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Right, so yesterday I sat down to really sort out the Premier League history between Bournemouth and Chelsea for folks who keep asking. Wanted a simple timeline, you know? Point out the big games, the shocks, who usually wins. Sounded easy enough. But man, football stats sometimes play tricks on you.
Started out simple. Booted up the laptop, grabbed a coffee – essential fuel – and opened up a few reliable football databases I usually use. Searched head-to-head records for AFC Bournemouth and Chelsea. Filtered for Premier League games only. First glance? Chelsea definitely ahead, obviously. But I needed specifics. Dates, scores, where they played.
Jumped straight into looking at the very first PL meeting. That was back late 2015 at Stamford Bridge. Remembered Chelsea won that one pretty comfortably. Typed out the date, venue, score: December 2015, Chelsea won 2-0. Good start.
Kept scrolling down the fixture list. Found the Bournemouth home game later that same season. Boom. Big shocker! Bournemouth actually beat Chelsea 1-0 at the Vitality! Typed that one out quick, remembering how crazy that felt at the time. That win was massive for Bournemouth.
Then came the seasons after. Kept clicking, season by season. Noticed a pattern forming, but not the clean one I expected:
- 2016/17 season: Chelsea does the double. Wins at home and away. Ouch for Bournemouth.
- 2017/18 season: Chelsea wins at Stamford Bridge again. Then… hold up. Bournemouth smashes them 3-0 at home! Another massive home win. Totally unexpected scoreline!
- 2018/19 season: Bournemouth does it AGAIN at home! Wins 4-0! I blinked at the screen. Seriously? Four goals? Against Chelsea? Confirmed the date and score. Madness! Chelsea won the home game that year, sure. But those away games for Chelsea? Nightmares!
- 2019/20 season: Chelsea finally gets a point away at Bournemouth? Ends 2-2. Still no win for them there since like, forever. Weird pattern sticking.
This started to look weird. Every time Chelsea went to Bournemouth in the Prem, something strange happened! They basically couldn’t win on the south coast for AGES. The wins and goals piled up for Bournemouth at home against the big boys. Kept digging into the more recent seasons.
Found September 2022. Bournemouth beats Chelsea AGAIN at home. By now, this is almost a running gag. Chelsea just couldn’t figure that place out. Felt a bit bad typing that run out! Finally stumbled upon March 2023. Ah, finally! Chelsea break the curse. Win 3-1 at the Vitality. Took them long enough.
Pulled all the data together into a rough timeline on my document. Ended up highlighting a few key things:
- First meeting: Chelsea wins.
- Bournemouth punches above weight with surprising home wins, often big.
- Chelsea usually dominates at Stamford Bridge.
- That truly bizarre period where Chelsea couldn’t buy a win at the Vitality Stadium for several seasons. Total mess for them!
- Only recently did Chelsea finally win away again.
Put the kettle on for another coffee after sorting through all that. Finished up the simple summary: Chelsea has the better record overall, no doubt. But Bournemouth? Those guys loved turning up for Chelsea at home, especially in the mid-late 2010s. Created some amazing moments. Finding all those little twists made it way more interesting than just copying a boring stats table.