why did wimbledon fc move

So they upped sticks and moved to Highbury a year later. The team enjoyed some success during its first few years including two FA Cup victories in 1983 and 1984. They say they wanted to "move with the times" and "achieve consistency" between the sexes. "[154] He expressed a wish to retain Wimbledon's "name, strip, branding and the like", and spoke of renaming local roads and calling the stadium site "Wimbledon Park". Football grounds are not just the stage for the experience, but an intimate part of the experience; they are not just places to watch but places that shape the experience of watching. [133] "We have real resources to put behind the club," said Winkelman. That same year, they also reached the semi-finals of the European Champions Cup, losing to Celtic FC 1-4 on aggregate. [247] At that match, MK Dons' supporters unfurled a banner reading "we're keeping the Dons just get over it! Why should fans pay at the turnstiles to help the club in business so that it can be taken away from us? During its appearance in the FA Cup in 1975, Wimbledon FC became nationally famous for becoming the first nonleague team in that century to beat a First Division side away from home, defeating Burnley at Turf Moor. The move to the National Hockey Stadium last September could not prevent relegation. [39] A group of Wimbledon fans decided to boycott club merchandise in protest against the plans, and launched an "alternative matchday programme for both home and away fans", Yellow and Blue, to compete against the official publication. [170][181] John Gurney, who had just become the chairman of Luton Town following a takeover by a consortium from Hong Kong and the United States, briefly floated the idea of buying Wimbledon F.C. became widely reviled by football supporters across the country and pejoratively nicknamed by some as "Franchise F.C.". Throughout the 2001/02 season, as fans grew angrier and angrier at Wimbledon's proposed move to Milton Keynes, the club hierarchy decided to try and win over their agitated congregation. [6], Milton Keynes, in northern Buckinghamshire, was established by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government as a new town on 23 January 1967. But the most interesting part of the booklet comes when Wimbledon's hierarchy attempt to make their case that Wimbledon in Milton Keynes will be the "same club" as Wimbledon in Wimbledon. [4] Hammam was outraged two years later when the council, attempting to retain the Plough Lane site for public use,[4] refused to sanction its sale for a supermarket redevelopment that Hammam said would finance a new ground at the dog racing site. It is the ultimate. Covid had struck, the country was in the middle of a nationwide lockdown and fans everywhere were banned from attending football matches. "[39] Clubs in the English professional ranks that have relocated to other locales within their traditional conurbations include Manchester United and Woolwich Arsenal, who moved 5 miles (8km) and 10 miles (16km) respectively in 1910 and 1913. [194] The South Stand is known as the Cowshed,[239] a tradition maintained from their National Hockey Stadium days. [197] In May Property Week reported that the new stadium in Denbigh would be cancelled if Wimbledon F.C. Meanwhile, the Milton Keynes Development Corporation envisaged a stadium in the town hosting top-flight football and was keen on the idea of an established League team relocating there. The Football League have given Wimbledon permission to change their name to Milton Keynes Dons FC. If formed way back, Bristol United" would probably have fared better than either [Bristolian clubs] City or Rovers have done independently, but there is too much history and animosity to merge now.". as away colours over the previous two decades. [29] Luton fans held protest marches and rallies throughout the 198384 season,[73] and chartered a plane to fly over Kenilworth Road during one match pulling a banner reading "Keep Luton Town F.C. [71] Some 18,000 Luton residents signed a petition against the club leaving. [n 4] This national non-League division started in the 197980 season; it was called the Football Conference from 1986 to 2015, when it became the National League. [2] Rumours that the groundshare would eventually result in the Dons and the Eagles merging led Hammam to say "Id rather die and have vultures eat my insides than merge with Crystal Palace". received Football League clearance to host matches at the National Hockey Stadium on 19 September 2003,[192] and eight days later played their first match in Milton Keynes, against Burnley. [200] The Football League gave final approval to the CVA on 1 July 2004, and the same day confirmed the transfer of the Wimbledon F.C. The top five levels each comprise one division of between 20 and 24 teams from across the country, while those below include multiple regional divisions of varying sizes. The fans' club was accepted into the Combined Counties League, seven levels below Wimbledon F.C. [69][118] As in the 1980s, Luton's owners liked the Milton Keynes idea but the fans strongly opposed it. Weight: 300 g: Club: Wimbledon. ", "Heidar Helguson rescues QPR from FA Cup shock at MK Dons", "Harry Redknapp searches for answers as MK