AFC Wimbledon- The rise and fall of Wimbledon fc:The Story of AFC Wimbledon
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- čas přidán 14. 02. 2008
- The club that wouldn't die. See how fan power fought back!
The story of AFC Wimbledon. What had begun as a distant dream became a glorious reality when AFC Wimbledon completed their first League Two campaign last May. As the Dons fans enjoyed the conclusion of their first season back in the Football League with a victory over already promoted Shrewsbury Town, it was a lot for them to take in. A club that had faced oblivion a decade before had established itself back among the elite 92 - an astonishing achievement in so short a time.
In May 2002 a specially-appointed FA Commission made a decision that shocked football fans everywhere: the old Wimbledon FC was to be allowed to relocate to a Buckinghamshire new town. The Dons fans were outraged and determined not to let a proud 104-year history die. Within just six weeks, during that summer, AFC Wimbledon - a club the three man panel had declared would be "not in the wider interests of football" - was born.
The new Dons' opening match in the Combined Counties League attracted 2,449 fans to Sandhurst Town's Bottom Meadow ground, where terracing was improvised from bales of hay. After finishing third at the end of that first campaign, AFC Wimbledon secured a league and cup double in 2004. The next season they won the Ryman League First Division South before twice failing in the Premier Division play-offs over the following 24 months.
The upward momentum was restored with the arrival of the experienced Terry Brown in 2007. The new manager helped the team to scramble out of the Ryman League via the play-offs in his first season, and he followed that up by leading his side to the Conference South title twelve months later. The Blue Square Bet Premier proved a tougher nut to crack, but after finishing eighth in their debut season, the Dons secured the runners-up spot in 2011 before triumphing in the play-offs.
The rise of AFC Wimbledon has brought inevitable comparisons with their illustrious predecessors' climb from the Southern League to the old First Division during the 1970s and 80s. That success culminated in a victory over Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup Final, prompting BBC commentator John Motson to deliver the immortal line, "The Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club". Those days may be in the past, but the collective spirit lives on in the large numbers of fans who give up their time to run the present club.
AFC Wimbledon is still controlled by its supporters via the one-fan-one-vote Dons Trust. The club was conceived on 27 May 2002 by Kris Stewart, Ivor Heller, Trevor Williams and Marc Jones, who were looking at how they could start anew while fellow campaigners were protesting in London's Soho Square and waiting to hear whether the relocation of their club would be sanctioned. "We all felt that if the vote went against us, we would have to start another club," Heller said.
Ten years on, founding chairman Stewart admitted that reaching the Football League in so short a time had shocked even him. "I thought it was possible, but it did not seem likely or even probable," he said. But driven by a powerful sense of injustice, the club earned the right to be back rubbing shoulders with familiar foes from their days in the old Fourth Division. It was a vindication for those who believe that league places should be earned solely through success on the playing field. What a difference a decade makes!
www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/ - Sport
Welcome back to the football league Wimbledon, from a Saints fan. I have alot of memories of Wimbledon in the Premier League. I can't believe how quick you made it up the league's. Hope you progress even further.
mpahars
Scumhampton And MK dons Have A Lot In common, Both MK dons and Scumhampton are Franchise Shit,
Scummers left the dell and moved over to St Mary’s because there Franchise filth that only care about Money, Scummers are a shitty tourist attraction.
A club is for life, not just for profit
Great work's gone on at AFC, hope you beat Franchise Fc when you play them
CPFC
Shame what happened to them. I hope the fans will see AFC Wimbledon get up to the prem one day...
What happened to Wimbledon FC was absolutely disgusting & MK Dons should have started from the bottom. AFC Wimbledon is a great story of what fan support can do. (A Gillingham Fan)
tht story is rlly impressive,,i'm a liverpool fc supporter, its nice to hear how proud wimbledon supporters are of their club... jst like we... know tht mk must be for u like man utd for us... :D wish u a good luck :P
Let's go dons!!!
A fan from portugal.
Oh dear the pub that they filmed some of the interviews in (The Brewery Tap) is now a cafe nero....
come watch AFC play it is 10 quid a ticket and we are on the up. Its also nearer the selhurst park
amazing story i will never forget dickie guy saving that pen from peter lorimer leeds won the replay at selhurst with a dubious goal
I would like to say, As a Gillingham fan, that I am really looking forward to AFC Wimbledon Vs The Gills in 2011 - 2012 season, well done to the Dons!
Now they are in League One where the MK other team just got relegated back into League One. This is going to be fun when they play each other next year.
If AFC & Don's play each other in the 2016/2017 FA Cup Final, then which of the 2 Teams would have more legal rights to say the last time we won it was in 1988 when we beat Liverpool 1-0, but that time we was under a different name?
I think if either Team won the FA Cup it will count as 1 as neither of the 2 Teams is the natural Wimbledon, but MK Don's has more chance tallying Wimbledon's FA Cup wins from 1 to 2 I think if AFC Wimbledon won the FA Cup and it said on the hall of fame Wimbledon FA Cup winners 1988 & 2017 they could be done for falls advertising just assuming.
