The Cherries

Cherries Hit Four Past St Pauli as the Marco Rose Era Warms Up

A 4-1 win over FC St. Pauli in Austria gave AFC Bournemouth’s new head coach the perfect start to his first pre-season in charge.

Aerial view over Bournemouth
Pre-season is up and running for the town’s Premier League club.

AFC Bournemouth's summer took a confident turn on Friday, with a 4-1 win over Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli at the club's Austrian training camp. It was the first friendly of the Marco Rose era, and the scoreline made the new head coach's opening statement for him.

Rose, confirmed on a three-year contract earlier in the summer after Andoni Iraola's departure at the end of last season, has inherited a squad in the middle of a reshape. Club-record signing Alvaro Rodriguez has arrived up front, and pre-season is the first proper look at how the pieces fit.

The road to opening day

The Austrian camp continues with a meeting with FC Augsburg on 30 July, before the squad returns for a behind-closed-doors game against Genoa on 4 August. Trips to Real Betis on 8 August and Mainz on 15 August round out the programme, a deliberately heavyweight run of European opposition before the Premier League begins.

The league opener is an away trip to Manchester City on 23 August, with the first home game of the season against Everton at Vitality Stadium on 29 August.

A club woven into the town

Match days shape the east side of Bournemouth like nothing else. The stadium sits inside Kings Park in Boscombe, and the surrounding cafes, pubs and parks fill early on home Saturdays. For visitors planning an autumn trip around a fixture, our Boscombe guide covers where to eat and drink near the ground, and the what's on calendar tracks the rest of the town's season.

Sport afc bournemouthfootballpre-seasonvitality stadium
Share WhatsApp X Facebook

Comments (0)

No comments yet. Be the first to join the conversation.

Join the conversation

Keep it civil and on topic. Comments are checked by an editor before they appear.

Your name is shown next to your comment. Your email address is optional, never published and only used if we need to contact you about your comment. Comments are moderated, so there may be a short delay before yours appears.

Planning your visit?

Book your Bournemouth stay direct

Serviced apartments and aparthotels a few minutes from the beach — book direct with Flexiestays and skip the booking-site fees.

Book Now →