Dons punish 'diabolical' Queens Park Rangers", "MK Dons 2 AFC Wimbledon 1: match report", "Milton Keynes building something concrete at the Moo Camp", "MK Dons vs Manchester United: 'Selling out our ground makes it all worthwhile', "The game Tranmere have probably forgotten but Dons will remember forever", "Time for Milton Keynes to Drop the Dons, says Wimbledon Guardian campaign", "Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association back calls to Drop the Dons", "Former AFC Wimbledon manager Dave Anderson urges MK Dons to Drop the Dons", "Ex-footballer Chris Perry urges fans to back the Wimbledon Guardian's Drop the Dons campaign", "Merton and Milton Keynes Council leaders hold Drop The Dons talks", "MK Dons v AFC Wimbledon: What is the feeling among fans? [218], The plans were put on hold in March 2016 when London Mayor Boris Johnson decided to review Merton Council's decision following objections from neighbouring Wandsworth, but his successor Sadiq Khan reversed this stance in August 2016. As organised at the end of the 201112 season, the pyramid comprises more than 480 interconnected divisions, spread across 24 tiers. It also hosted stock car and other small circuit motor racing events and until 2005 hosted motorcycle speedway. The last time we had played a League game at Plough Lane was back in 1991 when we faced Crystal Palace in the old First Division. [157] A feasibility study carried out by Drivers Jonas, commissioned and funded jointly by Wimbledon F.C. [2][80] The respective Wimbledon and Crystal Palace reserve teams groundshared at Plough Lane after the Wimbledon first team left. [63] When Hammam requested talks with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) top brass in April 1997, they refused to even meet him. As a result, the English Football League charged AFC Wimbledon for breaching its regulations. That was the day when The Dons returned home to Plough Lane and completed the greatest story in football. "The whole project was indeed dependent on Asda and IKEA," Conn summarised in a 2012 article, after interviewing Winkelman. [57] Maguire claims that Greenwich Council and some factions of the club wished to see Charlton move 2 miles away from the Valley to the Blackwall Peninsula, though this was unpopular as that area is "closer to Millwall territory" while also concluding "this would arguably have hampered the club's future growth". However, they could only stay there for one season before being relegated again. ", "Winkelman: 'Do I think what we did was right? In response, the great majority of the team's supporters transferred allegiance to AFC Wimbledon. [109] According to an investigative report by Ian Pollock, published in When Saturday Comes in July 2002, neither the Milton Keynes Council press office, the editor of the Milton Keynes Citizen newspaper nor the head of Invest in MK, the council agency encouraging businesses to move to the area, could tell him who was backing the plans. Simply so, why is AFC at Wimbledon? [196], After Gjelsten agreed to write off the 24million he and Rkke had lent to the club since 1997, a (CVA) was put together on 18 March 2004 under which Winkelman's consortium would take Wimbledon F.C. would be "renamed, 'rebranded' even" after moving,[180] with "MK Dons" reported in the press as a possible new name, but Koppel denied this. In 1997 - at a time when both Celtic and Rangers were reportedly plotting a move to England - the Glasgow Evening Times reported that Celtic were planning to buy up Wimbledon FC (then in the top tier) and take their place in the English Premiership. When did Darwen FC become a football club? [69][75] "The directors want our support and our money," said Tom Hunt, a member of a Luton fans' action group against the move, "but they ignore the views of a community that wants to keep its football club. This led nowhere. would return to Selhurst Park in the meantime. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. [34] Wimbledon were granted planning permission to build a 20,000-seater ground in their home borough of Merton in 1988, soon after they won the FA Cup, but the site was instead made into a car park by a newly elected Labour council in 1990. Wimbledon become a member of the Football League as late as in 1977 and reached the first division nine years later. missed a deadline to invest in renovations to the Hockey Stadium,[184] the National Hockey Foundation pulled out of discussions over the ground's use, creating confusion as to where the club would now be located. A moment that had been almost 30 years in the making, a moment so special, so coveted and yet so outrageously impossible it felt like we would never see it happen. [2][166] The loss of income from gate receipts would contribute to Wimbledon F.C. "I'm not proud of the way this club came to exist, and I am totally prepared to be the villain of the piece, but I can't put the genie back in the bottle," he said. The club was founded in 2002 by supporters of the former Wimbledon F.C. [250], The two sides met for the first time on 2 December 2012, in the second round of the 201213 FA Cup. In order to use the live chat functionality you need to opt into live chat cookies. [90] However the general trend was one of a sharp risethe club's average home attendance more than doubled at Selhurst Park from around 8,000 during the last years at Plough Lane to a peak of over 18,000 during the 199899 Premier League season. Asda would not have been granted planning permission for a huge out-of-town superstore unless it gave the council the benefit of building the stadium. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Relocation_of_Wimbledon_F.C._to_Milton_Keynes&oldid=1119581332, Articles with dead external links from July 2020, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 2 November 2022, at 09:37. This booklet claimed, among other things, that a new ground at Plough Lane was impossible, and that "history" suggests clubs cannot rise from non-league to the top echelons of football. The teams were playing in an empty stadium with only cardboard cut-outs of our fans perched in their seats a reminder, at least, of the very people who had made the moment possible. "The council say they want us back, but when it comes to taking action they don't want to know. We have stayed in League One ever since. Two years later, after no site had been identified and a dispute had developed regarding an escrow account, the Enfield Supporters' Trust resolved in June 2001 that Lazarou lacked sufficient will to bring the club back to Enfield and so founded a new team, Enfield Town, which based itself locally and won the support of much of the original Enfield fanbase. Instead of rapturous, the atmosphere felt anticlimactic, eerie and even surreal. No', "Football: Heel of God Two helps MK Dons beat AFC Wimbledon in grudge match", "AFC Wimbledon charged by EFL after failing to use MK Dons' full name". [62] Koppel re-adopted the National Hockey Stadium as his preferred interim destination, announcing a plan to convert the stadium for football and play there from the start of the 200304 season. Most MK Dons supporters reacted to the campaign with anger. 's heritage and history, but officially renounced this in 2007. [124], Towards the end of the 200001 season Wimbledon and Queens Park Rangers, who were in financial administration, entered discussions over a merger; the new team would play at Loftus Road. [62] The club's swift "fairytale" rise from obscurity through the English football pyramid caused it to reach a level of prominence far above that suggested by its modest home stadium at Plough Lane, which remained largely unchanged from the club's non-League days. [76][n 10] It later emerged that Charlton Athletic, who had been Palace's tenants from 1985 until 1991,[79] were woven into the bargain too, to potentially create a "South London super club". Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. The club will officially change its name "once the formalities regarding the share transfer have been completed and approved by the League.". [236] Elsewhere in the Milton Keynes fanbase, attempts to create a club culture separate to Wimbledon are visible, largely driven by the Concrete Cows. Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (/,[emailprotected]'ki: nz'danz/), also known as MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. [96] In December that year, Wimbledon were reported to be considering the football and greyhounds option again. [95][136] The League board unanimously rejected Wimbledon's proposed move on 16 August 2001,[135] stating that any Milton Keynes club would have to earn membership by progressing through the pyramid and that "franchised football" would be "disastrous". A series of club owners believed that its long-term potential was limited by its home ground at Plough Lane, which never changed significantly from the team's non-League days. [68] As talks progressed, Winkelman approached the owner of Milton Keynes City, attempting to buy the club name. [165] Within weeks, they had done so; the new side, AFC Wimbledon,[2] entered a groundshare arrangement with Kingstonian at the latter club's home ground at Kingsmeadow, in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, adjacent to Merton and about 5 miles (8km) from Plough Lane. Never again would we be at the mercy of private owners with their own egotistical agendas. 's place in the second tier, and began play at the start of the 200203 season. But there was a greater force at work even beyond climbing back into the Football League. It mustn't be confused with Wimbledon AFC (see "History" below). [127] Following Wimbledon's draw with Norwich City at Selhurst Park on 6 May, Koppel came onto the pitch and told the mostly jeering home fans that "there never was a merger proposal with QPR";[128] the Loftus Road club had instigated the talks, he said. [199][200], The new name of the relocated club was Milton Keynes Dons F.C. League share to Milton Keynes Dons Ltd.