I'm a Millwall fan and if we lost 2-1 against Barcelona then we've done well lol
If AFC & Don's play each other? But that's the same club as there's only one Dons.
The Lemming and now Wimbledon are in league one and mk are in league 2
Well Done, 21-5-11, you got your club back!
all the best to afc wimbledon, i hope on day you face mk dons and trounce them.
MK Dons are not Wimbledon! (Everton fan)
True it's just a new club that robbed it's ID number
It only took 9 years!
Respect to the True Dons...Wimbledon!
@LfcGoddardENGCJG At first I was over the moon we were getting football, but when I thought about it, it does seem RATHER wrong however, they had nowhere to go, and maybe this was too far, but AFC are happy with their club and we are happy with ours..
Nobody remembers, a core of our supporters are Wimbledon fans...
I was a big fan of the Dons and watched every match until I left UK for Oz in 1963 - the year Eddie Reynolds won the FA Amateur cup virtually single-handed for the Dons, with 4 headed goals against Sutton at Wembley.
Ehat a carve up this has been! And now it seems MK want to drop the 'Dons' part of their name.
LfcgoddardENGCJG wat a legend true words and that's from a afc fan that's right we agree that mk dons are the true dons we relised this web we come to your BEAUTIFUL stadium mk to see a real fan base and football team oh hail mk dons
Its was one football club became two rivals between mk Dons and AFC Wimbledon
@jimthepigeon Wimbledon are the only team I don't mind losing to, as a Grimsby fan. Best of luck!
Only one promotion away now from the Football League where they belong. Only thing I've wondered is whether Kingsmeadow is a big enough ground?
The don's are now in the dizzy heights of conference south! Now just 2 divisions below league football! I wish the very best for the don's, but I do feel that to enter the league you will have to move back to Merton at some point. The capacity at Kingsmeadow is too small for league football, as it stands.
matthemod League 1* 2018/19
@CookieCrumble47 you'll be a franchise like us !!!
Am proud 2 be a don :)
fuck you
MK Dons or franchise fc should have started as low as AFC Wimbledon as a Grimsvy fan I think that AFC is more of a TRUE club than mk
Thats totally going to happen.
And samuelson was right. League 1 status above the franchise bastards AND we're going back to plough lane. Long live real football, stay true to the fans
Im a MK Dons fan and i to think that the way Wimbledon was treated was wrong Milton Keynes was a stupid place to put the club. but what happen has heppend nothing can be done about it now, everything that Wimbledon won is nothing to do with MK Dons the only thing that MK has kept was the league position which also cant be changed MK has won a league title already so to put them to a lower league would be wrong now. The other thing that MK kept was the Dons name which i think should be changed.
The phoenix shall rise once more and avenge the butchers who murdered our club! Long live the REAL dons!
wat division r dey in now ???
Hadi Kaiss League 1 2018-19
not to good losing your last game at selhurst park :S. 4-2 to Wigan come on!!!
Well done to all at AFC, not job done yet though, first promotion to League 1 and the match ALL real football fans have been waiting for then onwards and upwards to where you belong, in the Premier League.
mk dons should of started from the bottom instead of taking Wimbledon history MK DONS YOUR NOTHING (from a Plymouth argyle fan)
DONS!
@skybluearmy13 AFC Wimbledon didnt have a League place.
How have they been playing since 2002?😂
Not much
i loved the real dons 4 20 yrs;at least the gr8 memories,cant b taken away,but it felt like at the time,the real wfc supporters,were,raped, come on afc wimbledon,get bk up there &play mk,o the park; real wombles 4 ever,thanks 2 all the past players,u one the club proud.
Dons play Birmingham today Come on you dons.
This thing almost happend in Sweden last year. A couple of businessmen wanted too unite three Football Clubs from Gothenburg. GAIS, Häcken and Örgryte. Örgryte is also the oldest team in Sweden. But the fans started their protests and riots and hate campaigns against the businessmen. The evil men gave up, and the real passion for football survived for atleast a while. You can by Things, but not real passion or love. //AIK, Stockholm
The only good thing mk dons have done was beat man u 4-0
Karma will come back, if you ruin a club, your scummy club will get ruined (peterborough fan)
disgrace this ever happened
mk dons have no plans to drop dons name there are several hundred wimbledon fans at mk and us who went along to support wimbledon in mk will always acknowledge that we came from WFC whether rightly or wrongly.
lol nuts tv
Wombles till I die Mk is just a disgrace to football
mk dons are luton fc lol who cares
what a load of shit, MK has history 07-08 johnson paint trophy and league 2 champions and loads of Passion 35,000 MK DONS fans went to wembley to see the Dons win the johnson paint trophy. so thats more than what afc wimbledon has.
Chris Goddard the only history u hav is stealing my team
from a palace fan, afc wimbledon are the real wimbledon, mk dons a bunch of fakes