AFC Wimbledon is an English professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club, based in
Merton, London, that plays in the
EFL League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
, after being relegated from the
EFL League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
following the
2021–22 season. The club's home stadium is
Plough Lane
Plough Lane – named The Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons – is a football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rugby league side London ...
.
The club was founded in 2002 by former supporters of
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. ...
after
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
allowed that club to
relocate to
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
in Buckinghamshire, about north of Wimbledon. Most of the Wimbledon F.C. supporters were very strongly opposed to moving the club so far away from Wimbledon, feeling that a club transplanted to a distant location would no longer represent Wimbledon or the club's historic legacy and tradition.
Wimbledon F.C. moved in 2003 and formally changed the name of the club to
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
in 2004.
When AFC Wimbledon was formed, it affiliated to both the
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
Football Associations, and entered the Premier Division of the
Combined Counties League
The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...
, the ninth tier of English football. The club has since been
promoted six times in 13 seasons, going from the ninth tier (Combined Counties Premier) to the third (League One).
AFC Wimbledon currently hold the record for the longest unbeaten run of league matches in English senior football, having played 78 consecutive league games without a defeat between February 2003 and December 2004.
They are the first club formed in the 21st century to make it into the Football League.
The club was initially based at
Kingsmeadow
Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2, ...
, a ground bought from and then shared with
Isthmian League
The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...
club
Kingstonian F.C. until 2017, and with
Chelsea F.C. Women
Chelsea Football Club Women, formerly known as Chelsea Ladies Football Club, are an English women's football club based in Norbiton that competes in the Women's Super League, the top flight of women's football in England. Since 2004, the clu ...
from 2017. In November 2020, the club moved to
Plough Lane
Plough Lane – named The Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons – is a football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rugby league side London ...
, a new stadium on the site of the defunct
Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, only 250 yards away from
the original Plough Lane, Wimbledon F.C.'s home until 1991. The new stadium has an initial capacity of 9,215, with the option of expansion to a maximum 20,000 at a later date.
History
Foundation
On 28 May 2002,
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
approved a decision by a three-person arbitration commission they had appointed to allow
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. ...
to
relocate north to the
new town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
of
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
in Buckinghamshire; a decision influenced, among other factors, by claims from Wimbledon chairman Charles Koppel that such a move was necessary in order to prevent the club from going bankrupt.
Although the absence of a ground in Milton Keynes meeting
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
criteria meant that the club were unable to physically move for over a year, major organised protests at the decision continued to be held by Wimbledon's traditional local support and a boycott of the club's home matches at
Selhurst Park
Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...
meant attendances dwindled immediately.
Following the F.A.'s announcement of their decision, a group of
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
supporters led by
Kris Stewart
Kris Stewart (born February 9, 1967 in Portsmouth) is the founding chairman of English football club AFC Wimbledon and a left wing political activist. He was the club's chief executive and is also a CIMA past finalist management accountant. Unde ...
and fellow founding members Marc Jones and Trevor Williams met in The Fox and Grapes pub on
Wimbledon Common
Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...
to plan what was to be done next as part of the protest. It was agreed that as there was no right of appeal, the only option was to start the club again from scratch. On 30 May 2002 the idea was put forward in a Wimbledon Independent Supporters' Association meeting to create a new community-based club named AFC Wimbledon and an appeal for funds was launched.
On 13 June 2002, a new manager, a playing strip and badge based on that of the original Wimbledon FC, and a stadium were unveiled to fans and the media at the packed-out Wimbledon Community Centre. In order to assemble a competitive team at very short notice, AFC Wimbledon held player trials on 29 June 2002 on
Wimbledon Common
Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...
, open to any unattached player who felt he was good enough to try out for the team. The event attracted 230 hopeful players, from whom the club's squad for their inaugural season was eventually chosen.
Non-League football (2002–2011)
Combined Counties League (2002–2004)
In the 2002–03 season, AFC Wimbledon competed in the
Combined Counties League Premier Division
The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's Association football, football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and th ...
under the management of former Wimbledon F.C. player
Terry Eames, who was appointed on 13 June 2002. Their first ever game, a pre-season friendly against
Sutton United
Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...
on 10 July 2002, resulted in a 4–0 loss in front of a crowd of 4,657. At the end of their debut season, AFC Wimbledon finished third in the league and narrowly failed to win promotion to the
Isthmian League First Division
The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...
, despite a strong end to the season that involved winning their final 11 league fixtures.
