This is a list of seasons played by AFC Bournemouth in English football, from 1903 to the most recent completed season. The club was originally known as Boscombe F.C.. The exact date of the club's foundation is not known, but there is proof that it was formed in the autumn of 1899 out of the remains of the older Boscombe St. John's Lads’ Institute F.C.. In their first season (1899–1900), Boscombe F.C. competed in the Bournemouth and District Junior League, part of the Hampshire Football League.
In the season of 1905–06, Boscombe F.C. graduated to senior amateur football. For the first time during the season of 1913–14, the club competed in the FA Cup. The club's progress was halted in 1914, due to the outbreak of the World War I, and Boscombe F.C. returned to the Hampshire Football League. In 1920, the Third Division was formed and Boscombe were promoted to the Southern Football League. Three years later, the club was promoted to the Football League Third Division South, at which time the club was renamed Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic Football Club. The club remains on the records as the longest continuous members of the Third Division.
Bournemouth's run in the Third Division ended in 1970 with relegation, though they were promoted back the following year. In 1972, the club adopted the more streamlined name of AFC Bournemouth. In 1987, they secured promotion to the Football League Second Division for the first time. The club managed to remain in that tier for three seasons and was relegated in 1990. In 2008, Bournemouth had 10 points deducted for entering administration and were relegated. In the 2008–09 Football League Two season, they started with a 17-point deduction, but after narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League that season, they were promoted to League One at the end of the following season. Bournemouth's ascent continued. After making the League One play-off semi-finals in 2010–11, and achieving a mid-table finish in 2011–12, they secured a promotion to the Championship at the end of the 2012–13 season, climbing to the second tier for only the second time in their history. In the 2014–15 season, they won the Championship title, and earned promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history.
Seasons SeasonLeagueFA CupEFL CupOtherDivisionPldWDLGFGAPtsPos1903–04HLW1410133117212nd1904–05HLW169344224214th1905–06HLW125162127114th1906–07HLW1210022910201st1907–08HLW146622323182nd1908–09HLW12246212885th1909–10HLW125342616133rd1910–11HL147432922182nd1911–12HL1410133014212nd1912–13HL148063016163rd1913–14HL1611325414252nd 1914–15colspan=9 6Q No competitive football was played between 1915 and 1919 due to the First World War 1919–20 HL 126333014153rd — 1920–21 SL 24 10 6 8 25 40 26 5th — 1921–22 SL 36 17 5 14 38 55 39 7th 6Q 1922–23 SL 38 22 7 9 67 34 51 2nd — 1923–24 Div 3S 42 11 11 20 40 65 33 21st — 1924–25 Div 3S 42 13 8 21 40 58 34 20th — 1925–26 Div 3S 42 17 9 16 75 91 43 8th R4 1926–27 Div 3S 42 18 8 16 78 66 44 7th R3 1927–28 Div 3S 42 13 12 17 72 79 38 14th