AFC Wimbledon

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AFC Wimbledon
Full name	AFC Wimbledon
Nickname(s)	The Dons;[1] The Wombles
Founded	2002
Ground	Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, London (Capacity 4,500)
Chairman	Erik Samuelson
Manager	Terry Brown
League	Conference South
2007–08	Isthmian League Premier Division, 3rd (promoted via play-offs)
Home colours 　 Away colours

AFC Wimbledon is a semi-professional English football club, affiliated to both the London and Surrey Football Associations, which takes its name from, and traces its origins to Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton although their home ground is currently in the neighbouring Borough of Kingston. The club and its supporters specifically regard the club as a continuation of the former Wimbledon F.C., and consider that Milton Keynes Dons are not representative of the legacy and tradition of the club.^[2]

The club spent its first two seasons in the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League, but was promoted in only the second year of its existence to the Isthmian League Division One for the 2004–05 season, after winning the Combined Counties League championship with an unbeaten league season. They then proceeded to win the Isthmian League Division One at the first attempt, thereby earning automatic promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division. The 2005–06 season saw the club finish fourth, thus entering the play-offs for promotion to the Conference South, however they were defeated 2–1 by Fisher Athletic. The club would finish fifth in 2006-2007, and once again fail in the play-offs.

The club finished the 2007-08 season in 3rd place in the Isthmian League Premier Division. They were subsequently promoted to the Conference South division following a 2-1 play-off final victory away to Staines Town on May 3, 2008.

The club currently hold the all-time English record for the most consecutive unbeaten league games by any senior football club, having achieved 78 league matches in a row without defeat over a period spanning three seasons.^[3]

Contents 1 History 2 Ownership and legal status 3 Ground purchase and the debt 3.1 League history 4 Youth and women's football 5 Sponsorship 6 Players 6.1 Current first team squad 6.2 Player of the Year 6.3 Former players 7 Honours 7.1 Post 2002 8 Records 8.1 Club records 8.2 Player records 9 See also 10 References 11 External links 11.1 Official sites 11.2 Unofficial sites

[edit] History

The club was founded by dissident supporters, led by Kris Stewart^[4], of Wimbledon F.C. in May 2002, when the Football Association agreed to allow Wimbledon FC to relocate 56 miles north to the new town of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire & in the view of these fans cutting all ties with the area of Wimbledon. Although Wimbledon F.C. was unable to physically move for more than a year, their traditional local support dried up almost immediately in a ground-swell of popular protest against the move.^[5] The name AFC does not actually stand for the usual "association football club", in January 2005 Marc Jones - one of the founders of the club - suggested that in actual fact the initials 'AFC' meant nothing in particular... "we thought it sounded 'non-league' but it never really stood for anything." That said, an alternative meaning "A Fan's Club" has been used by some.

Soon after moving, Wimbledon FC Ltd went into administration^[6] and the business was bought out by Pete Winkelman^[7] who, re-branded the club as Milton Keynes Dons F.C. in 2004, leaving them as well as their fellow ladies and junior sides as the sole bearers of the "Wimbledon" name. By then, all organised supporters' groups that had followed the old club had long since pledged allegiance to AFC Wimbledon.

In order to assemble a competitive team at such short notice, they held player trials over three days on Wimbledon Common in June 2002, open to any unattached player who felt he was good enough to try out for the team. From these trials, the club's squad for its inaugural season was chosen.

The new team attracted a crowd of 4,657 fans for its first ever game,^[8] a pre-season friendly against Sutton United on 10 July 2002.

In 2002–03, their first competitive season in the Combined Counties League, managed by Terry Eames they started slowly but won their last 11 league games to finish the season in third place, narrowly missing promotion to the Ryman Isthmian League.

• League (Combined Counties League, Premier Division): 3rd of 24^[9]
• London Senior Cup: 3rd Round, lost to Barkingside 3–0^[10]
• Supporters Direct Cup: Won beating Enfield Town 2–1^[11]
• Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup: 2nd Round, lost to Southall 5–1^[12]
• Cherry Red Books Trophy: 3rd Round, beat Frenford Senior 3–0; however AFC Wimbledon could not agree a date to play Waltham Abbey in the Quarter Final and withdrew from the competition, giving Waltham Abbey a bye into the Semi Final^[13]

In 2003–04 they won their first 21 league games before a draw on 10 January 2004, giving them 32 consecutive wins in league games over two seasons. By this time, AFC Wimbledon was the only club in England at any level to maintain a perfect league record for the 2003–04 season. Despite the sacking of manager, Terry Eames, The Dons success continued under caretaker manager Nicky English, whose first game in charge resulted in a club record 9–0 victory. The Dons went on win the championship with an unbeaten season (42 wins, 4 draws, with a goal difference of +148), easily earning promotion to the Isthmian League Division One. On 30 April 2004 they completed a "double" by winning the league's Premier Challenge Cup.

