This week in... August 1994

Machin had won promotion with the Cherries as a player in the seventies, returning to the club on September 1st 1994 having spent the earlier years of his managerial career in charge at Manchester City and then Barnsley.

And while the post-Easter sunshine may be bathing over the town today, the clouds were altogether darker when Machin stepped into the hot seat.

Cherries news and matches

Saturday 27th August - Rotherham United 4-0 AFC Bournemouth

Ahead of Machin’s arrival on the Thursday the Cherries were making a poor start to the season, and lost badly the previous weekend at Millmoor.

Despite the crushing scoreline, this game was very much in the balance at half-time. Bournemouth had made all the running in the early stages of the first half, but just minutes into the second half Shaun Goater put the home side ahead and minutes later Andy Hayward latched onto a through ball to make it two.

As if things couldn't get worse, Alex Watson received a red card, Goater waltzed through to make it three and in the dying minutes Mark Morris, attempting to clear a cross, only managed to put the ball into his own net to end a miserable second 45 minutes.

Tuesday 30th August - AFC Bournemouth 0-3 Peterborough United

Mark Morris, having made a mistake for the opener, soon fell badly and injured himself. Warren Aspinall came close to scoring for the Cherries soon afterwards, but he turned villain as an attempted clearance ran into the path of Dave Morrison who was left with a simple chance of making it 2-0 to the Posh.

In the second half a Russell Beardsmore earned a red card for a tackle and soon after Ken Charlery nodded home to make it three.

After the game, Bournemouth supporters stayed behind to give their side an emotional standing ovation; the supporters appreciating all the hard work done by the team through all the adversity.

A small demonstration followed and vice chairman Brian Willis came out and spoke to the supporters and announced that Reading's Colin Lee had been offered the manager's job. Lee turned it down the following day which turned out to be a blessing in disguise when Mel Machin accepted the post instead.

Saturday 3rd September – AFC Bournemouth 1-4 York City

The arrival of Mel Machin as manager put an extra 500 on the gate and drew a great deal of optimism from the Bournemouth fans.

Though Machin must have wondered what he had let himself in for as a series of howlers allowed the Yorkshire side to romp to victory. Poor back passes and poor goalkeeping allowed York to go into the half-time break with a three-goal lead.

There was a glimmer of hope early in the second half when Warren Aspinall netted from the penalty spot, but any thoughts of a miraculous comeback were thwarted when Paul Barnes completed his hat-trick with a shot that came off both posts before going in.

Going forwards…

The poor start was soon ended as the Cherries got their first win of the season the following Tuesday, Steve Cotterill scoring the only goal in a 1-0 League Cup tie at Northampton.

The first league win of the season finally arrived at the end of the month, the green shoots sprouting as Cardiff were beaten 3-2 at Dean Court.

Despite being seemingly out of contention at Christmas, Machin and his Cherries pulled off the Great Escape with a remarkable turn of form in the second half of the season, securing what had seemed impossible in their final home game with a 3-0 win over Shrewsbury at a sold-out Dean Court.

The week in football…

Before the Premier League took its international break, newly-promoted Nottingham Forest hopped to the top of the division following a 1-0 win away to Ipswich, Bryan Roy the matchwinner.

Frank Clark’s side would go on to finish the league in an impressive third position, Blackburn Rovers – boosted by 34 goals from league top scorer Alan Shearer – winning the title for the first time since 1914 by pipping Manchester United on the final day.

The international break later ended on a high note for England with Shearer’s first-half double seeing off the USA in a friendly at Wembley, in front of just 38,000 fans.

The week in news…

Oasis released their album Definitely Maybe, their debut becoming the fastest-selling album ever in the UK, and the day after Machin was appointed entertainer Roy Castle died after a battle with lung cancer at the age of 62.

Before the end of the week the Bulgarian government would fall, and while the Cherries were losing to the Minstermen on the Saturday actor Jackson Pinckney was being awarded $487,000 for being partially blinded by Jean-Claude Van Damme during the filming of action film Cyborg.