Bournemouth are back in the Premier League but headed by Callum Wilson at Newcastle, where are their 2014/15 Championship title-winning side now from their last promotion?
The Cherries emerged clear of a fraught four-way fight under Eddie Howe seven years ago to seal the club’s first ever top-flight appearance. They had never previously played in the highest division in England before the 2015/16 season, but would enjoy five seasons there.
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Jason Tindall then Jonathan Woodgate replaced Howe at the Dean Court helm after their relegation in 2020. Their bid to seal an immediate Premier League return would fail in the play-offs, before Scott Parker came in with the job of booking a seat at the top table again.
The 2021/22 Championship title would prove out of Parker’s reach as Fulham swept to the second-tier honours. But the runners-up spot and automatic place is Bournemouth’s after a 1-0 win over promotion-rivals Nottingham Forest, who head to the play-offs, on Tuesday.
Kieffer Moore scored the only goal of the night on 83 minutes after coming off the bench for the injured Jefferson Lerma. A well-worked free-kick from Phillip Billing on the edge of the Forest box saw Moore sweep home at the back post to land Premier League football.
None of the most-regular 11 starters from Howe’s Bournemouth’s 2014/15 Championship title-winning side remain at Dean Court to revel in another promotion to the Premier League. So, where are they now, with just two still playing top-flight football in the 2021/22 term?
Artur Boruc (GK) – Legia Warsaw
Howe signed goalkeeper Artur Boruc on loan from Southampton in 2014/15 to guard the net as Bournemouth beat Watford by a point to secure the Championship title and enjoy promotion to the Premier League, with Norwich finishing third and winning the play-offs.
The Cherries would turn the shot-stoppers’ temporary switch permanent at the climax of their title-winning season. He would stay on the south coast until their relegation in 2020 before joining Legia Warsaw, where the 42-year-old remains ahead of retiring this year.
Boruc played a total of 129 games for Bournemouth across all competitions, including 37 in their Championship title-winning squad. But he lost first-choice status at Dean Court in 2017 following the arrival of Asmir Begovic, who completed a transfer to Everton last year.
Simon Francis (RB) – Bournemouth (Technical Director)
Simon Francis enjoyed nine years at Bournemouth, between joining from Charlton Athletic in 2011 and retiring in 2020. Yet the right-back only spent a year out of the game after the Cherries’ relegation from the Premier League, before returning to Dean Court in July 2021.
Bournemouth hired their long-time defender and former captain as an assistant first-team technical director beside Richard Hughes. Francis, who played 324 games for the Cherries, now aids the promotion-clinching side’s recruitment team identifying and signing targets.
Tommy Elphick (CB) – Retired
Tommy Elphick captained Bournemouth in all 46 Championship games as they sealed their Premier League promotion as title-winners in 2014/15. The centre-half would enjoy a total 145 games on the south coast in his four years after joining from Brighton & Hove Albion.
The Cherries sold the now-retired defender to Aston Villa in 2016, before stints at Reading, Hull City and Huddersfield Town. Elphick hung up his boots in 2021 before the 34-year-old soon headed back to Dean Court to work as an assistant coach in the development squad.
Steve Cook – Nottingham Forest
Steve Cook was the rock in Bournemouth’s title-winning backline beside Elphick yet could have denied his former side automatic promotion to the Premier League this season, as he joined now-Championship rivals Nottingham Forest during the January 2022 transfer sales.
The centre-back spent a decade at Dean Court after joining in the January 2012 sales from Brighton. He would amass 387 games for the Cherries across all competitions, but only 13 of those outings came under Parker in the second-tier following his appointment last year.
Charlie Daniels (LB) – Free agent
Charlie Daniels also enjoyed a lengthy Bournemouth spell from 2012 to 2020 before leaving following their relegation. The arrival from Leyton Orient played 265 times for the Cherries in all competitions, over which he scored 17 goals and offered 26 assists in red-and-black.
The left-back would go on to join Shrewsbury later in 2020, before moves to Portsmouth and Colchester United. Daniels left the latter of his clubs in January 2022 despite playing in 18 League Two fixtures. The Harlow-born 35-year-old defender is yet to join another club.
Matt Ritchie (RM) – Newcastle United
Matt Ritchie started his career in Portsmouth’s academy and enjoyed various loan moves until joining Swindon Town in 2011. Bournemouth came calling two years later, and the winger would enjoy three years at Dean Court, which included winning the Championship.
Howe kept Ritchie as a key part of their promotion-winning side in 2014/15 with 15 goals and 17 assists. A record Newcastle hoped he would replicate in 2016, as they paid £10m rising to £12m for someone who only cost the Cherries £500k. He is still at St James’ Park.
Harry Arter (CM) – Notts County (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
Harry Arter, the maestro of Bournemouth’s Championship title-winning side in 2014/15, is now plying his trade at non-league Notts County. The Cherries sold the midfielder in 2020 to Nottingham Forest, who he still belongs to, after loan deals to Cardiff City and Fulham.
The 19-cap Republic of Ireland international – who outshone Jack Wilshere during his loan from Arsenal in 2016/17 – failed to establish himself with Forest. After playing 256 games at Bournemouth, he has 14 Forest appearances and is now on loan in the National League.
Andrew Surman (CM) – Retired
Bournemouth initially loaned Andrew Surman from Norwich in 2013/14 before opting to keep the midfielder the following year. He would play 42 times as Howe’s side clinched the Championship title and remained a regular part of their Premier League side in most years.
But Surman rarely featured as the Cherries suffered relegation in 2019/20 before leaving the club. He would join MK Dons later in the year as a free agent, before retiring in 2021.
Marc Pugh (LM) – Retired
Marc Pugh joined Bournemouth from Hereford United back in 2010 while the now Premier League-bound Cherries were in League One. He played a key role in their rise through the divisions with 312 appearances, 56 goals and 52 assists across all competitions at the club.
The winger’s Bournemouth career would end in 2019 when joining Queens Park Rangers after a loan with Hull City. A move to Shrewsbury followed in 2020, before the left-winger hung up his boots in January 2021 after the 35-year-old played a bit-part League One role.
Callum Wilson (ST) – Newcastle United
Wilson shot Bournemouth to the 2014/15 Championship title and their last promotion to the Premier League, and should now face them next season. The forward scored 20 goals and 13 assists across his 45 appearances, starting each, on their route to the second-tier title.
He would offer 41 goals over 126 top-flight games in red-and-black up to their relegation in 2020. The striker would leave Dean Court for Newcastle in a £20m switch that summer, along with former Cherries winger Ryan Fraser – who had left at the end of his contract.
Yann Kermorgant (ST) – Retired
Yann Kermorgant only spent two seasons with Bournemouth between 2014 and 2016, but the now-retired centre-forward had a vital role in their last Premier League promotion as Championship title-winners after scoring 15 goals and 11 assists over his 38 appearances.
The Frenchman struggled to make the step up to the top-flight with just 167 minutes from seven substitute appearances. He then joined Reading in January 2016 up to his release in 2018, before returning to his boyhood club Vannes for two seasons until retiring in 2020.
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