• League (Combined Counties League Premier Division): Champions, 1st of 24 (promoted)^[14]
• FA Vase: 6th round, lost to Colne 2–1^[15]
• London Senior Cup: 1st Round, lost to Ilford 6–2^[16]
• Surrey Senior Cup: 3rd Round, lost to Banstead Athletic 2–1^[17]
• Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup: Winners, beating North Greenford United 4–1 (at Woking's Kingfield Stadium)^[18]

The 2004–05 season saw A.F.C. Wimbledon playing in the Isthmian League, under the leadership of newly appointed first team manager, Dave Anderson. They won 29 games, drew ten, and lost three, and led the division all season to earn promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division. Also, the Dons – in their first appearance in the FA Cup – reached the Third Qualifying Round, bowing out to Thurrock from Conference South (two divisions above). A 1–0 home win over Metropolitan Police on April 9, 2005 guaranteed the First Division title. They won the Surrey Senior Cup final 2–1 over league runners-up Walton & Hersham on May 3, having defeated teams from higher leagues in earlier rounds, including a reserve side from Premiership club Crystal Palace in the quarter–finals. Dons manager Dave Anderson was named Manager of the Year in the Isthmian First Division following the season.

After scoring all three of the Dons' goals with a hat-trick against Dunstable Town in the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, Rob Ursell was voted FA Cup Player of the Round. The 2004–05 season also saw AFC Wimbledon sign their first full international, when they acquired New Zealand international Shane Smeltz in mid-season.

The Dons set a new all-time record for the longest streak of unbeaten league games at any level of senior football in the United Kingdom. They remained unbeaten for 78 league matches between a 2–0 defeat at home to Withdean 2000 on 22 February 2003 and a 2–0 defeat at Cray Wanderers on 4 December 2004.

• League (Isthmian League, Division One): Champions, 1st of 22 (promoted)^[19]
• FA Cup: 3rd Round Qualifying, lost to Thurrock 2–0^[20]
• FA Trophy: 1st Round, lost to Hendon 3–0^[21]
• Isthmian League Cup: Quarter Final, lost to Slough Town 4–2
• London Senior Cup: 4th Round, lost to Fisher Athletic 4–0^[22]
• Surrey Senior Cup: Winners, beating Walton and Hersham 2–1 aet (at Woking's Kingfield Stadium)^[23]
• Supporters Direct Cup: Lost to Brentford 2–0^[24]

The 2005–06 season proved far more competitive than previous seasons, and after winning their first few games the Dons found themselves struggling to remain in the play-off places as injuries to key players kept them below full strength. However, after fluctuating form they eventually confirmed their place in the playoffs with a 1–0 win against manager Dave Anderson's former club, Hendon on April 22. However the playoffs proved a disappointment as defeat at Fisher Athletic meant there was to be no promotion this year. The Dons again reached the final of the Surrey Senior Cup, losing 1–0 to Kingstonian in a fiercely contested derby game.

• League (Isthmian League, Premier Division): 4th of 22 – lost in playoff semi-final^[25]
• FA Cup: 2nd Round Qualifying, lost to Walton and Hersham 3–0^[26]
• FA Trophy: 1st Round, lost to St Albans City 3–2^[27]
• Isthmian League Cup: 4th Round, lost to Hendon 1–0^[28]
• London Senior Cup: 4th Round, lost to Wingate and Finchley 3–2 aet^[29]
• Surrey Senior Cup: Finalists, lost to Kingstonian 1–0 (at Woking's Kingfield Stadium)^[30]
• Supporters Direct Cup: Won, beating F.C. United of Manchester 1–0^[31]

The 2006–07 season was to be Dave Anderson's last in charge, as Wimbledon lost in the playoff semi-finals for the second year running. Much of the season was overshadowed by the proposed 18 point deduction for playing Jermaine Darlington without first having gained international clearance due to the player's previous club being Cardiff City. This punishment was eventually reduced to three points and a £400 fine by the FA, who accepted that the club had made an administrative error. In the FA Cup, the Dons reached the final qualifying round before bowing out in a 2–1 defeat at Exeter City. However, the Dons did emerge victorious against Conference opposition in the FA Trophy, managing away victories over Aldershot Town and Gravesend & Northfleet before being expelled from the competition due to the Jermaine Darlington saga.

