Bournemouth played their hearts out to keep their status in the Premier League last season, finishing 16th, five points above the relegation zone.

Promotion from the second tier was a remarkable achievement for Bournemouth, a club that went close to liquidation not long ago.

With a crowd capacity of only 11,700, the Cherries ranked by far as the smallest club in the Premier League. However, the fans agreed that survival was like winning the league. The players were superb and manager Eddie Howe continued to get better.

At Stamford Bridge, the Chelsea bandwagon lost its wheels as the Blues did not know what had hit them. Many pointed their fingers towards the players and some also blamed the manager.

In truth, probably a toxic combination of the two contributed to a disastrous season that saw the Londoners finishing 10th.

By the time Jose Mourinho was sacked after a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City in December, Chelsea were hovering one point above the drop zone.

Chelsea then confirmed the return of Guus Hiddink as interim boss until the end of the season.

The Blues went unbeaten in the Dutchman’s first 15 league games in charge, but the run included eight draws and their hopes of a late push for Europe were ended by successive defeats to Swansea and Manchester City in April.

In 2016/17, Chelsea will be managed by Antonio Conte, formerly of Juventus and currently preparing the Italian national team for Euro 2016.

In the domestic cup competitions, defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield probably led the Chelsea fans to think what laid in store for them.

In the Champions League, Chelsea bowed out to Paris St Germain in the Last 16 stage. Everton eliminated the Blues in the last eight of the FA Cup and in the League Cup they lost at Stoke on penalties in the fourth round.

Bournemouth were beaten at Liverpool in round four of the League Cup and in the FA Cup they went down in front of their owns fans to Everton in round five.

English Premier League results – 2015/16

Bournemouth

August
Home vs Aston Villa 0-1.
Away vs Liverpool 0-1.
Away vs W. Ham 4-3 (Wilson 3, Pugh).
Home vs Leicester 1-1 (Wilson).

September
Away vs Norwich 1-3 (Cook).
Home vs Sunderland 2-0 (Wilson, Ritchie).
Away vs Stoke 1-2 (Gosling).

October
Home vs Watford 1-1 (Murray).
Away vs Man. City 1-5 (Murray).
Home vs Tottenham 1-5 (Ritchie).

November
Away vs Southampton 0-2.
Home vs Newcastle 0-1.
Away vs Swansea 2-2 (King, Gosling).
Home vs Everton 3-3 (Smith, Stan-islas 2).

December
Away vs Chelsea 1-0 (Murray).
Home vs Manchester United 2-1 (Stanislas, King).
Away vs West Bromwich 2-1 (Smith, Daniels pen).
Home vs Crystal Palace 0-0.
Away vs Arsenal 0-2.

January
Away vs Leicester 0-0.
Home vs West Ham 1-3 (Arter).
Home vs Norwich 3-0 (Gosling, Daniels pen, Afobe).
Away vs Sunderland 1-1 (Afobe).

February
Away vs Crystal Palace 2-1 (Pugh, Afobe).
Home vs Arsenal 0-2.
Home vs Stoke 1-3 (Ritchie).
Away vs Watford 0-0.

March
Home vs S’ampton 2-0 (Cook, Afobe).
Away vs Newcastle 3-1 (Taylor, King, Daniels).
Home vs Swansea 3-2 (Gradel, King, Cook).
Away vs Tottenham 0-3.

April
Home Manchester City 0-4.
Away vs Aston Villa 2-1 (Cook, King).
Home vs Liverpool 1-2 (King).
Home vs Chelsea 1-4 (Elphick).
Away vs Everton 1-2 (Pugh).

May
Home vs West Brom 1-1 (Ritchie).
Away vs Man. United 1-3 (Smalling og).

Chelsea

August
Home vs Swansea 2-2 (Oscar, Fernandez og).
Away vs Manchester City 0-3.
Away vs West Brom 3-2 (Pedro, Costa, Azpilicueta).
Home vs Crystal Palace 1-2 (Falcao).

September
Away vs Everton 1-3 (Matic).
Home vs Arsenal 2-0 (Zouma, Hazard).
Away vs Newcastle 2-2 (Ramirez, Willian).

October
Home vs Southampton 1-3 (Willian).
Home vs Aston Villa 2-0 (Costa, Hutton og).
Away vs West Ham 1-2 (Cahill).
Home vs Liverpool 1-3 (Ramirez).

November
Away vs Stoke 0-1.
Home vs Norwich 1-0 (Costa).
Away vs Tottenham 0-0.

December
Home vs Bournemouth 0-1.
Away vs Leicester 1-2 (Remy).
Home vs Sunderland 3-1 (Ivanovic, Pedro, Oscar pen).
Home vs Watford 2-2 (Costa 2).
Away vs Manchester United 0-0.

January
Away vs Crystal Palace 3-0 (Oscar, Willian, Costa).
Home vs West Brom 2-2 (Azpilicueta, McAuley og).
Home vs Everton 3-3 (Costa, Fabregas, Terry).
Away vs Arsenal 1-0 (Costa).

February
Away vs Watford 0-0.
Home vs Manchester United 1-1 (Costa).
Home vs Newcastle 5-1 (Costa, Pedro 2, Willian, Traore).
Away vs Southampton 2-1 (Fabregas pen, Ivanovic).

March
Away vs Norwich 2-1 (Kenedy, Costa).
Home vs Stoke 1-1 (Traore).
Home vs West Ham 2-2 (Fabregas 2 pens).

April
Away vs Aston Villa 4-0 (Loftus-Cheek, Pedro 2, Pato pen).
Away vs Swansea 0-1.
Home vs Manchester City 0-3.
Away vs Bournemouth 4-1 (Pedro, Hazard 2,Willian).

May
Home vs Tottenham 2-2 (Cahill, Hazard).
Away vs Sunderland 2-3 (Costa, Matic).
Away vs Liverpool 1-1 (Hazard).
Home vs Leicester 1-1 (Fabregas pen).