Back-to-Back Invincible Seasons is Impossible... Right?

AFC Bournemouth Women have had an outstanding 2024/25 season so far. The Cherries find themselves third in the FA Women's National League Division One South West with nine wins from nine, only four points off top with six games in hand.

By Zach Sampson

AFC Bournemouth Women huddling before facing Arsenal u21s | Photo by: Zach Sampson

Clearly the Boscombe side are flying in the league, and the stats back this up; 49 goals at this point in the season is remarkable but two conceded is nothing short of spectacular. During this impressive campaign, Erin Foley has also kept seven clean sheets in between the sticks.

Some of their stellar performances include a 10-0 away win against local rivals Southampton FC, and a 9-0 demolition of Maidenhead United, who the Cherries play this Sunday. Significantly, they also beat promotion rivals Swindon Town 4-0 at their first game at Vitality Stadium of the season.

Molly Barron-Clark in the Bournemouth home kit looking to her left with a Bournemouth sweatband on her right arm

AFC Bournemouth Women's Molly Barron-Clark also represent England in beach football | Photo by: Zach Sampson

Manager Steve Cuss admitted overcoming their tough start to the season put them in great stead: “We looked at who perhaps were going to be at the top of the league and you certainly felt that Swindon, Bristol Rovers, Moneyfields, Worthing were going to be right up there and four of our first five games was against those four teams.”

Cuss’ side had some significant departures during the season star striker Lucy Cooper leaving for promotion rivals Moneyfields Women: “Anybody that's left during the season, Lucy [Cooper] being one and Molly Gladwell another, that's been very much player led.

“I wanted to keep the whole squad together, but I've been there as a player myself, when you're not playing, you're hugely frustrated and we want to see smiles on people's faces. We're very comfortable with Lucy and Molly exploring other options and moving on and we wish them the best of luck with it. We'd have liked to have kept them, but they made their decisions to move on”.

Since they arrived in the league, the Cherries have been dominant in Division One South West; they haven’t lost a league game since the 2022/23 season where they lost 2-0 to Cardiff City in March. Bournemouth went unbeaten domestically in 2023/24 but didn’t get promoted, something that has raised questions about the current structure of the women’s football pyramid.

The prospect of doing back-to-back invincible seasons is something Cuss and his team aren’t thinking about: “I thought it was hard to do for one season to go through being totally undefeated. To do it for two seasons, that's a real big challenge and it's not something that we talk about.

“We don't talk about being undefeated, we talk about ultimately trying to win the league and be at the top of the table there. It's a boring answer in many ways but the players are really drilled well. They don't talk about the outcomes, they don't talk about what might happen, they just talk about the next game and being really focused on that.”

Bournemouth managed to match their previous FA Cup record by reaching the third round however, they were knocked out after losing 1-0 to Ipswich Town, a full-time side who play in the league above the Cherries.

The Boscombe side also host Manchester United u21s in the Plate where Ringwood Town is expected to host more than three times their average crowd.

As Steve Cuss’ side slowly move towards the business end of the season, they have their eyes set on greatness. The prospect of a domestic treble looms, but Bournemouth’s feet are planted firmly doing things the ‘boring way’… taking it one game at a time.