“We’re all going on a European tour, a European tour, a European tour…”That was the chorus from a bouncing Bournemouth end at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground on the final day of the Premier League season. A team which was in the second tier only four seasons ago, who have sold some of their most important players, and who until last year did not own their stadium — the smallest in the division — are, for the first time in their history, in Europe.After a 1-1 draw with Forest secured sixth place, players — and outgoing head coach Andoni Iraola — danced, clapped, and posed for pictures in front of the fans. They took it in turns to hold up a huge ‘Rayanair’ flag, a cross between their 19-year-old Brazilian forward Rayan and the budget airline their fans will now be making use of next year.“I feel so, so happy,” Iraola said, beaming all the way through the fifteen minutes of his final press conference. “So happy, because I cannot ask for much more.”Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium, which sits two and a half miles from the seaside city’s centre, has a capacity of 11,000. It is the smallest in England’s top flight, one of only two grounds that holds fewer than 20,000 fans.The Vitality Stadium will host European games for the first time next season (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)It has been home to Bournemouth in every tier of the English Football League. It has seen relegations, points deductions, league titles, promotions — and in 2026-27, it will host Europa League football.When 43-year-old Spaniard Iraola took over in 2023, did he see this coming?“I had no idea,” Iraola said. “Honestly, I knew it was going to be almost impossible to get Europe. But it’s true that the owner (American businessman Bill Foley), since the beginning, told me. He was like, ‘OK, we want to stay in the Premier League. This is the main thing. But I want Europe.’ He had it very clear.”It was a far-fetched ambition for a club who had been scrambling to avoid relegation from the football league altogether in 2008. That year, the club entered into administration, had 10 points deducted, and were relegated from League One (the third tier). They clung on to their Football League status the following season, despite suffering a further deduction and starting their campaign on minus-17 points, and began to clamber back up the pyramid.Bournemouth reached the Premier League for the first time in 2015, were relegated once more in 2020, and recovered their top flight status in 2022. In December of that year, a partnership led by Foley took over the club.One of their first major calls, in June 2023? To sack Gary O’Neil, who had guided them to Premier League survival, and immediately replace him with Iraola.