CHAIRMAN Eddie Mitchell has revealed Cherries are on target to break even following their high-profile friendly against Real Madrid.

Mitchell has also moved to scotch suggestions the Dorset club shelled out around £1million to bring the Spanish giants to Dean Court on Sunday.

A crowd of more than 11,700 packed into Goldsands Stadium for the eagerly-anticipated clash, which had been billed by the club as a celebratory exhibition match.

The majority had stumped up £60 for the privilege of seeing the nine-time champions of Europe – with Cristiano Ronaldo, the world’s most expensive footballer, the star attraction.

Mitchell said Cherries were unlikely to make a loss – as had been initially forecast – adding the success of the event may prompt the club to consider staging prestigious matches in the future.

In an interview with the Daily Echo, Mitchell said: “There are still a few more things to come in, such as the monies from the sales of the television rights, but the first indication is that we are close to breaking even.

“Everything was very well managed and the day was a huge success for the club. If we can put on an event of that magnitude and break even then it gives us scope to do things like this every year.

“I realise you can’t get much bigger than Real Madrid but there are other big clubs out there who people would like to see.”

Mitchell said the new club shop, which had opened ahead of kick-off, had taken “in excess of £30,000” and went on to dismiss as “miles away” a national newspaper report which claimed Real Madrid’s match fee for the day had been around £1m.

The opening of the newly-named Ted MacDougall Stand boosted the capacity at Dean Court to around 12,000 with Mitchell confirming almost 10,000 seats, including season ticket holders, had been sold for Cherries’ Championship curtain-raiser against Charlton in 11 days.

Mitchell added: “The future does look bright. The club had some really good times in the 70s and were in the second tier in the late 80s. I know Real Madrid was a one-off but there has been a big turnaround and we are back in the Championship.

“Things are great in comparison with the past 10 years or more and it has been a mammoth task to get the numbers doubled in four years.

“We have got to continue to raise our profile and our attendances and, if we could fill the ground for every game, then who knows where the club could go.”