer, with the plan to have 800 more seats in place early next season.
A big part of the stadium redevelopment is ensuring the ground is fully Premier League and UEFA compliant.
Many of UEFA’s regulations focus on things beyond pure capacity.
Bournemouth must comply with all the criteria to be a category four stadium, and they are already compliant with the majority of regulations due to their place in the Premier League.
The regulations include minimum requirements for team dressing rooms, plus things like the brightness of floodlights and the size of pitch.
(Image: Newsquest)
The Vitality Stadium’s pitch meets the requirement of 105 metres by 68 metres.
Additional requirements include minimum VIP seats of 100, plus a minimum of 30 working positions in a media working area, 20 in a photographers working area and minimum media seating for 60 people, 30 with desks.
Other media requirements include regulations around camera positions and TV studios, as well as criteria around a press conference room and a mixed zone.
President of business operations at AFC Bournemouth, Jim Frevola, told the Daily Echo that there are conditions on the licence that the club had been granted.
(Image: Savills/Stadium Structures/AFC Bournemouth)
“[They are] things that we're prepared to do and that we're already working on,” he explained.
“Some of them we've already done. So, there's a couple of big things we’ve still got to get resolved there, but I'm confident in our team, confident in UEFA to work through all those issues.”
This includes works in the tunnel area, but Frevola did not go into specifics on what was needed.
He said: “To be honest with you, I'm not trying to be coy. I don't know all the different details. There's a lot - there's a laundry list of things!”