Vitality Stadium

The Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth is the smallest ground in the Premier League, the compact and intimate home of AFC Bournemouth. Squeezed into a residential corner of the town on the site of a former gravel pit, it puts fans right on top of the pitch in a way few top-flight grounds can match. The close quarters make for a tight, noisy atmosphere on matchdays that visiting big clubs often find uncomfortable. A major redevelopment is now underway to grow the stadium toward a 20,000-plus capacity by 2027.

Known as Dean Court since the club moved there in December 1910, the ground was substantially rebuilt and reopened in November 2001, then renamed Vitality Stadium in 2015 under a sponsorship deal. Its size belies its story — the Cherries climbed from the brink of liquidation in the lower leagues in 2008 to the Premier League within a decade, with this tight ground as their fortress throughout. AFC Bournemouth broke ground in 2026 on a landmark expansion project intended to modernise the stadium and lift its capacity well beyond its current smallest-in-the-league status.