Tomorrow sees Swansea City face AFC Bournemouth for the first time since April 2008, when the Welsh side lost 2-1 at home in dramatic fashion. Whilst both sides need the win tomorrow, there is no doubt that Garry Monk and Eddie Howe – two key proponents of the rises from both clubs – will be happy that the game at the Liberty Stadium will be in the Barclays Premier League, and not League One, which is where the last game took place.

Some familiar faces for many football fans in that game were Leon Britton and Angel Rangel for the Swans – managed by a certain Roberto Martinez – and Max Gradel and Sam Vokes for the Cherries. Curiously, ex-England international Darren Anderton was in the Bournemouth team that day, – showing a similarity to Joe Cole’s desire to keep on playing football – which saw 15000 fans watch a strange, dramatic game of football. It is fair to say that the two sides would have completely contrasting fortunes come the end of the season.

Swansea City took the lead in the 50th minute through a free header from Andy Robinson, before two goals from the away side, both in the 90th minute, turned the whole game around. The scorers being Joe Partington and Jo Kuffour. This was a crucial win for Bournemouth as they were trying to avoid relegation – in a season when they were deducted ten points for entering administration.

Swansea, by contrast, were looking to promote to the Championship – where they would once again be in the same division as Cardiff City – but this defeat did nothing to dent their chances, looking back at it. Indeed, a week later, after a 2-1 away victory at Gillingham, Swansea were promoted. The following game was amongst the weirdest seen at the Liberty Stadium: Swansea lost 2-1 against Yeovil, but ended up as Champions. Roberto Martinez had done it.

Unfortunately, Bournemouth ended up relegated that season, but their rise to the top division in England has been equally as stunning. In fact, the following season the southern club avoided relegation from the Football League on the final home game of the season, beating Grimsby Town 2-1. Their rise to the Premier League has been remarkable, and one cannot help but compare the similarities between the two clubs.

Tomorrow is no doubt an important game. Both sides need the win, and with the sheer mass of finances that is coming into the Premier League next season, both sides will be doing every single thing that they can to be as successful as possible. However, it is also important to note where both clubs have come from, and whilst it can get very stressful at the top, not all clubs get the chances to play at the highest level, so they should make the most of it, whilst they still can.