NEW PICTURES: Bournemouth Stadium Expansion Accelerates

AFC Bournemouth's redevelopment of Vitality Stadium continues to gather pace, with the latest images from Dean Court revealing significant progress as the club prepares for the start of the 2026/27 Premier League season.

The fixture list, released on Thursday, has handed contractors a valuable window to accelerate work, with Bournemouth's first home match not scheduled until August 29. A spell of hot, dry weather forecast across the UK in the coming week is also expected to aid construction, with a number of key elements needing to be completed before the campaign gets underway.

On Monday, a video is being released by Back of the Net - The AFC Bournemouth Fan Channel, which features recently captured drone footage, which shows the latest updates from the Vitality Stadium.

The redevelopment programme is divided into three stages: enabling works, Phase One and Phase Two.

Current enabling works are focused on laying the foundations for a brand-new South Stand, which will eventually replace the temporary Ted MacDougall Stand. Although largely hidden from view, this remains one of the most important aspects of the entire project. The works include piling foundations, pile caps and ground beams, creating the platform upon which the permanent structure will be built.

Phase One encompasses a number of projects designed to be completed before, or during the early weeks of, the 2026/27 season. These include a new stadium perimeter featuring 44 turnstiles, an outside broadcast compound, a relocated cycle route that is now visibly just 10 metres away from completion, two corner infills and extensions to the Main Stand.

At the north-west corner of the stadium, the removal of external side panels has revealed a full bank of new black seats within the North Stand, giving Bournemouth's vocal home end a noticeably different appearance ahead of next season. Nearby, works are continuing around the Main Stand, where preparations are being made for the construction of the north-west corner infill in the coming weeks.

Behind the Main Stand, steelwork continues to rise at both ends of the structure. On the north side, the extension will create additional media facilities on the second floor alongside new office space below. At the south end, the development will deliver expanded hospitality facilities, with the steel framework already showing significant progress.

Visible work is also taking place on the Main Stand roof, which is being upgraded to address existing leaks and improve thermal performance. Contractors are also preparing to enclose the balconies currently serving Bubbles and the Champions Bar. Bubbles is set to be rebranded as "The Garden" as part of a new hospitality offering, with the alterations creating an additional 184 square metres of hospitality space.

Elsewhere within Phase One, further internal work is being undertaken in the East Stand, where a new sports bar-inspired hospitality venue, named "2:21", is being created. The facility takes its name from the time it took Bournemouth legend James Hayter to score his famous hat-trick against Wrexham in 2004.

The second of the initial corner infills, located in the south-east corner of the stadium, has also begun to take shape. Work has commenced with the removal of sections of cladding from both the East Stand and the Ted MacDougall Stand.

Recent planning documents submitted to BCP Council indicate that this corner will differ from its north-west counterpart. Proposals include a tunnel providing access for grounds staff and emergency vehicles, while the structure will also incorporate elevated viewing areas for wheelchair and powerchair users. The design must also integrate with the significantly larger South Stand that will eventually alongside behind it.

Phase Two centres on the construction of that new South Stand, which is expected to be built behind and over the existing Ted MacDougall Stand during the 2026/27 season before becoming operational for the start of the 2027/28 campaign.

Once the South Stand is complete, attention will turn to the remaining two corner infills, which are scheduled for completion by November 2027. The final stage of the redevelopment will then involve increasing the height and depth of both the North and East stands.

Those works are expected to increase the North Stand's capacity from 2,408 to almost 3,700 seats, while the East Stand would grow from 3,409 to approximately 5,220. Combined with the enlarged South Stand and the four completed corner sections, Vitality Stadium's overall capacity is projected to exceed 20,000.

Alongside the Phase Two stadium works, Bournemouth also plan to deliver a new fan zone, ticket office, cycle facilities and a range of enhanced accessibility improvements as part of the wider redevelopment project.