R3 1928–29 Div 3S 42 19 9 14 84 77 47 9th R5 1929–30 Div 3S 42 15 13 14 72 61 43 10th R3 1930–31 Div 3S 42 15 13 14 72 73 43 10th R1 1931–32 Div 3S 42 13 12 17 70 78 38 15th R4 1932–33 Div 3S 42 12 12 18 60 81 36 18th R1 1933–34 Div 3S 42 9 9 24 60 102 27 21st R2 1934–35 Div 3S 42 15 7 20 54 71 37 17th R1 1935–36 Div 3S 42 16 11 15 60 56 43 8th R3 1936–37 Div 3S 42 20 9 13 65 59 49 6th R3 1937–38 Div 3S 42 14 12 16 56 57 40 13th R2 1938–39 Div 3S 42 13 13 16 52 58 39 15th R3 1939–40 Div 3S 3 1 1 1 13 4 3 — — No competitive football was played between 1939 and 1945 due to the Second World War 1945–46colspan=9 R1 Third Division South Cup W 1946–47 Div 3S 42 18 8 16 72 54 44 7th R3 1947–48 Div 3S 42 24 9 9 76 35 57 2nd R3 1948–49 Div 3S 42 22 8 12 69 48 52 3rd R3 1949–50 Div 3S 42 16 10 16 57 56 42 12th R4 1950–51 Div 3S 46 22 7 17 65 57 51 9th R2 1951–52 Div 3S 46 16 10 20 69 75 42 14th R1 1952–53 Div 3S 46 19 9 18 74 69 47 9th R1 1953–54 Div 3S 46 16 8 22 67 70 40 19th R2 1954–55 Div 3S 46 12 18 16 57 65 42 17th R3 1955–56 Div 3S 46 19 10 17 63 51 48 9th R1 1956–57 Div 3S 46 19 14 13 88 62 52 5th QF 1957–58 Div 3S 46 21 9 16 81 74 51 9th R2 1958–59 Div 3 46 17 12 17 69 69 46 12th R1 1959–60 Div 3 46 17 13 16 72 72 47 10th R4 1960–61 Div 3 46 15 10 21 58 76 40 19th R3 R2 1961–62 Div 3 46 21 17 8 69 45 59 3rd R1 R4 1962–63 Div 3 46 18 16 12 63 46 52 5th R1 R2 1963–64 Div 3 46 24 8 14 79 58 56 4th R1 R4 1964–65 Div 3 46 18 11 17 72 63 47 11th R2 R2 1965–66 Div 3 46 13 12 21 38 56 38 18th R3 R1 1966–67 Div 3 46 12 17 17 39 57 41 20th R2 R1 1967–68 Div 3 46 16 15 15 56 51 47 12th R3 R1 1968–69 Div 3 46 21 9 16 60 45 51 4th R2 R1 1969–70 Div 3 46 12 15 19 48 71 39 21st R1 R3 1970–71 Div 4 46 24 12 10 81 46 60 2nd R2 R1 1971–72 Div 3 46 23 16 7 73 37 62 3rd R3 R2 1972–73 Div 3 46 17 16 13 66 44 50 7th R3 R2 1973–74 Div 3 46 16 15 15 54 58 47 11th R3 R2 1974–75 Div 3 46 13 12 21 44 58 38 21st R2 R2 1975–76 Div 4 46 20 12 14 57 48 52 6th R2 R1 1976–77 Div 4 46 15 18 13 54 44 48 13th R1 R1 1977–78 Div 4 46 14 15 17 41 51 43 17th R1 R2 1978–79 Div 4 46 14 11 21 47 48 39 18th R2 R1 1979–80 Div 4 46 13 18 15 52 51 44 11th R2 R1 1980–81 Div 4 46 16 13 17 47 48 45 13th R2 R1 1981–82 Div 4 46 23 19 4 62 30 88 4th R3 R1 1982–83 Div 3 46 16 13 17 59 68 61 14th R1 R2 1983–84 Div 3 46 16 7 23 63 73 55 17th R4 R1 Associate Members' Cup W 1984–85 Div 3 46 19 11 16 57 46 68 10th R3 R1 Associate Members' Cup SF(S) 1985–86 Div 3 46 15 9 22 65 72 54 15th R3 R2 Associate Members' Cup R1(S) 1986–87 Div 3 46 29 10 7 76 40 97 1st R2 R1 Associate Members' Cup R1(S) 1987–88 Div 2 44 13 10 21 56 68 49 17th R3 R3 1988–89 Div 2 46 18 8 20 53 62 62 12th R5 R2 1989–90 Div 2 46 12 12 22 57 76 48 22nd R3 R3 1990–91 Div 3 46 19 13 14 58 58 70 9th R4 R2 Associate Members' Cup PR(S) 1991–92 Div 3 46 20 11 15 52 48 71 8th R4 R2 Associate Members' Cup R1(S) 1992–93 Div 2 46 12 17 17 45 52 53 17th R3 R1 Football League Trophy R1(S) 1993–94 Div 2 46 14 15 17 51 59 57 17th R3 R2 Football League Trophy R2(S) 1994–95 Div 2 46 13 11 22 49 69 50 19th R2 R2 Football League