AFC Bournemouth
The Cherries take on rivals Southampton on Saturday lunchtime, and with the club dipping its toes into the FA Cup quarter-finals for just the second time, here's the story of how we got here.
It's taken 64 years for the club to get back to the final eight following the March 1957 welcoming of Manchester United to Dean Court, and while a still record of 28,799 sadly can't be matched in a near-empty Vitality Stadium this weekend, the Cherries' status on the edge of club history is well worth celebrating.
It's taken three matches and eight goals to get here, this is how it's happened.
Third round - Saturday 9th January - AFC Bournemouth 4-1 Oldham Atheltic
2020/21 highlights
Short | AFC Bournemouth 4-1 Oldham Athletic
Drawn to travel to Boundary Park in the third round, two days before matchday the tie was switched to the south coast due to the frozen Lancashire conditions. The Cherries would make the most of their unexpected home advantage, though it wasn't all plain sailing.
David Brooks saw the hosts turn their possession into a lead just before half-time, only for the Latics to strike back almost immediately though Dylan Bahamboula's penalty after Cherries debutant Will Dennis had clipped Davis Keillor-Dunn in the box.
Chances of an upset were soon shelved as Rodrigo Riquelme's poked finish shortly after the restart - a perfect introduction to the famous competition on a first FA Cup appearance for the Spaniard - was built on by two clinical Joshua King strikes as Bournemouth safely booked their passage through.
Fourth round - Tuesday 26th January - AFC Bournemouth 2-1 Crawley Town
2020/21 highlights
Short | AFC Bournemouth 2-1 Crawley Town
Ahead of the next round there was again pre-match drama. This time John Yems' squad had suffered a Covid-19 outbreak, with the match delayed by three-and-a-half days to make sure it could take place.
The Vitality Stadium visitors had sensationally seen off Leeds United 3-0 in the previous round, meaning the Cherries could take nothing for granted in midweek, but were boosted when Jack Wilshere swept home his first goal for the club, and first for anyone in 18 months.
However, and as in the previous round, the League Two opponents equalised, Tom Nichols netting from close range after a flick on.
Again, parity didn't last long. King in on the action once more as his smart low driven finish ruffled the side of the net and settled the tie, the Cherries already aware that the tie's victors would face a long and tough-looking trip to Turf Moor.
Fifth round - Tuesday 9th February - Burnley 2-0 AFC Bournemouth
2020/21 highlights
Short | Burnley 0-2 AFC Bournemouth
The hectic pre-match theme continued to the final 16, Jonathan Woodgate leading the Cherries for just the second time as the squad headed to Lancashire.
The drama then spilled over to Turf Moor in the hour prior to kick-off, Sean Dyche having to take Erik Pieters out of his starting line-up after being told the Dutchman was suspended after two previous yellow cards in the competition.
Unaffected, the Cherries put in one of their most assured performances of the season against the much-changed Clarets. Sam Surridge poked home from Jack Stacey's cross to get the scoring started and the visitors were rarely unduly troubled after that.
Regimented in their shape as they retained their advantage, Philip Billing's outrageous with-the-back pass to Surridge set up a penalty that former Burnley player Junior Stanislas slotted home late on to ink his side's name on to the running order for the televised FA Cup quarter-finals draw.
Quarter-finals - Saturday 20th March - AFC Bournemouth v Southampton
With fingers crossed and bums on edges of seats, ball number one was drawn out third and the Cherries were to be at home to... Manchester United? Chelsea? Southampton.
You can make sure you watch our final eight clash on Saturday live on BT Sport with a lunchtime kick-off at 12.15pm.
Due to broadcast rights, the game will not be broadcast on afcbTV Live.
Dare to dream...? The semi-finals
Should the Cherries avenge their heartbreaking Vitality Stadium loss at the end of last season, they will be set for a date at Wembley for just the fourth time and into the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time ever.
The semi-finals are set to take place under the arch over the weekend of Saturday April 17th.
