West Ham United Joint-Chairman David Gold is thrilled that Bournemouth will become the first Premier League team to visit our new home on Queen Elizabeth Park.
The south coast club defied all the odds to stay in the top flight last season and Mr Gold has nothing but praise for the way they stuck to their principles and still managed to remain in the top flight.
Eddie Howe's side will make the journey to the new Stadium on Saturday 20 August to become part of history at West Ham United and Mr Gold believes it will be a special day for everyone connected with the Club.
Mr Gold said: “It is two fairytales coming together. What Bournemouth achieved to survive in the Premier League in their first year was remarkable.
“I have the utmost respect for what they have achieved and similar to ourselves, they have shown that anything is possible
“Our move into the new Stadium has been six years in the making and we are finally achieving our dream this summer.
“The first Europa League game at our new home will be special, the inaugural first game against Juventus when we hold our opening ceremony will be a day to remember and of course our first ever Premier League game will be a momentous occasion.”
Before the first home game takes place, Slaven Bilic's side face a tough opening start to the season when they travel to former Premier League champions Chelsea on 13 August.
Things will not get much easier in the second away game of the season when the Hammers face Pep Guardiola's Manchester City on 27 August.
But following the superb start to the campaign when West Ham defied all the odds to record away wins over Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City in the first three away games last season, Mr Gold sees no reason why they cannot do the same thing again.
Mr Gold added: “I remember going to Arsenal on the opening day last season thinking a point would be a huge success.
“No-one expected us to get anything but we showed our quality straight away and came away with a famous victory.
“It was a special day beating Arsenal and Reece Oxford had the game of his life.
“We will not fear going to Chelsea and I know that Slaven and the players will believe we can get something from the game.
“It is ironic that we then travel to Manchester City once again in the early part of the season and few could forget our memorable victory at the Etihad Stadium. It would be nice if history could repeat itself.
“The victory really set us on our way and we started to think we are a decent side. We were starting to see special qualities emerging and thought Payet was not a bad player!”
The Hammers will certainly be tested at the end of November and start of December when they face Tottenham, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.
But Mr Gold feels Bilic and his players will relish the chance to showcase their talents against the best teams in the top flight once again.
He said: “We will prove our credentials when they play those run of games and our aim is to keep improving.
“There may have been a time when we went into these big games believing we might only come away with a point.
“But we genuinely believe we can win now against these world renowned teams. The optimism is that we are not a team of the past, but a team of the future.”