Nicknamed The Cherries, the team traditionally played in red shirts with white sleeves until 1971, when the strip was changed to red and black stripes, similar to that of A.C. Milan. A predominantly red shirt was chosen for the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons before announcing a return to the stripes for the 2006–07 season due to fan demand.
After narrowly avoiding relegation from the Football League in the 2008–09 season, Bournemouth were promoted to League One at the end of the 2009–10. After making the League One play-off semi-finals in 2010–11 and achieving a mid-table finish in 2011–12, Bournemouth won promotion to the Championship at the end of the 2012–13 season, putting them in the second tier of the league for only the second time in their history.