[201][n 15], The blue and yellow home colours that Wimbledon F.C. "They are fast running out of solutions and we are the answer to their problems. [82] In 1992 the Greyhound Racing Association offered to redevelop Wimbledon Stadium (less than a mile from Plough Lane) into a 15,000-seater dog racing and football ground. According to the club statement, "the vast majority" of Wimbledon fans were not from Merton and "less than 20% of the 3,400 season ticket holders" lived there. rebirth deathstroke respect thread; 's move was delayed for nearly a year due to the unavailability of a suitable temporary stadium in Milton Keynes. [194] Wimbledon F.C. The entire history of Wimbledon Football Club remained ours. Within seconds, The Cherry Red Records Stadium was awash with the chant A-F-C Wim-ble-don as our fans put their stamp on their new surroundings. [101] Later that year, after the Premier League had approved the idea, the lengthy, heated debate in Ireland ended with an FAI veto. [95] In 2000, 23% of Wimbledon season-ticket holders earned over 50,000 a year, the second-highest in the division after Chelsea (33%). [98][164], A group of disaffected Wimbledon F.C. [110][113][114], Winkelman, an ex-CBS Records executive and music promoter, had moved to the Milton Keynes area from London in 1993. [234][235] Others have attempted to reclaim the "Franchise F.C." That same year, they also lost the FA Cup final to Liverpool. Manage Settings [212] The supersession of the Hockey Stadium by field hockey facilities in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Parkfirstly the Riverbank Arena, and latterly the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centrerendered it redundant so after the Dons' departure for Denbigh, it was demolished in 2010,[213] having not been notably used for its eponym since 2003. The club's swift "fairytale" rise from obscurity through the English football pyramid caused it to reach a level of prominence far above that suggested by its modest home stadium at Plough Lane, which remained largely unchanged from the club's non-League days. [37][n 6], According to the Football League's statement to the independent commission on Wimbledon F.C. For statistical purposes 7 August 2004, the date of MK Dons' first League match under that name, was settled upon as the dividing line between separate Wimbledon F.C. [33] "Alternatively", Chester also added, "the movement of established clubs to new communities could provide a way both of saving old clubs and at the same time bringing League football to new and growing areas." When the paperwork was drawn up for the new reincarnation, our date of birth didn't say 2002 - it said 1889, when our predecessors had played their first games on Wimbledon Common. The fans got us over the line and so, on November 3, 2020, AFC Wimbledon played their first game at our new Plough Lane home. Continue with Recommended Cookies. The previous evening, they had been to dinner with Wimbledon's owner Sam Hammam and believed they had reached a deal that would transform football in Britain and Ireland forever. Buckingham design & build contract of 26m (key elements are the West Stand, semi-permanent stands and the pitch); 2. Complete answer to this is here. He sold the club to two Norwegian businessmen, Kjell Inge Rkke and Bjrn Rune Gjelsten, in 1997 and the following year sold Plough Lane for a supermarket redevelopment. "[123] He was interested in an "enabling development" whereby a stadium could be created and funded as part of a business or leisure opportunity[123]exactly the kind of proposition put forward by Winkelman. shirts. [162] Koppel said the decision had saved Wimbledon Football Club. [32][n 3] "New communities have developed which lack clubs in League membership," Chester reported, in 1968. [50] In each of these cases, Stephen Mumford comments in his 2013 work Watching Sport: Aesthetics, Ethics and Emotion, "supporters have agonised over where their allegiance properly lies. [128] QPR abandoned the amalgamation plan two days later, citing potential fan alienation,[129] while also announcing that there would be no further talks with Brentford,[130] who would seek and eventually obtain an option to move into Kingstonian's ground Kingsmeadow,[34][131] before Noades sold his shares in Brentford to Bees United in January 2006, with the club still at Griffin Park. Wimbledon won its first league match four days later by a score of 3-0 away to Rushden & Diamonds. They. The relocated team played home matches in Milton Keynes under the Wimbledon name from September 2003 until June 2004, when following the end of the 200304 season it renamed itself Milton Keynes Dons F.C. and MK Dons records. fans led by Stewart, Jones, Ivor Heller and Trevor Williams resolved to found their own team, in their view a spiritual continuation or "phoenix" version of the original. [217] AFC Wimbledon's chief executive Erik Samuelson said in response: "Now, at long last, we can start planning with confidence to give AFC Wimbledon a secure future at the heart of the community the club represents. Two Scottish League teams left their metropolitan districts for new towns during the 1990s. [122] According to Stephen Morrow in The People's Game? Initially, Wimbledon's owners were insistent that they would remain the owners of a club called Wimbledon. It happened on November 3, 2020. [46] Clyde kept their original name,[45] while Meadowbank renamed themselves Livingston Football Club. [64][68], Luton Town, based 20 miles (32km) from Milton Keynes in Luton and nicknamed "the Hatters", were also seeking a new site at this time. [206], Milton Keynes Dons continued to play at the National Hockey Stadium while the development including the new ground was constructed in Denbigh. Wimbledon