Trophy R1(S) 1995–96 Div 2 46 16 10 20 51 70 58 14th R2 R2 Football League Trophy R2(S) 1996–97 Div 2 46 15 15 16 43 45 60 16th R1 R1 Football League Trophy R1(S) 1997–98 Div 2 46 18 12 16 57 52 66 9th R3 R1 Football League Trophy RU 1998–99 Div 2 46 21 13 12 63 41 76 7th R4 R3 Football League Trophy QF(S) 1999–2000 Div 2 46 16 9 21 59 62 57 16th R2 R3 Football League Trophy QF(S) 2000–01 Div 2 46 20 13 13 79 55 73 7th R3 R1 Football League Trophy R2(S) 2001–02 Div 2 46 10 14 22 56 71 44 21st R2 R1 Football League Trophy R1(S) 2002–03 Div 3 46 20 14 12 60 48 74 4th R4 R1 Football League TrophyLeague play-offs SF(S)W 2003–04 Div 2 46 17 15 14 56 51 66 9th R2 R1 Football League Trophy R1(S) 2004–05 Lge 1 46 20 10 16 77 64 70 8th R4 R3 Football League Trophy R1(S) 2005–06 Lge 1 46 12 19 15 49 53 55 17th R1 R2 Football League Trophy R2(S) 2006–07 Lge 1 46 13 13 20 50 64 52 19th R2 R1 Football League Trophy R2(S) 2007–08 Lge 1 46 17 7 22 62 72 48 21st R2 R1 Football League Trophy QF(S) 2008–09 Lge 2 46 17 12 17 59 51 46 21st R2 R1 Football League Trophy QF(S) 2009–10 Lge 2 46 25 8 13 61 44 83 2nd R2 R1 Football League Trophy R2(S) 2010–11 Lge 1 46 19 14 13 75 54 71 6th R2 R1 Football League TrophyLeague play-offs R1(S)SF 2011–12 Lge 1 46 15 13 18 48 52 58 11th R1 R2 Football League Trophy QF(S) 2012–13 Lge 1 46 24 11 11 76 53 83 2nd R3 R1 Football League Trophy R1(S) 2013–14 Champ 46 18 12 16 67 66 66 10th R4 R2 2014–15 Champ 46 26 12 8 98 45 90 1st R4 QF 2015–16 Prem 38 11 9 18 45 67 42 16th R5 R4 2016–17 Prem 38 12 10 16 55 67 46 9th R3 R3 2017–18 Prem 38 11 11 16 45 61 44 12th R3 QF 2018–19 Prem 38 13 6 19 56 70 45 14th R3 QF 2019–20 Prem 38 9 7 22 40 65 34 18th R4 R3 2020–21 Champ 46 22 11 13 73 46 77 6th QF R3 League play-offs SF2021–22 Champ 46 25 13 8 74 39 88 2ndR4R2 2022–23 Prem 38 11 6 21 37 71 39 15th R3 R4 2023–24 Prem 38 13 9 16 54 67 48 12th R5 R4 2024–25 Prem 38 15 11 12 58 46 56 9th QF R2 2025–26 Prem 38 13 18 7 58 54 57 6th R3 R2 Seasons spent at Level 1 of the football league system: 9 Seasons spent at Level 2 of the football league system: 7 Seasons spent at Level 3 of the football league system: 70 Seasons spent at Level 4 of the football league system: 11
Key
Pld – Matches played W – Matches won D – Matches drawn L – Matches lost GF – Goals for GA – Goals against Pts – Points Pos – Final position
Prem – Premier League Champ – Football League Championship Lge 1 – Football League One Lge 2 – Football League Two Div 1 – Football League First Division Div 2 – Football League Second Division Div 3 – Football League Third Division Div 3S – Football League Third Division South Div 4 – Football League Fourth Division SL – Southern League HL – Hampshire League HLW – Hampshire League West n/a – Not applicable
6Q – Sixth qualifying round PR – Preliminary round R1 – First round R2 – Second round R3 – Third round R4 – Fourth round R5 – Fifth round QF – Quarter-finals SF – Semi-finals RU – Runners-up W – Winners (S) – Southern section of regionalised stage
ChampionsRunners-upPromoted Relegated
Notes
References
Further reading