Plough Lane

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Plough Lane was a football stadium in the Wimbledon area of south London. It was the home ground of the now defunct Wimbledon Football Club from September 1912 to May 1991 when it closed (see below). The club moved from there to Selhurst Park (the ground of Crystal Palace F.C., on a ground-share arrangement) until 2003, when it relocated controversially 70 miles north to Milton Keynes. (For an account of the controversy surrounding the move, see Wimbledon FC, The move to Milton Keynes).

The Plough Lane ground is not to be confused with Wimbledon Stadium, a separate venue situated approximately 500 metres away on the same road, which continues to stage greyhound racing and motorbike speedway meetings. The famous "Wimbledon Championships" tennis grounds are over a mile away.

Wimbledon is now represented in senior football by A.F.C. Wimbledon, who currently play at The Fans' Stadium, Kingsmeadow in Kingston upon Thames but who have long-held ambitions to return to Merton, and it has often been mooted that once AFC Wimbledon outgrows Kingsmeadow, the club may move to Wimbledon Stadium.

1 Closure
2 The final match and later use
3 Ownership history
4 Notable historical events
5 Unusual features
6 The Ploughmen
7 Further reading
8 References and sources

[edit] Closure

Following the club's election to the Football League in 1977, Wimbledon FC achieved very rapid success climbing through the divisions in record time - rising from a non-league side to become a First Division club in less than a decade. Although the team were playing at the very highest level, their home ground had changed little from their amateur days.

Following the Hillsborough disaster of 1989 and the subsequent Government report of 1990 the Taylor Report, the football authorities introduced rules giving top-flight clubs deadlines by which to redevelop terraced grounds or to build new all-seater stadia. In 1990 the Board announced plans to "temporarily" ground-share at Selhurst Park with South London rivals Crystal Palace and promised to expand and redevelop the site, or find a new ground in the borough. With Plough Lane situated at the junction of two busy major roads, and with the River Wandle flowing directly behind one end, major redevelopment of the site as a modern all-seater football stadium was difficult, although not impossible^[1].

The club maintained that it had "searched exhaustively with Merton Council" for a site in or around Merton on which to build a new stadium, looking at "14 different sites over a period of 5 years", in addition to commissioning feasibility studies of both Plough Lane and Wimbledon Stadium^[2]. Despite this nothing became of the promise to redevelop the site or find a new ground in the borough and the club remained 'homeless' until its demise.

[edit] The final match and later use

Wimbledon's final match at Plough Lane, on May 4, 1991, was made more painful for the 10,002 spectators when it resulted in a depressing 3-0 defeat to south London neighbours and rivals Crystal Palace F.C.. A local pub remains called The Plough in honour of the legendary ground. After 1991, Plough Lane was employed for reserve team matches for two seasons, but then remained totally unused and increasingly derelict up until 2001, when it was finally demolished.

[edit] Ownership history

The Plough Lane site originally belonged to Merton Borough Council. In 1959, the Council sold the site to Wimbledon F.C., subject to a pre-emption that (were it to be offered for sale) the Council had the right to re-acquire it^[3]. In 1984 the Board of WFC agreed to repay some of the accrued debt it owed to its controversial Lebanese Chairman Sam Hammam, by "transferring" the site to a company controlled by him, which it then leased back to the Club. After many years of negotiating, the council finally agreed to Hammam's requests to waive its covenant relating to re-acquisition^[4] and he successfully acquired the land for £3m and applied for a change of use (to housing or light industrial development^[5]).

Hammam sold the site to Safeway plc in 1994, making a profit of over £5M. Despite repeated efforts in the next 11 years, Safeway failed to secure permission to build a supermarket, before finally selling^[6] the site to a property developer. Planning permission was given to developers, David Wilson Homes, in November 2004, with Section 106 agreement signed in October 2005, for a mixed use residential scheme on the site including 570 flats ^[7].

[edit] Notable historical events

The highest ever attendance figure at Plough Lane was 18,080 for an Amateur Cup match versus HMS Victory on March 2, 1935. The bulk of spectators were made up of navy servicemen on leave. By the time of its closure in 1991, the stadium's official capacity was 15,876 of which 2,050 were seated.

The first match under floodlights at Plough Lane was on the evening of 3 October 1960, for a London Charity Cup match versus Arsenal F.C. in front of 8,900 spectators.

[edit] Unusual features

In one corner of the land at Plough Lane, featured a very unusual turnstile, which became called 'The Turret'

There was also a large electricity pylon overlooking one corner of the ground, which sneaky fans would often climb at their own peril during a sellout match. Local residents could easily see into the ground as well from their 2nd floor windows or from roofs, with many spectators watching from precarious positions similar to scenes at The Oval when England play.

[edit] The Ploughmen

During their time at Plough Lane, Wimbledon were nicknamed affectionately The Ploughmen and called the stadium 'The Womble Ground' or 'The Ploughfield' (sometimes just 'Field). After were called 'nomads' or 'homeless' in the media. Haydons Road was the nearest station to Plough Lane, inspiring the name for AFC Wimbledon's new Womble mascot, 'Haydon'.