After spending many years in the southern league division three, they moved on to play in the third division at the start of the 1958 – 1959 campaign. In 1957, they reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup, defeating Spurs and Wolves en route to the last eight. In the year 1971, they made the headlines once again as they put 11 goals past non league Margate in the first round, Ted MacDougall broke the FA cup record by netting in nine of those 11 goals. Harry Redknapp eventually steered the Cherries in to the second division in 1988, however they could only manage three years in the second tier of English football.