Real Sociedad v Bournemouth: live build-up as Cherries make European debut | OneFootball

Real Sociedad host Bournemouth in Donostia tonight as the Cherries contest the first European match in their history. According to Diario Vasco, Matarazzo's side seek a first win as their Europa League campaign begins.

Right-back Adam Smith, the only survivor of Bournemouth’s first promotion, is expected to start at Anoeta. He joined in January 2014, helped secure promotion and has since lived relegation and promotion, with tonight a European reward.

Bournemouth’s journey has been precarious. In 1997 they were five minutes from collapse before a supporter fundraiser at the Winter Gardens raised enough to save the club, which then became Europe’s first community club.

The '-17' flag is a badge of pride. In 2009 they began in the fourth tier on minus 17 and still avoided the drop, a year after relegation from the third with a 10-point deduction. The club produced 'Minus 17', and this season’s motto is 'From minus 17 to Europe'.

Their stadium is the Premier League’s smallest with just over 10,000 seats, and plans aim for 20,000. Founded in 1899, Bournemouth reached the top flight for the first time in 2015.

Less than three hours before kick-off, Anoeta’s surrounds turned txuri-urdin while the centre was red and black. Around 2,100 away fans gathered in the Plaza Constitución despite a club call to meet at the Kursaal for a kalejira along Federico García Lorca, with late-summer sun and even the Zinemaldia in prospect.

Source: Diario Vasco

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