AFC Bournemouth Women will play home games at Weymouth's Bob Lucas Stadium next season, 38 miles from the Vitality. While the club says the move is essential for WSL2 ambitions, it gives Cherries fans the longest journey in the Premier League and raises questions over identity and accessibility.
For all the talk of "building sustainably" and "strengthening connections across Dorset", there's an uncomfortable reality that many Cherries supporters won't be able to ignore. The club's women's team is moving 38 miles away from Bournemouth to play its home matches at Weymouth's Bob Lucas Stadium, asking supporters to travel almost an hour down the coast to watch their own club.
Recent messaging from AFC Bournemouth focuses on ambition and progression, but for many fans it evokes uncomfortable memories of another football club that gradually drifted away from its roots. AFC Wimbledon supporters watched their club leave Plough Lane for Selhurst Park before the nightmare ultimately culminated in Milton Keynes.
No-one is suggesting Bournemouth are heading down the same road, but asking a football club to play its home games a significant distance from the community it represents is always likely to raise eyebrows.
AFC Bournemouth have confirmed that Helen Bleazard's side will play all of their home fixtures at Weymouth's Bob Lucas Stadium during the 2026/27 season as the club prepares for what it hopes will be promotion to WSL 2.
The move sees the Cherries leave Ringwood Community Hub after one season in the third tier, with the current venue unable to satisfy the infrastructure requirements expected of clubs competing in the second tier. The Bob Lucas Stadium offers a capacity of 6,620, including a seated main stand for around 1,000 supporters and three covered terraces, allowing the club to meet those standards while continuing to offer free admission to all home fixtures.
Head of Women's Football Bruce Suraci described the switch as "an important step" in preparing the club for the future, saying the stadium provides the flexibility needed for eventual promotion while also helping AFC Bournemouth expand their supporter base across Dorset.
Weymouth also welcomed the agreement, describing it as a partnership that benefits both clubs. The Terras say the additional income generated by hosting Bournemouth Women will be reinvested into improving the Bob Lucas Stadium, modernising facilities and helping create a stronger long-term future. They also believe bringing National League Southern Premier Division football to the ground will attract new supporters and inspire more girls and young women across Dorset to get involved in the game.
Yet while the commercial and logistical arguments are clear, the geographical reality is stark.
Research by WOSO Analysis UK shows Bournemouth will now have by far the longest journey between a Premier League club's men's and women's home grounds. The Bob Lucas Stadium sits 38 miles from the Vitality Stadium. That figure dwarfs the distances seen elsewhere in the top flight.
Manchester City's women play at the Joie Stadium adjacent to the Etihad, making the distance effectively zero miles. Everton are just 2 miles from Goodison Park, Newcastle 3 miles, Tottenham 5 miles, Crystal Palace and Fulham 8 miles, Brentford 9 miles, Sunderland 10 miles, Leeds 12 miles, Liverpool 14 miles, Manchester United 15 miles, Ipswich 16 miles, Brighton 21 miles, while Bournemouth's 38-mile separation comfortably exceeds every other Premier League club.
Only Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest currently play their women's football at grounds that are also used by their men's first teams, meaning Bournemouth's relocation is even more of an outlier.
There is no questioning the club's ambition. AFC Bournemouth Women are the reigning National League Cup holders, finished third in their first season at Tier 3, have retained the core of last year's squad and added ten new signings ahead of the new campaign. The infrastructure needed to support a push towards WSL 2 is undeniably important.
The debate, however, is whether that ambition could have been achieved without moving the club's women's team almost forty miles from the city whose badge they wear.
© Sam DavisSupporters will undoubtedly appreciate the long-term vision, but football has always been about more than facilities and compliance. It is about identity, accessibility and belonging. And while the Bob Lucas Stadium may provide the platform AFC Bournemouth Women need to climb the pyramid, many supporters will hope this is merely a temporary stop on the journey back home, rather than a permanent relocation that leaves the club feeling just a little further away from the community it represents.
