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Bournemouth's new multi-million pound training facility! | Foley: I have big ambitions for this team
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Since taking over 18 months ago, Bournemouth owner Bill Foley discusses the club's new state of the art training facility and his ambitions for European football.
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About Bill Foley
Bill Foley, owner of the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights, stated in a July 2026 CNBC interview that he is pursuing an NBA expansion team for Las Vegas. Foley said he believes the city is ready for a franchise and that he intends to replicate the Golden Knights' success. He described his ownership approach as focused on long-term franchise development and community involvement rather than short-term profits, and said he plans to be similarly engaged with a basketball team's operations and players. Foley noted that he has not yet spoken to NBA owners about the process, stating he wants to be respectful and clear any discussions with the league first. He also mentioned that owning both a hockey and basketball team could benefit arena scheduling, naming rights, sponsorships, and personal seat license sales.
Transcript (16 segments)
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Narrator0:03
This is a glimpse into the future of AFC Bournemouth. A multi-million pound training ground that is getting closer to transforming the club completely. Owner, an American businessman, Bill Foley, was visiting from his home in Las Vegas. An opportunity to see his vision becoming reality.
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Bill Foley0:20
It looks spectacular. Looks spectacular. That's the difference. You've got... could we have saved a few million? Maybe, but it certainly looks incredible, that's for sure. It's a... I mean, women's academy, first team, unbelievable facilities are going to be here. This will be one of the best training facilities in the league when it's finished. It's going to be unbelievable.
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Narrator0:44
Despite being Bournemouth's owner for less than 18 months, he's been bullish with his predictions about survival and made huge strides off the pitch in an industry that promises fans so much but fails to deliver. So how has he kept his word?
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Bill Foley1:00
Be honest, always tell the truth, and really always be honest. I have big ambitions for this team and I know we can do it because I've done it. I've done it with the Golden Knights, our hockey club.
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Interviewer1:14
So you've translated what you did in Vegas to Bournemouth with the same model, the same infrastructure, the same plans?
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Bill Foley1:20
Same plan, same program. It's expensive. You've got to put a lot of money behind it to keep your word. But the goal is now that we've moved up the table a bit, which I was confident we would do this year, I believe we'll start attracting more talent, better talent. They'll want to stay in Bournemouth, they won't want to move on. So that's our job.
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Interviewer1:46
A place like this, this indoor pitch that we built, it's fantastic. Was that always your plan to put things in place that enabled the club to grow organically but challenge those teams eventually at the top of the table?
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Bill Foley1:56
Absolutely. You know, we want to play in Europe. Do we get to the top four, top five? Complicated, difficult for Bournemouth. But with a new stadium and these facilities, we can keep on doing better every year. Just improve a bit, improve a bit. We have a really good team and the team is motivated, becoming a team as opposed to a group of individuals. If we can keep on doing that as we move on through this season and next season, the season after, we'll be successful.
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Interviewer2:26
If someone had said to you all the things that you'd achieve and so on when you invested in Bournemouth, when you bought this great football club, would you have believed that you'd made so much progress in such a short space of time?
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Bill Foley2:38
Well, I'm running out of time, so I have to make sure I do things quickly and efficiently. I had complete confidence in what we could do. Once I met our management team and some of the football staff, I knew what we could do. And I knew with the right resources behind it and the right attitude, a winning attitude and a never-give-up attitude, I knew we'd be okay. I was very confident.
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Interviewer3:05
Wow, this is gigantic, isn't it? You're one of a number of Americans that have invested in the Premier League. Is there a reason why you think that there are more American businessmen that are looking at English football as a vehicle to get into the sports industry, to potentially make money, to be a part of something that's a global product? Is there a reason why you think that's the case?
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Bill Foley3:25
Yeah, well, I mean, football is the greatest sport in the world and the Premier League is the greatest league in the world. And so if you're going to invest in a league or a team, why not invest in the best, even if it's not the biggest team and the biggest town and so on. And so for us, we're not a sovereign wealth fund, we're not financial sponsors. We have limited resources, so we had to go with a little smaller club and then try and improve it and make it better and better. We came to the UK and came to Bournemouth to listen and to be part of the community and not be the arrogant American that comes in and wants to change everything. So I believe you see, Mark, that we've been very consistent in the way we've approached our business philosophy and we will continue to be consistent. We'll make mistakes, it's inevitable.
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Narrator4:18
The club's technical director, Richard Hughes, is leaving to take up a similar role at Liverpool this summer, and Foley believes it shows the qualities that Bournemouth have within their structure and staff.
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Bill Foley4:27
It's a compliment to the club that we have those kind of individuals working for the club that can move on to a different situation and maybe do a little better financially at a club like Liverpool than they can at Bournemouth because we're a small club. So Richard's been a great asset, he's been a great ally. I know we'll still work together when he's at Liverpool. I mean, he's got his job to do and we have our job to do, but he'll always be a friend to the club and I applaud him. He's a good man.
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Interviewer4:56
We've covered what you've done. You've done a lot in a very short space of time. What can fans expect to see with regards to the final developments of the training ground, a brand new stadium, more investment in the players, more growth around the community? What are the key things that you want to continue to build upon?
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Bill Foley5:11
All the above. What I'm really focused on, though, is community involvement. Let's be part of the community, let's embed ourselves in the community and have the community embedded with us. And I believe we can do a better job at that. A new stadium is going to help. It'll give us an extra six or seven, eight thousand seats to expand our fan base, bring in some younger fans. So that's really our next big milestone, next step. And it's going to take a while to build that stadium, but if you've been to Vitality, we've made changes and there'll be more changes made as the players move out here. Gives us the opportunity to do some revisiting of some of our stands now and more premium seating. So we'll do all that in the meanwhile we're waiting to build a new stadium. So embed ourselves in the community, then have the community be embedded with us. That's my goal.