In 2003–04, AFC Wimbledon won their first 21 league games before a 2–2 draw against
Sandhurst Town
Sandhurst Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England. Formed in 1910, the club plays at their temporary home ground sharing with Bracknell Town. They play in the .
History
After the club's f ...
on 10 January 2004, giving them 32 consecutive wins in league games over two seasons. Manager
Terry Eames was suspended on 13 February 2004 and sacked five days later on the grounds of gross misconduct, after evidence was produced which showed him to have firstly made unauthorised and untrue representations to a number of the coaching staff, secondly, that he had falsely informed members of the coaching staff that the club had decided not to support his plans for youth football and required him to make immediate budgetary cut-backs and thirdly that he dispensed with the services of members of the coaching staff citing untrue reasons. Assistant manager Nick English took charge with immediate effect. The team went on to finish as champions of the Combined Counties League with an unbeaten record for the season of 42 wins and four draws. AFC Wimbledon also won the league's
Premier Challenge Cup after beating
North Greenford United 4–1 in the Final on 30 April 2004, completing a
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* Th ...
for the season.
Isthmian League (2004–2008)
Dave Anderson was appointed as new manager on 11 May 2004. Under his leadership AFC Wimbledon took their good form into the 2004–05 season during which they competed in the
Isthmian League First Division
The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...
— they remained top of the division for the duration of the season, and were convincing title-winners, sealing promotion to the League's
Premier Division. The Dons secured another double by defeating
Walton & Hersham 2–1 in the Final of the
Surrey Senior Cup
The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...
on 3 May 2005. Over the course of the season, AFC Wimbledon set a new record for the longest run of unbeaten league games at any level of senior football in the United Kingdom.
The team remained unbeaten for 78 league matches between 22 February 2003 (a 2–0 defeat at home to
Withdean 2000) and 4 December 2004 (a 2–0 defeat at
Cray Wanderers
Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Sidcup, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cr ...
).
![Playoff final AfcWimbledon](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Playoff_final_AfcWimbledon.jpg)
The 2005–06 season proved far more competitive than previous seasons – as after winning their first few games, AFC Wimbledon found themselves struggling to remain in the
play-off
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
places. After fluctuating form they eventually reached the play-offs after a 1–0 win against Anderson's former club,
Hendon
Hendon is an urban area in the Borough of Barnet, North-West London northwest of Charing Cross. Hendon was an ancient manor and parish in the county of Middlesex and a former borough, the Municipal Borough of Hendon; it has been part of Great ...
, on 22 April 2006. However, a 2–1 defeat at
Fisher Athletic on 2 May 2006 prevented the club from achieving three back-to-back promotions. The Dons once again reached the final of the
Surrey Senior Cup
The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...
, however, this time they were narrowly defeated 1–0 by
Kingstonian
Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division.
The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...
in a fiercely contested derby.
Much of the 2006–07 season was overshadowed by the threat of a proposed 18-point deduction by
the FA
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world and ...
for the club's fielding of
Jermaine Darlington who, it transpired, had not been registered correctly by the club and had therefore played in three games whilst still officially ineligible. However, this punishment was eventually reduced to a three-point deduction and a £400 fine on appeal, after the FA finally acknowledged that the club had made a simple administrative error. The 'Darlington affair' also resulted in expulsion from the
Surrey Senior Cup
The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...
and the
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
that year. Although AFC Wimbledon did enough to qualify for the play-offs, they once again missed out on promotion, this time as a result of losing 1–0 to
Bromley
Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011.
Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...
in the play-off semi-final on 1 May 2007. Manager
Dave Anderson subsequently left the club by mutual consent on 2 May 2007.
Terry Brown was appointed as the new AFC Wimbledon manager on 15 May 2007. During 2007–08, he led the club to promotion to the
Conference South
The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...
in his first season in charge, a feat which predecessor
Dave Anderson had proved unable to achieve, having lost two consecutive play-off final opportunities in the previous two seasons. The Dons made steady progress throughout the season, qualifying for the play-offs after finishing third in the League. AFC Wimbledon beat
AFC Hornchurch
Hornchurch Football Club is a football club based in Upminster, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Hornchurch Stadium.
History 1881 club
The first Hornchurch Football Club was founded in October 1881. Based at Grey Tow ...
3–1 in the play-off semi-final on 29 April 2008 and went on to triumph 2–1 over
Staines Town
Staines Town Football Club was a semi-professional Association football, football club based in Staines-upon-Thames, Middlesex.
