Hotels for Bournemouth v Nottingham Forest

A Saturday afternoon in the Premier League, kicking off at the traditional three o'clock slot that puts fans in and out of the ground inside a couple of hours. Expect the usual matchday build-up around the stadium, with supporters filtering in from pubs and side streets well before kickoff. Forest travel in good numbers for away fixtures, so away-end colour should be strong. Nothing beyond the football marks this particular Saturday out as different from any other home league date.

AFC Bournemouth began life in 1899 as Boscombe, taking their present name only in 1971, and spent decades in the lower divisions before their name became familiar to a wider audience. The Cherries nickname comes either from the cherry-red shirts the team wore in its early years or from the orchards that once stood by Dean Court, now the Vitality Stadium and still the smallest ground in the Premier League.

Bournemouth's rise from the fourth tier to the top flight inside a decade, sealed under Eddie Howe with their first-ever season among England's elite in 2015-16, remains one of the more remarkable climbs in modern English football.

Bournemouth's compact top-flight ground sits in Kings Park on the eastern side of town, the smallest stadium in the league and all the more intimate for it. The park setting is leafy and relaxed, with Boscombe's cafés close by and Bournemouth's seven miles of sandy beach a short ride away. Pokesdown station is walkable, and buses run from the town centre. Staying near the seafront turns a match into a proper seaside weekend, with the ground an easy hop from the pier and promenade.