AFC Bournemouth has appointed Savills as one of the lead consultants for ambitious expansion plans for the club’s Vitality Stadium.
Savills said the project, at Dean Court, Bournemouth, marks a significant milestone in the club’s illustrious history and its ambitious journey to becoming a top-performing club in the Premier League.
The expansion aims to increase the stadium’s capacity to about 20,200 seats, significantly enhancing the matchday experience for fans.
Additionally, it will ensure full compliance with Premier League and UEFA standards, strengthen the club’s community impact, and implement cost-effective, low-disruption solutions during the redevelopment process.
AFC Bournemouth is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England (UK). The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football.
Dean Court, currently known as the Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England (UK) and is the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. The stadium has a capacity to accommodate 11,307 supporters.
The ambitious redevelopment project includes the refurbishment, replacement and expansion of stands to accommodate upwards of 9,000 additional spectators.
A new fan zone will be created within an extended stadium perimeter fence line to provide enhanced facilities for fans.
The club is targeting the completion of the first phase of additional capacity by the start of the 2026/27 Premier League season, with the remainder ready for the 2027/28 season.
Bournemouth’s American billionaire owner Bill Foley believes that the Vitality Stadium won’t even need to close for the expansion. Instead, the renovations will require the demolition of the current temporary South Stand as well as the expansion of the existing North and East Stands.
Capacity will be increased by infilling all the four stadium corners. The expansion of the stadium, built in 1910 and remodeled in 2001, will be completed by the end of 2027.
Savills Planning is one of the lead consultants on the project, with numerous of the firm’s teams covering a wide range of aspects including landscape, sustainability, ecology, noise, air quality, development and economics.
Peter Lamb, planning director at Savills, said: “We are proud to be one of the lead consultants, working closely with the club and its design team to deliver this landmark project on time and within budget.
“This is a once-in-a-generation project where the club and its new owners have committed to significantly enhancing capacity and improving facilities at the ancestral home of the Cherries at Dean Court.
“There is a significant groundswell of support for this project among the local fan base, and there will be major associated benefits for the Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole economy.
“We recently helped deliver the AFC Bournemouth performance complex at Canford – a £40m state-of-the-art football training facility – and this has very much set the tone and ambition for future investment in the club. This is a fantastic project, and as a Cherries fan, I am extremely excited and proud to be part of it.”
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