F.C. Closely fitting this description, Milton Keynes provided a clear staging ground for such an experiment. [49] In a similar case in 2012, the supporters' trust affiliated to Northwich Victoria broke away to form 1874 Northwich. The move, which is bound to infuriate already outraged London-based fans, comes in time for this Thursday's publication of the fixture lists for the 2004/5 season. MK Dons returned to League One in 2019 while AFC Wimbledon stayed up, rekindling the derby for 201920 season. [172] At Selhurst Park, Wimbledon F.C. When did Derby County win the League Cup? The letter stated that Wimbledon had already signed an agreement to relocate and "subject to the necessary planning and regulatory consents being obtained" intended to be playing home games at a newly built stadium in Milton Keynes by the start of the 200304 season. "I couldn't really see us getting any bigger gates than what Northampton Town were currently getting at that time, and, in fact, are still getting," he recalled in 2001. [157] The commission ruled that it was unreasonable to expect Wimbledon's owners to pursue a move back to Plough Lane under these circumstances. [125] The Football League announced on 2 May 2001 that it would give "favourable consideration" to a takeover of QPR by Wimbledon, but that the process would have to be very quick for the merged team to take part in the 200102 season. 's future uncertain, with them unable to play in a ground that was seen as too big and expensive for a non-league side and one which they no longer had any decision over. The club aim to have the stadium ready for the 2020-21 season. Cardiff City fans protested vigorously when their majority shareholder Vincent Tan changed the club's kit from blue to red, simultaneously reconfiguring the badge to incorporate a red Welsh dragon. [4] Critics alleged that it was at least partly motivated by financial considerations, particularly the profit that might be gained from selling the old ground. [n 19] All of this was done in August 2007. [112] This was accepted by most of Wimbledon F.C. And during World War II, Wimbledon was also home to a machine gun factory, a spark. Rkke and Gjelsten appointed a new chairman, Charles Koppel, who announced on 2 August 2001 that Wimbledon intended to relocate to Milton Keynes. Wimbledon won the match 3-1. 's trophy replicas to AFC Wimbledon, writing that the fans had "abdicated their right to it when they all walked away. [83] Hammam angrily declared he would look elsewhere,[4] and threatened to change the club's name and remove the double-headed eagle device, a symbol of Wimbledon Borough, from the team's badge. [245] "It remains Wimbledon Football Club. Wimbledon played its first game on 27 October 1977 against Hayes in the Middlesex County Football League. "The club's move to Milton Keynes would NOT mean the establishment of a new club", they insisted, capital letters and all. The magazine has each year left MK's space empty but for the words "No questions asked". The team's new ground, Stadium MK, opened three years later. [62] Attendances at the National Hockey Stadium were higher than those at Selhurst Park during the 200203 season,[196] but lower than those of the 200102 season. Wimbledon played its first game at Kingsmeadow against Cambridge United on 15 August 2004. AFC Wimbledon were formed in 2002 by Wimbledon FC supporters dismayed by the Football Association's decision to allow the club to move to Milton Keynes. 's relegation was attended by 4,800, of whom 2,380 were away fans. [86], Opinion polls in the Republic showed consistently high support for the idea of Wimbledon hosting Premier League matches in Dublin,[85][87] but the League of Ireland argued that this would endanger its existence, and in September 1996 about 300 fans rallied in Dublin under the slogan "Resist the Dublin Dons". [211], MK Dons' last match at the National Hockey Stadium was on 18 May: the home leg of the semi-final of the League Two play-offs in 2007, a 21 loss to Shrewsbury Town. As Wimbledon's move was delayed several times, the club was placed in administration and many top players were sold. "[47], The south-east London club Charlton Athletic were linked with a move to "a progressive Midlands borough" in 1973,[51] a year after Charlton's relegation to the third tier. The borough of Wimbledon, home to the All England Club since the 1870s, is just 10 miles from London Bridge. [108] Winkelman was the only person in Milton Keynes publicly associated with the project;[109] his financial supporters, later revealed to be Asda (a subsidiary of Walmart) and IKEA,[110][114] were kept strictly anonymous. After finishing sixth in its first season, Wimbledon were promoted to the Conference Premier. In 1968, the club moved to new grounds in Merton Park Road, known then as the Merton Park Sports Centre. On buying the team in 1932, they briefly planned to expand, This nickname is common among sports teams in the Wimbledon locale, including, outside of football, the now-defunct, The idea of pooling the resources of two or more of the smaller London clubs was visited in 1967, between western clubs, These included mkdons.com, mkdons.co.uk, miltonkeynesdons.com and miltonkeynesdons.co.uk, all of which were registered through.