THERE were many names who stole the headlines at various points during Cherries’ remarkable rise to the Premier League, with their actions there for all to witness.

From Steve Fletcher’s goal securing the club’s Football League status little over a decade ago and Jeff Mostyn and Eddie Mitchell’s roles in keeping the club afloat, to Brett Pitman’s goals to fire the club up to League One, under the watchful eye of new management duo Eddie Howe and Jason Tindall.

More heroes emerged, as the class of 2014-15 achieved promotion to the top flight for the first time in the club’s history, a position which for many fans still feels like a novelty.

Brilliant victories over established English giants followed ­– Nathan Ake netting dramatic Vitality Stadium winners against both Liverpool and Tottenham to name two.

Right through to the rebuild and a second promotion back to the big time, with young goalkeeper Mark Travers collecting a host of individual honours and Kieffer Moore becoming an instant hero.

But a man whose name deserves to be right among that list, even if he probably wouldn’t want it to be, is Maxim Demin.

From the early days, Russian-born businessman Demin, who had been involved in the petrochemicals industry, was keen to keep a low profile.

In November 2011, when Demin’s deal to buy 50 per cent of Cherries from Steve Sly and Mostyn was ratified, BBC Radio Solent reported: “Mr Demin - who has a number of businesses in Russia and elsewhere - is not interested in garnering any publicity from his decision to join the board, and has no intention of talking in public at all about his role at the Cherries.”

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Demin, alongside co-owner Mitchell, got to work on trying to push Cherries up from their position at the wrong end of League One.

For context, the arrival of Demin, aged 41 at the time, coincided with Lee Bradbury’s Cherries being dumped out of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, losing 6-0 at Brentford.

Funds were provided in the January transfer window, with the likes of Charlie Daniels, Wes Thomas, Steve Cook, Simon Francis, Matt Tubbs and Donal McDermott all arriving.

Cherries finished 11th, with Bradbury sacked and Paul Groves instated as boss by the end of the season.

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Trying to upgrade training facilities and move towards regaining control of the stadium were two constantly ongoing missions, something which remains the case a decade on.

But on the pitch, more players came through the door. Josh McQuoid, Lewis Grabban and Tommy Elphick arrived, as did Dutch duo Frank Demouge and Lorenzo Davids.

But things were simply not clicking. By October, Cherries were onto their third manager in under a year of Demin’s arrival, but this one proved to be the golden bullet for success.

The club convinced Howe to drop down a league and return from Burnley and the rest, as they say, is history.

A remarkable rise up the table, aided by the winter signings of Pitman and Matt Ritchie, saw a season which looked to be fading into obscurity turn into one of remarkable triumph, as promotion out of League One was secured.

Even being in the Championship felt like dreamland at the time, but that rapid rise only accelerated Demin’s ability to put his stamp on the club.

A few months after promotion to the Championship was confirmed, Demin took a controlling stake in Cherries, buying shares from Eddie and Brenda Mitchell.

While for many, just being in the Championship so soon after nearly being out of existence was as far as they could possibly imagine, for Demin and Howe, eyes were on a bigger prize. Albeit Demin’s eyes were not physically looking at what he was building.

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He attended a few matches in his early days of involvement with the club, but after most ended in draws or defeats, he opted to stay away, with his main residence being in Switzerland.

Speaking in 2014, Howe said of Demin, who owned property in Sandbanks so often visited the area: “He is very superstitious. He asks me to do certain things to follow his superstitions.

“He rarely watches our games because he thinks he is bad luck. I try to convince him to come but he prefers not to.

“He has invested a lot of money and he isn’t here to enjoy it. But wherever he is, I know he is a very proud man because he is a huge supporter of the club and wants to know everything that is going on.

“The fact he isn’t here for games doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be here. It is his genuine belief that he doesn’t want to curse us.

“You don’t get anywhere without support and backing. And that is not just financial because that is only one part of it.

“For me as a manager, it is the support of an owner who trusts us and lets us get on with the job. Max is someone I have a really good relationship with and someone I want to bring success to. I think it is so important that you share that success and, hopefully, there will be more to come.”

You don’t need me to go over the whole story of the seasons which followed, which has turned AFC Bournemouth into a club on a fairytale rise, to a business seen as enticing to an American billionaire.

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Speaking in January 2019, after Demin reacquired the 25 per cent of the club he had sold to Chicago-based Peak6 Investments in 2015, Howe said: “The club has been run superbly well for a long period of time. Max has been a massive part of that.

“What he’s done for the football club has been incredible, so to have him back as sole owner, in my book, is very good news.”

Demin has had his eyes open to a potential sale for a while. With Cherries’ rapid ascension into the Premier League, a priority on improving the playing squad was ultimately placed over improving the infrastructure around the club.

Issues with getting the required permissions to develop the training ground as well as negotiate to repurchase the stadium saw both projects moved to the back-burner, particularly following relegation from the Premier League in a COVID-hit season in 2019-20.

That threw a massive spanner into the works, leaving Demin with a huge choice, knowing the club had to be in the top flight to maximise its sale value.

Although plans had been approved, work on the training ground was paused, with focus switching to getting the club back into the Premier League.

Costs had to be cut. Some players were sold, Tindall was promoted up to replace the outgoing Howe as boss, and not a huge amount was spent in the transfer market, with the club instead holding on to some of their star names in the hope they could fire them straight back up.

Cherries went close, losing out in the play-offs.

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A make-or-break year then followed. With parachute payments set to drop if promotion was not achieved, and the club’s two standout performers the previous year in Arnaut Danjuma and Asmir Begovic moving on, pressure was on.

Cherries turned to Scott Parker and, in a bid to ensure they got over the line, threw some money at the charge in the January transfer window.

No matter how acrimoniously Parker left the club a few months later, he deserves credit for masterminding the promotion push. The situation at Cherries right now would likely look markedly different had they not gone up last season.

Instead, the club sit mid-table in the Premier League and have an exciting new era to look forward to.

One man who saw first-hand the early work of Demin was Shaun MacDonald. The Welshman signed for Cherries in the summer of 2011, shortly before Demin arrived and two years before he took full control, making 101 appearances before leaving in 2016.

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He told the Daily Echo: “Max did come into the changing room once or twice and I saw him around the stadium.

“But I think Max is the kind of owner who is obviously heavily involved with the club, but he kind of keeps his distance at the same time.

“I think owners of clubs, we’ve seen it at some clubs, they can make a club or they can ruin a club. I think Max has come in and, I’m not saying he’s made the club, but he’s definitely improved things.

“I think that Bournemouth fans can only really be thankful and grateful to what he’s done for the club.”

Work on the new training facility at Canford Magna, which resumed over the summer, will be a key priority for new owner Bill Foley to push ahead with.

He has also discussed his hopes to expand the capacity on the stadium.

Early signs are Foley is likely to take somewhat of a different approach to Demin, particularly when it comes to his visibility and sharing his vision publicly.

But exactly what Foley’s intentions, plans, funding and actions prove to be at Cherries, as an owner, Demin will be an incredibly tough act to follow.

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