• League (Isthmian League, Premier Division): 5th of 22 (−3 points) – lost in playoff semi-final^[32]
• FA Cup: 4th Round Qualifying, lost to Exeter City 2–1^[33]
• FA Trophy: Expelled from competition.
• Isthmian League Cup: 4th Round, lost to Tooting & Mitcham United 1–0^[34]
• London Senior Cup: 4th Round, lost to Dulwich Hamlet 3–2^[35]
• Surrey Senior Cup: Expelled from competition.
• Supporters Direct Cup: Lost to F.C. United of Manchester 2–1^[36]

[edit] Ownership and legal status

AFCW PLC was placed under the ownership of The Dons Trust, a supporters' group which has pledged to retain at least 75% control of that ownership. In 2003, however, a minority interest was sold in a share issue in order to finance the purchase of Kingsmeadow, the ground that AFCW part owned with Kingstonian, a decision which raised some concerns given the circumstances of the clubs formation.

The Dons Trust is an Industrial and Provident Society registered with the Financial Services Authority as "Wimbledon Football Club Supporters' Society Limited". This is not to be confused with Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association (WISA) although this has, as one of its stated constitutional aims, "To purchase shares in AFC Wimbledon's holding company".

[edit] Ground purchase and the debt

Upon its foundation in 2002, AFC Wimbledon entered into a ground–sharing arrangement with Kingstonian to play their home fixtures at Kingsmeadow, in neighbouring Kingston upon Thames.

Kingsmeadow had been the home of Kingstonian since the club moved to the ground in 1989 from its previous Richmond Road ground. However the club had hit major financial difficulties following relegation from the Conference and administrators had sold the club including the lease to the stadium to businessmen, Anup and Rajesh Khosla. The Khoslas subsequently transferred ownership of the stadium away from the club and into separate subsidiary companies privately owned by the Khosla family, in a move widely seen as asset stripping.

After an SGM, it was felt by the board of directors, that securing ownership of Kingsmeadow would safeguard the ground for the future of both clubs so in March 2003,^[37] the Dons Trust members voted to purchase part of the lease for Kingsmeadow and in June 2003 the contract for buying the lease to the stadium was agreed with Rajesh Khosla, meaning that £3 million needed to be raised. This purchase took place a few weeks before the proposed formation of the Kingstonian Supporters Trust which AFC Wimbledon's supporters trust had been advising. This trust itself would have considered purchasing the lease to the ground were it able to raise the funds. Many Kingstonian fans saw this action as a betrayal and consider the ground to have been stolen^{[citation needed]} and the relationship between the two sets of fans can be said to be ill-tempered.^{[citation needed]}

Various innovative methods of fundraising, primarily a share issue to supporters which quickly realised £1.2m, and the Dons Trust Bond, meant that the debt to Mr Khosla was steadily reduced. On 30 March 2006, a Dons Trust meeting was held at which the majority vote was in favour of accepting a commercial loan from Barclays Bank in order to clear the outstanding debt to Mr Khosla, which was at a much higher rate of interest. On 24 November 2006 a statement on their website finally confirmed that the club had taken up the option on the Barclays loan, and had repaid Mr Khosla in full. Although the club has now settled its debt to Mr Khosla, around £300,000 is still owed in the form of the commercial loan, with a further £300,000 to Dons' Trust Bond–holders.

The club continues to work on new ways of fundraising to clear the debt once and for all. Meanwhile, the future of the ground is secured as a home ground both for them and, equally importantly, for Kingstonian F.C. who lease the ground at a nominal rate, paid for in part by the proceeds of an annual pre-season friendly between the two clubs. The long term ambition for the breakaway club however remains to secure a ground in Merton. Soon after the club's purchase of Kingsmeadow, then Finance Director and current Chairman, Erik Samuelson was reported as saying:

“	It is difficult to find space for a ground in Wimbledon, but although Kingsmeadow is now home it doesn’t mean we will be here all our lives. But, for now, we are very happy at Kingsmeadow.	”
—Erik Samuelson, Finance Director, AFC Wimbledon, as reported in The Wimbledon Guardian[38]

