AFC Bournemouth v West Ham United
Premier League, Vitality Stadium, Saturday 12 August 2023, 3pm BST
The 2023/24 Premier League season begins this weekend, with West Ham United opening the new campaign with a trip south to face AFC Bournemouth.
David Moyes’ team head into the Saturday afternoon kick-off after a pre-season schedule that saw three wins from six matches, with the Hammers beating National League team Boreham Wood, A-League side Perth Glory and fellow London club Tottenham Hotspur.
The Cherries, meanwhile, come into the new season managed by Andoni Iraola, with the Spaniard taking over from Gary O’Neil in June following a 2022/23 campaign that saw Bournemouth finish 15th in their first year back in the Premier League.
One space and one point separated the Irons and Bournemouth last season, and both will be eager to make the best possible start to the new campaign in Dorset.
Tickets…
Tickets for Saturday's Premier League match away to AFC Bournemouth sold out to Bondholders and Season Ticket Holders with 34+ Loyalty Points.
Travel…
West Ham United fans with tickets for Saturday's fixture can catch a train from London Waterloo down to Bournemouth on the morning of the game. Trains run every 30 minutes and take approximately an hour and 45 minutes. Some trains are also available from London Paddington, but these are less frequent, and supporters are advised to check their journey before travelling.
Vitality Stadium is a short walk from Bournemouth station and the route is also regularly serviced by buses. The P2 and P3 Yellow Bus service are both easily accessible from the train station and runs up to every 20 minutes. Fans should disembark the bus at Queens Park Hotel stop, which will be a total of six stops.
Supporters wishing to drive are best served by either exiting the M25 at Junction 10 and taking the A3 and M27 or leaving at Junction 12 and travelling down the M3. The M27 and A338 will take travelling fans through the New Forest and on to Bournemouth. Vitality Stadium is signposted from the A338, with parking available at the stadium.
The South Stand car park, behind the ground, operates charges on a 24/7 basis. Fans are advised that the car park regularly fills up around 90 minutes before kick-off and can take up to an hour to empty after matches.
Both home and away fans can also use the nearby Avonborne College for Boys for parking Saturday home games. This is free and is open from 12.30pm.
How To Follow…
Saturday's 3pm kick-off will NOT be broadcast live in the UK, but will be shown across the world by the Premier League's international broadcast partners. If you live outside the UK, for details of listings in your territory, click here for full Premier League broadcast listings.
You can follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle.
Team News…
Manager David Moyes added Edson Álvarez to his squad on Thursday, when the Mexico international midfielder formally joined from Ajax Amsterdam.
The Scot has no injury issues to concern him after a six-match pre-season campaign that has seen the Irons visit Australia, France and Germany.
AFC Bournemouth, meanwhile, will be hoping Lloyd Kelly recovers from a knock in their final pre-season outing and is available for action against the Hammers. However, Marcus Tavernier and Adam Smith are not expected to recover from minor knocks in time for the Premier League opener.
The Cherries could give a Premier League debut to left-back Milos Kerkez, who played for AZ Alkmaar against West Ham in last season's UEFA Europa Conference League semi-finals.
Dutch winger Justin Kluivert and Ivorian attacking midfielder Hamed Traorè and French midfielder Romain Faivre have also arrived this summer from Roma and Sassuolo respectively and could make their competitive bows for Bournemouth on Saturday.
Opposition…
A new era is emerging at the Vitality Stadium.
AFC Bournemouth is becoming the latest Premier League outfit to embrace the footballing philosophy developed in the Basque Country.
The appointment of Usurbil-born Andoni Iraola as head coach in June means the Cherries have joined the growing list of top flight team to instil a manager from the northern Spanish region after Mikel Arteta joined Arsenal and Aston Villa appointed Unai Emery. Until earlier this week, Julen Lopetegui was also in place at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Undoubtedly, there is an element of risk in the appointment by Bournemouth, who parted company with Gary O’Neil in order to bring in Iraola after the former Hammer kept them in the Premier League. But the Spaniard’s efforts in his last job suggest bringing him in could prove to be a masterstroke.
Having taken over at Spanish Second Division side Rayo Vallecano in August 2020, Iraola led them to La Liga via the play-offs. Despite being widely considered one of the top tier’s smallest teams, Iraola and Vallecano continued to defy expectations.
A 12th-placed finish in La Liga was accompanied by a semi-final spot in the Copa Del Rey; only the second time the club has reached the last four of the competition in its history.
Despite appointing a new head coach, it has not led to wholesale changes to the Bournemouth squad. Playmaker Hamed Traorè has made his loan move from Sassauolo permanent, while promising Hungarian left-back Milos Kerkez has joined the south coast side from AZ Alkmaar. Winger Romain Faivre has also signed from Lyon but will spend the coming season on loan with Lorient.
While the end of the 2022/23 Premier League saw Bournemouth lose their last four matches, six wins in the nine previous league outings against the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Fulham and Leicester City emphasise the quality already available in the Cherries’ squad.
Everyone associated with the Bournemouth team will be eager to make an impressive start to the new campaign.
Previous Meetings…
Saturday’s contest is the 13th time that West Ham United and AFC Bournemouth have met in the Premier League.
A double over the Cherries last season have put the Irons on top when it comes to competitive matches between the two sides, with eight wins from the 17 fixtures played.
The most recent result came at Vitality Stadium and stands as West Ham’s biggest away victory over Bournemouth. The 4-0 triumph in April came thanks to first-half finishes courtesy of Michail Antonio, Lucas Paquetá and Declan Rice, before Pablo Fornals capped a brilliant afternoon on the south coast with a phenomenal, acrobatic scorpion kick.
West Ham’s first win at the Vitality Stadium came in January 2016, when goals from Enner Valencia (two) and Dimitri Payet warmed up the visiting fans on a freezing night and secured a 3-1 Premier League victory.
This weekend will be the sixth visit to play Bournemouth in the Premier League for the Hammers, with a standing record of two wins, one draw and two losses on the south coast.
Prior to the Premier League, West Ham overcame then-third tier Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic in the pair's first meeting, in the FA Cup fifth-round back in February 1929.
And the two clubs met in the old Second Division in 1989/90, when Harry Redknapp was Bournemouth manager, and the Londoners secured a League Cup third-round success over the Dorset club in October 1999.
Match Officials…
Referee: Peter Bankes
Assistants: Dan Robathan & Nick Greenhalgh
Fourth Official: Gavin Ward
VAR: Michael Salisbury
Assistant VAR: Neil Davies
Peter Bankes has been named as the referee for West Ham United’s Premier League opener away to AFC Bournemouth this weekend.
The 41-year-old will be the man in the middle for the Hammers’ trip to Vitality Stadium on Saturday 12 August, having been part of the Select Group 1 for match officials in England since the start of the 2019/20 campaign.
Click through here for more information on this weekend’s match officials on the south coast.
