AFC Bournemouth have announced plans to move from their ground of 106 years and hope to have built a new stadium by the start of the 2020-21 season. The Premier League club released a statement on Friday in which they expressed their frustrations in attempts to buy the current stadium back from Stuctadene, a London-based property company, from whom Bournemouth currently lease the Vitality Stadium.

Bournemouth’s chief executive, Neill Blake, in a statement on behalf of the club’s board of directors, said the club “feel we have no other option but to find a new site” and are working with Bournemouth Borough Council to “identify a suitable location”.

Bournemouth have played at their current ground, formerly known as Dean Court, since 1910, but it was sold to Structadene in 2005 in a sale-and-leaseback deal. The stadium was sold to Structadene for a figure believed to be around £3.5m and immediately leased back, with the club since paying the company in the region of £300,000 rent per year.

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“Firstly we are not going to develop a stadium we do not own and will not be held to ransom over a price to purchase the existing site,” the statement continued. “And secondly the council’s planning department have made it clear that they would not welcome a significantly bigger stadium in Kings Park, meaning we are severely constricted in what we can achieve on this site with regards to size, capacity and facilities.

Bournemouth Borough Council have previously stated they would not welcome a “significantly bigger stadium” in the Kings Park area of the town. A planning application to expand the ground’s South Stand, which will increase the stadium capacity by 3,000 if approved, is due to go before the council’s planning committee before the end of December. Bournemouth’s last home match at the Vitality Stadium was a sell-out against Liverpool on Sunday, with an attendance of 11,183.

“It is crucial that we have a capacity that meets the ever-growing demand for tickets, that we are able to provide access for disabled supporters that meets new government guidelines, that we can improve and increase our hospitality offering and that we have a stadium that is used throughout the year by the community, and not just on matchdays,” Blake said. “We are working tirelessly to identify a site and it is our ambition that a new stadium would be built in time for the start of the 2020-21 season.”