[edit] League history

Season	League contested	Tier	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Points	Final league position	Average Home Attendance
2002–03	Combined Counties League Division One	10	46	36	3	7	125	46	111	3rd of 24 Promoted	3,003
2003–04	Combined Counties League Premier Division	9	46	42	4	0	180	32	130	1st of 24 Promoted	2,606
2004–05	Isthmian League Division One	8	42	29	10	3	91	33	97	1st of 22 Promoted	2,907
2005–06	Isthmian League Premier Division	7	42	22	11	9	67	36	77	4th of 22 Lost in play-off semi-final	2,705
2006–07	Isthmian League Premier Division	7	42	21	15	6	76	37	75 (−3)	5th of 22 Lost in play-off semi-final	2,512
2007–08	Isthmian League Premier Division	7	42	22	9	11	81	47	75	3rd of 22 Won play-off Promoted	2,597

[edit] Youth and women's football

The club places great emphasis on its role as a social focus for the local community, and part of this role is to offer the chance to play football to all.

The Dons' success in 2004–05 was not limited to their senior side; many of their youth sides also had strong seasons. Both of their under-13 and under-11 sides won league championships (in different leagues); one under-13 side and both under-11 sides added their league cup for a double. One of their two under-14 sides also won a league-cup double. The Dons placed two under-15 sides in the top two positions in their league, and also saw one under-11 side lift a County cup. Finally, one of their two under-12 sides, plus their only under-8 side, won league cups. Overall there are 19 male youth sides representing them from under 8's to under 19's, with some of the under 19's managing to play some games in the reserves, and even in the first team. first team appearances include 16 years old centre backs Godfrey Asare and Aaron Snelling, right back Stevie Gilbert, midfielders Luke Pigden and Mark Wardell and goalkeeper Elliott Ransom

As well as the various youth teams, they also have a women's team, AFC Wimbledon Ladies who play in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division, the second highest tier of national Women's football. The women's team was formerly affiliated with Wimbledon F.C., but switched affiliation to AFC Wimbledon in the 2003 close season.

Two new junior girls sides (at under 12's and under 14's age groups) have been set up for the 2005–06 season.

This means that there are now a total of 25 teams representing Wimbledon, in a mixture of men's, women's, boys' and girls' football.

[edit] Sponsorship

AFC Wimbledon have been sponsored by computer games developers Sports Interactive, creators of the hugely popular original Championship Manager series and subsequently since their split from publishers Eidos, the continuation of that series, known as Football Manager, since the club's inception in 2002, and the SI logo appears on the front of the team's shirts. SI managing director Miles Jacobson said of the deal: "We are huge supporters of grass roots football. Most of us play grass roots football at some level (or in my case, below grass roots!), and we know that that is where the stars from tomorrow are going to come from."^[39]

The idea for Sports Interactive to sponsor them came from Nick Robinson, who was an employee at Eidos, Sports Interactive's then-publishers. However, Eidos were not willing to fund the deal, and so SI decided to stump up the cash themselves.^[39]

The sponsorship of AFC Wimbledon is not Sports Interactive's first foray into the world of lower-league football, the company having sponsored a "Save York City" charity football tournament in 2001.^[39]

[edit] Players

[edit] Current first team squad

As of 30th May, 2008:^[40]

No. Position Player - GK Andy Little - GK James Pullen - DF Michael Haswell - DF Jason Goodliffe (captain) - DF Luke Garrard - DF Ben Judge - DF Chris Hussey - DF Michael Peacock - DF Steve Gilbert

No. Position Player - MF Tom Davis - MF Jake Leberl - MF Chris Sullivan - MF Sam Hatton - MF Tony Finn - MF Luke Pigden - MF Robin Shroot - MF Lewis Taylor - FW Jon Main

[edit] Player of the Year

The WISA player of the year award is voted for by fans in time for the final home game of the season. Previous winners have been:

Year Winner 2003 Lee Sidwell 2004 Matt Everard 2005 Richard Butler 2006 Andy Little 2007 Anthony Howard 2008 Jason Goodliffe

[edit] Former players

The Wimbledon Old Players Association (WOPA) was formed in 2005, as part of the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association's (WISA) campaign to reclaim the history of Wimbledon Football Club for them and the community of Wimbledon. Membership of WOPA is open to all former Wimbledon FC and AFC Wimbledon players and managers. Among the sixty founder members were John Fashanu, Dave Beasant, Efan Ekoku, Neil Sullivan, Dave Bassett, Wally Downes, Marcus Gayle, Neal Ardley, Alan Kimble, Andy Thorn, Roger Joseph, Dickie Guy, Allen Batsford, Roger Connell, Ian Cooke, Roy Law and Steve Galliers.