History
Early days
Staines Town FC was founded in 1892 and was known under various names including ''Staines F.C ...
in the play-off final on 3 May 2008.
The Conference (2008–2011)
AFC Wimbledon spent most of the 2008–09 season near the top of the league table, eventually finishing as champions and earning promotion to the
Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...
after defeating
St Albans City 3–0 on 25 April 2009. The match set an attendance record of 4,722 for
Kingsmeadow
Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2, ...
stadium, which at that time was full capacity.
The 2009–10 season was the club's first in the Conference Premier. Overall the Dons finished eighth, 14 points short of the play-off zone. This was the first season in which the club had failed to make the top five in the league table.
In
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
AFC Wimbledon finished as runners-up of the Conference Premier, qualifying for the play-offs. The Dons faced fifth placed
Fleetwood Town
Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...
in the play-off semi-finals, whom they went on to thrash 8–1 on
aggregate
Aggregate or aggregates may refer to:
Computing and mathematics
* collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...
. This
aggregate
Aggregate or aggregates may refer to:
Computing and mathematics
* collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...
scoreline set a record as the largest winning margin recorded since the Conference Premier first introduced the play-off system at the beginning of the
2002–03 season. In the play-off final at the
City of Manchester Stadium
The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...
on 21 May 2011, in front of a crowd of 18,195, AFC Wimbledon beat
Luton Town
Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...
4–3 in a
penalty shoot-out
The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pen ...
, after the match had ended 0–0 in extra time.
The victory resulted in promotion to the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
and represented the club's fifth promotion in nine years. The club's achievement of attaining League status after just nine seasons of existence is considered to be one of the fastest ascents for a new club since automatic promotion to the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
first commenced in the 1980s.
AFC Wimbledon also hold the record of being the first club to be formed in the 21st century to make it into the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
, making them the youngest club in the Football League by some distance.
Football League (2011–present)
League Two (2011–2016)
The
2011–12 season saw AFC Wimbledon's promotion to
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
. The team started the season well, winning seven out of their first 12 matches, but failed to keep the momentum going and had a poor run, eventually finishing the season ranked 16th, 10 points clear of the
relegation
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
zone.
![AFC_Wimbledon_League_Performance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/AFC_Wimbledon_League_Performance.svg)
The
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
campaign marked the 10th anniversary of AFC Wimbledon's inaugural season. After an abysmal start to the season, manager
Terry Brown was sacked on 19 September 2012 along with assistant manager
Stuart Cash, with AFC Wimbledon sitting just above the
relegation
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
zone. First team coach
Simon Bassey
Simon James Bassey (born 5 February 1976) is an English former Association football, footballer. During his playing career he played as a midfielder. Bassey was also temporary caretaker manager/coach at Portsmouth F.C, Portsmouth from 3 January ...
took over as
caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...
with immediate effect. Bassey was in charge just four matches, however, before former
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
player
Neal Ardley
Neal Christopher Ardley (born 1 September 1972) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder. He is currently the manager of Solihull Moors.
Ardley was capped at Under-21 level by England. Ar ...
was appointed as Terry Brown's permanent replacement on 10 October 2012, naming former
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
and
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
teammate
Neil Cox
Neil James Cox (born 8 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer and manager who was last in charge of EFL League Two side Scunthorpe United. A defender capable of playing at centre or right-back, he made over 500 appearances i ...
as his assistant manager. On 2 December 2012, AFC Wimbledon faced Milton Keynes Dons in the
second round
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...
of the FA Cup, in the first ever meeting between the two sides following the relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes, with the match ending as a 2–1 defeat for AFC Wimbledon. The Dons secured their
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
status on the final day of the
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
season, despite having started the day in the
relegation
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
zone, by beating
Fleetwood Town
Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...
2–1 at
Kingsmeadow
Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2, ...
on 27 April 2013.
In the
2013–14 season, a match involving AFC Wimbledon was at the centre of a
failed match-fixing plot. Shortly after the club's 1–0 loss against
Dagenham & Redbridge
Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...
on 26 November 2013, businessmen Krishna Ganeshan and Chann Sankaran and three
Whitehawk
Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originally ...
players—
Michael Boateng
Michael Kwame Adusei Boateng (born 17 August 1991) is an English former professional footballer who played primarily as a right back. In June 2014, Boateng was sentenced to 16 months' imprisonment for his part in an attempted match-fixing frau ...
,
Moses Swaibu
Moses Swaibu (born 9 May 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender.
