Bournemouth goes mad for Madrid

Posted Sunday, July 21, 2013 by Marca.com

Following its recent promotion into the second tier of English football, Bournemouth is now getting ready for the arrival of one of the world's biggest clubs. Carlo Ancelotti's new-look Real Madrid will take to the pitch on Sunday (19:45 local time) to face the minnows from the South of England.

AFC Bournemouth, nicknamed 'The Cherries', has never played in England's top flight. For this reason, the arrival of players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaká has seen the price of the 10,000 tickets go through the roof. €70 for adults and €35 for children, to watch one of the best sides in the world in its season-opener. Bournemouth's chairman, Eddie Mitchell, called it a "priceless" occasion for his club.

The chairman also told the funny story of how the agreement to play the match came about."The clubs share a mutual friend who does work with Real Madrid. My son was chatting to him a few weeks ago and we had been looking for the opportunity to try to get a big club to the ground to celebrate our rise to the Championship", Mitchell recalled.

High ticket prices have not stopped the Goldsands Stadium registering a full house to receive Real Madrid. "Bournemouth could have filled two stadiums," the chairman said. The first 4,000 tickets that the club put on sale were snapped up in just an hour and a half.