Fixture List Out: Cherries Open the New Era Away at Manchester City

The shape of AFC Bournemouth's new season is set, and it starts at the deep end. Marco Rose's first competitive match in charge is an away trip to Manchester City on 23 August, before Vitality Stadium opens its doors for the visit of Everton on 29 August.

The early weeks keep coming: Newcastle United away on 5 September, Brentford at home on 12 September, then Liverpool at Vitality Stadium on 20 September. By the end of that run, the town will know a great deal about its reshaped team.

A changed squad

The summer's headline is Alvaro Rodriguez, the forward signed from Elche for a club-record fee reported at 25.7 million pounds. Goalkeeper Ben Westcott has joined from Peterborough United and young defender Jaheim Azzouz Scafe from AFC Wimbledon, while Hamed Traore has moved to Marseille and Marcos Senesi has joined Tottenham Hotspur.

Pre-season form has been encouraging, with a 4-1 win over FC St. Pauli opening the friendly programme in Austria, and further tests against Augsburg, Genoa, Real Betis and Mainz before the real thing begins.

Planning a match-day visit

Home fixtures transform Boscombe. The ground sits within Kings Park, a short bus ride east of the town centre, with the beach fifteen minutes' walk away, so an autumn football weekend doubles comfortably as a seaside one. Our Boscombe guide has the food and drink picks near the stadium, and the what's on calendar covers everything else happening around match weekends.