During his career, Swaibu represented Lincoln City in the Football League, last playing for Whitehawk in 2013. He made a total of 165 league ...
and Hakeem Adelakun—were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery over a failed plot to fix the game. Ganeshan, Sankaran and Boateng were convicted. The club had a disappointing season overall, only managing to replicate the 20th placed league finish of the season before after the club were docked three points for the ineligible fielding of
Jake Nicholson after failing to obtain international clearance for him after he joined from
Scottish Championship
The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland
Scotland (, ...
side
Greenock Morton
Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...
on 19 February 2014.
The
2014–15 season saw AFC Wimbledon face Milton Keynes Dons once again in a competitive fixture on 12 August 2014 in the first round of the
Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
, with MK Dons eventually winning the match 3–1. The two sides met once again on 7 October 2014, with AFC Wimbledon achieving a first 3–2 win over their rivals in the second round of the
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
following a late goal from
Adebayo Akinfenwa
Saheed Adebayo Akinfenwa (born 10 May 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker.
Akinfenwa's professional breakthrough came at Doncaster Rovers, having spent time up until then in the lower leagues of English f ...
. The Dons also reached the FA Cup third round for the first time in their history on 5 January 2015, eventually succumbing 2–1 to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
with
Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...
scoring both goals. AFC Wimbledon finished the season in a mediocre 15th place after a disappointing run of form saw them finish the season without a win in their last eight league fixtures.
![AFC_Wimbledon_League_Two_Play-off_Final_2016](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/AFC_Wimbledon_League_Two_Play-off_Final_2016.jpg)
The
2015–16 season was AFC Wimbledon's fifth consecutive season in
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
. Despite getting the season off to a mediocre start, the Dons finished the season strongly, winning seven out of their last 10 league matches to ensure that the club would confirm their highest ever League Two finish of seventh place and qualification to the
2016 Football League play-offs
The Football League play-offs for the 2015–16 season (referred to as the Sky Bet Play-Offs for sponsorship reasons) were held in May 2016 with all finals being staged at Wembley Stadium in London.
The play-offs begin at the semi-final stage w ...
. A record home attendance of 4,870 turned out to see AFC Wimbledon beat
Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...
1–0 in the first leg of the play-off semi-final on 14 May 2016 (exactly 28 years to the day since the original Wimbledon won the 1988 FA Cup Final against Liverpool) following a dramatic extra time winner from academy product
Tom Beere. This goal ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides as AFC Wimbledon went on to win 3–2 on
aggregate
Aggregate or aggregates may refer to:
Computing and mathematics
* collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...
after a 2–2 draw in the reverse fixture. This win earned them a place in the play-off final at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
against
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
. The fixture was scheduled for 30 May 2016, exactly 14 years to the day since the club's foundation.
AFC Wimbledon ultimately triumphed 2–0 on the day in front of a crowd of 57,956.
League One (2016–2022)
The
2016–17 season saw AFC Wimbledon compete in
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
for the first time in their history. They remained unbeaten in the
South London derby
The South London derby is the name given to a football derby contested by any two of Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Sutton United, and AFC Wimbledon, the five professional Football Association clubs in South London, England. It is s ...
fixtures, recording two draws against
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
, a home draw against
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
, and a 2–1 away win at
The Valley on 17 September 2016. Promotion also placed AFC Wimbledon in the same division as Milton Keynes Dons, who had simultaneously been relegated from the Championship. This ensured the club would face Milton Keynes Dons for the first time at
Kingsmeadow
Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2, ...
which they did on 14 March 2017, going on to triumph 2–0. The club ultimately finished 15th in the league, after a disappointing slump saw them win just five out of their last 22 league matches between January and April.
AFC Wimbledon made an equally slow start to the
2017–18 campaign, managing just five wins in their first 20 league matches between August and December. On 3 December 2017, the club recorded a 3–1 win over
South London derby
The South London derby is the name given to a football derby contested by any two of Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Sutton United, and AFC Wimbledon, the five professional Football Association clubs in South London, England. It is s ...
rivals
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
in the second round of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
. The club were subsequently rewarded by being drawn away against
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
in the third round with the match being played at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
on 7 January 2018. On 13 December 2017, the club received a further boost after being granted permission to begin work on constructing a new 9,300-seater stadium (which could be expanded to hold up to 20,000 in the future) on the site of
Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium. The new ground will be only away from the original
Plough Lane (1912–98)
Plough Lane – named The Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons – is a football stadium in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rugby ...
