The first time Bournemouth played in an FA Cup quarter‑final was 1957 when they faced Manchester United. They were still called Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic in those days and played in the Third Division (South). They had put out Wolves and Tottenham in the previous two rounds, the excitement enticing a record crowd of 28,799 to Dean Court to see them play Matt Busby’s side.
The United centre-half Mark Jones was carried off early on and, nine years before the introduction of substitutes, Bournemouth took the lead against the 10 men, Brian Bedford nudging in after Ray Wood had flapped at a corner. Two Johnny Berry goals, the second a penalty, in the space of five second‑half minutes, though, saw United through. They went on to lose to Aston Villa in the final, when Peter McParland fractured Wood’s cheekbone after six minutes, forcing the centre-half Jackie Blanchflower to take over in goal.
