AFC Bournemouth
Friday 28th January 1997 – the night that saved AFC Bournemouth.
Twenty-five years ago today, 2,000 Cherries supporters filed into the town centre’s Winter Gardens in a bid to give their football club a lifeline.
After debts had stacked up, many thought that the club had played its last game, a 1-0 win away to Bristol City three days earlier, but fans were determined to play their part.
Supporters were told that they needed to raise a fighting fund and they came in their numbers, filling the 1,800 seats inside the Winter Gardens and flooding the aisles, enthusiastically throwing money into buckets.
One man who remembers it all is Ian Cox, who barely missed a game that season.
Not only did he finish the campaign with 47 appearances and top of the goalscoring charts with eight, he was the man on the scoresheet at Ashton Gate in the final fixture before the Winter Gardens gathering.
Speaking to afcb.co.uk, he gives an in-depth account of his memories of that day and admits he is indebted to the dedication of supporters, who refused to let their club die:
With everything that was going on at the club at the time, we all had to turn up to the Winter Gardens. It was an event fuelled by emotions. No-one knew how it was going to go, how many people were going to turn up or whether it was actually going to be a success.
Turning up at the event and seeing so many people that were affiliated with the football club, that loved the football club and that wanted to see it survive, it was really heartfelt. It still has raw emotions to this day.
If it hadn't been for the supporters that day and what they did leading from that January to the end of the season, we weren't sure if we were going to have a football club. If they hadn't done what they did, there's no guarantee that the football club would still be here today.
I'm forever grateful for what they did. There were so many different emotions, just going into it and not knowing whether we were going to have jobs, whether we were going to be playing football or looking for a new club.
We didn't know if we were going to get paid. It's a bit different nowadays as the money is really good, but back then it was a bit of a worry if you weren't going to be paid.
For me, it's up there with a lot of the highs I've had in football. We never thought that the actual football club was going to get through that period, so the fact that it did with the hard work of supporters was an unbelievable achievement.
It's right up there with everything I've experienced in football. Even though there was an element of the unknown at the time, the collaborative effort from everyone who rallied round with the buckets and raised money was absolutely superb.
I can't believe it's been 25 years, that's a quarter of a century! That just seems such a long time ago, but the memories of the event still remain quite prevalent in the back of your mind. That day really was quite crucial in the history of the football club.
My message will always be one of thanks to supporters. I was thankful back then and I'm thankful now that the football club is still here. It's nice to be able to go and watch games and see them doing so well, but back then we were indebted to the supporters.
We just went out on the pitch and did what we knew best, but it was the supporters who put their heads together in order to safeguard the football club and, looking back, that was a huge catalyst for where it is now.
LISTEN TO OUR CLUB PODCAST WITH IAN COX HERE.