WOPA fielded a team in the Masters Football Tournament on Sunday 16 July, at Wembley Arena, with AFC Wimbledon's backing.^[41] The team included Carlton Fairweather, Scott Fitzgerald, Marcus Gayle and Dean Holdsworth.

[edit] Honours

Following the move of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes and the club's subsequent rebranding as Milton Keynes Dons F.C., there was much debate over the home of the honours won by Wimbledon F.C.. Supporters of the club argued that the honours and trophies won by Wimbledon F.C. rightfully belong to the community of Wimbledon and should be returned to the local area.

In October 2006, agreement^[42] was reached between the club, the MK Dons Supporters Association, the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association and the Football Supporters Federation (FSF). The replica of the FA Cup plus all club patrimony gathered under the name of Wimbledon F.C. would be returned to the London Borough of Merton. Ownership of trademarks and website domain names related to Wimbledon F.C. would also be transferred to the Borough. As part of the same deal it was agreed that any reference made to Milton Keynes Dons F.C. should refer only to events subsequent to August 7, 2004 (the date of the first League game of Milton Keynes Dons F.C.). As a result of this deal, the FSF announced that the supporters of Milton Keynes Dons F.C. would be permitted to become members of the federation, and that it would no longer appeal to the supporters of other clubs to boycott MK Dons matches.^[43]

On 2 August 2007, Milton Keynes Dons transferred the replica trophies and all Wimbledon F.C. memorabilia to the London Borough of Merton.^[44][45]

AFC Wimbledon maintain that the honours of Wimbledon F.C. belong to the fans, as illustrated by the statement on the club's official website. A point which is the cause of some dispute as a minority of Wimbledon FC supporters decided to remain with the club through the relocation & re-branding rather than follow the break away AFC Wimbledon. These fans do not recognise AFC Wimbledon's exclusive rights to the history of Wimbledon FC^{[citation needed]}:

“	The supporters of AFC Wimbledon believe that our club is a continuation of the spirit which formed Wimbledon Old Centrals in 1889 and kept Wimbledon Football Club alive until May 2002. We consider that a football club is not simply the legal entity which controls it, but that it is the community formed by the fans and players working towards a common goal. We therefore reproduce the honours won by what we believe was, and will always be, 'our' club, in our community.	”
—A.F.C. Wimbledon, statement on club's Official Site[46]

For the list of Wimbledon F.C. honours referred to above, see Wimbledon F.C.#Honours.

[edit] Post 2002

(Honours as AFC Wimbledon)

• Isthmian League
  • Division One Champions (1): 2004–05;
• Combined Counties League
  • Champions (1): 2003–04 (unbeaten);
• Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup
  • Winners (1): 2003–04;
• Surrey Senior Cup
  • Winners (1): 2004–05;
  • Runners-up (1): 2005–06;
• Supporters Direct Cup
  • Winners (2): 2002–03;^[47] 2005–06^[48]
  • Runners-up (2): 2004–05;^[49] 2006–07^[50]

[edit] Records

[edit] Club records

• Biggest Home Victory: 9–0 against Slough Town on 31 March 2007.
• Biggest Away Victory: 9–0 against Chessington United on 14 February 2004
• Biggest Home Defeat: 4–0 vs. Hampton & Richmond Borough on 1 April 2006.
• Biggest Away Defeat: 4–0 vs. Walton & Hersham on 2 April 2005
• Longest unbeaten run: 78 games from 26 February 2003 to 27 November 2004 (This is the longest unbeaten sequence of league matches of any team at senior level in the UK)
• Record Attendance: 4,560 at Kingsmeadow, 5 May 2003 versus Raynes Park Vale.

[edit] Player records

• Most Appearances: Anthony Howard 189 between July '04 and March '08.
• Most Goals: Kevin Cooper 107 goals in 105 appearances, between August '02 and May '04.
• Most League Goals in a Season: 53 (66 in all competitive games) – Kevin Cooper 2003–04.

[edit] See also

• List of Fan Owned Teams

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] Official sites

• AFC Wimbledon official site
• The Dons Trust
• The Fans' Stadium

[edit] Unofficial sites

• Womble Underground Press Fanzine Forum
• Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association
• An unofficial AFC Wimbledon fan site, "SW19's Army"
• The Big Tissue (fan site hosted by Rivals.net)
• Dons Online - video footage of every match
• AFCDons.net - Comprehensive Stats & Quick access to all the latest team information

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