CHERRIES should bank around £50,000 towards their new stadium after the club celebrated its Centenary last night.

A capacity crowd of 10,770 packed into Dean Court to watch Mel Machin's men host mighty Liverpool.

Although club officials declined to estimate how much they will gross from the match, it is believed Cherries will net around £50,000 after expenses.

The Reds were due to return to the north-west later today after enjoying a two-day break on the south coast. Goals from Richie Partridge, Patrik Berger, Danny Murphy and Titi Camara saw Liverpool romp home 4-0.

Cherries chairman Trevor Watkins said: "Liverpool are one of the most famous clubs in Europe and we are so grateful to them for coming."

The net proceeds from last night's match will go towards helping to finance Cherries' new stadium and Watkins is confident work could start soon.

He added: "We are delighted we have the council approving in principle to help the club build the stadium.

"We have got funders looking at our business plan and saying 'yes, we think it stacks up'.

"For the first time in 15 years we have a business plan which makes sense and we have supporters that are fantastic.

"We have a core of 4,000-5,000 who come week in, week out that want to see their club survive and have success both on and off the field.

"So we are very close and it is the closest I think the club have ever been to building a new stadium."

Liverpool's starting line-up was put together by manager Gerard Houllier at a cost of £25m, but did not include injured trio Jamie Redknapp, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen.

Former Cherries star Redknapp watched the match standing next to the Liverpool dugout and agreed to countless requests to sign autographs.

Cherries manager Machin handed home debuts to new signings Justin Keeler and Wade Elliott, while trialist Stephen Rose also played.

Keeler, who was playing non-league for Christchurch at the turn of the year, caught the eye during an impressive first-half display before he was substituted at the interval.

In his place, Elliott, who joined Cherries from Bashley last month, also gave a good account of himself playing in an unfamiliar left-back role.

Both Keeler and Elliott could have played their way into Machin's plans for Cherries' trip to Millwall on Saturday.

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