,
Wimbledon's home from 1912 until 1991.
The club was eventually able to secure another season in League One with a draw in their penultimate game, meaning that for the first time, AFC Wimbledon would be playing in a higher division than the Milton Keynes Dons, who were relegated that season.
AFC Wimbledon saw a disastrous start to the
2018–19 season, losing twelve of their first seventeen league games. Manager
Neal Ardley
Neal Christopher Ardley (born 1 September 1972) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder. He is currently the manager of Solihull Moors.
Ardley was capped at Under-21 level by England. Ar ...
departed the club by mutual agreement on 12 November 2018 after a tenure of 6 years, 1 month, 2 days, making him the longest serving manager to date. One bright spot in their season was the club's first ever appearance in the FA Cup 5th Round after beating
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
4–2 in the
2018–19 FA Cup
The 2018–19 FA Cup (also known as the Football Association Challenge Cup) was the 138th edition of the oldest football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as The Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. It started ...
. On 4 December 2018,
Glyn Hodges
Glyn Peter Hodges (born 30 April 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former professional player who is assistant manager at Bradford City.
During his playing career he played for Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Watford, Crystal Palace, Sheffield Un ...
joined
Wally Downes
Walter John Downes (born 9 June 1961) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently manager of AFC Wimbledon.
As a footballer, Downes played the majority of his career for Wimbled ...
as AFC Wimbledon's assistant manager.
After being rooted to the bottom of the table for most of 2019, they lost only 1 of their last 12 league games to lift them out of the relegation zone, ultimately staying up on goal difference on the last day of the season after a 0–0 draw with already relegated
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
. On 25 September 2019, Glyn Hodges took over the management of the first team on a temporary basis following the suspension of Wally Downes after being charged by the FA for betting misconduct. The club's youth coach,
Mark Robinson, replaced Hodges on 30 January 2021, after a run of poor results; Robinson turned the season around and the club avoided relegation on the second-last matchday.
Season-by-season record
Crest and colours
The club crest, which is based on the coat of arms of the
Municipal Borough of Wimbledon
Wimbledon was a local government district in north-east Surrey from 1866 to 1965 covering the town of Wimbledon and its surrounding area. It was part of the London postal district and Metropolitan Police District.
History
Wimbledon Local Governm ...
, features a black double headed eagle in reference to a local legend that
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
once made camp on
Wimbledon Common
Wimbledon Common is a large open space in Wimbledon, southwest London. There are three named areas: Wimbledon Common, Putney Heath, and Putney Lower Common, which together are managed under the name Wimbledon and Putney Commons totalling 460 ...
, this symbol being his own attributed coat of arms.
The colours that were chosen for the AFC Wimbledon kit were the
royal blue
Royal blue is a deep and vivid shade of blue. It is said to have been created by clothiers in Rode, Somerset, a consortium of whom won a competition to make a dress for Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III.
Brightness
The ''Oxford En ...
and yellow traditionally associated with the rise of the original Wimbledon F.C. to the top of the Football League (rather than the darker
navy blue
Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue.
Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with naval white) worn by officers in the Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. When this color n ...
and yellow that Wimbledon F.C. were wearing at the time, which had been a recent adaptation in 1993). The first ever kit, which was used only during the pre-season friendlies of 2002, consisted of a royal blue shirt, white shorts and white socks. Since then, the home kit has always been predominantly all royal blue with yellow detailing. The away kit used between 2002 and 2004 was white, however since then it has usually been predominantly yellow with blue detailing.
To mark their first game in the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
on 6 August 2011 against
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...
, the team wore a white and blue commemorative kit which was based on that worn by the original Wimbledon F.C. during
1977–78 in order to remember their own first season as a member of the Football League in the old Fourth Division (now
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
). To prevent copyright infringement, a single blue stripe replaced the three trade mark stripes of the
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...
original and the shirts were emblazoned with a modified crest for the occasion.
On 14 May 2020 the club released a new, slightly modified, official club crest to mark 32 years since Wimbledon's 1988 FA Cup victory, as well as the forthcoming opening of the new stadium at Plough Lane.
Sponsorship and kit manufacturer
AFC Wimbledon's shirts have been sponsored by computer games developers
Sports Interactive
Sports Interactive Limited is a British video game developer based in London, best known for the ''Football Manager'' series. Founded by brothers Oliver and Paul Collyer in July 1994, the studio was acquired by Japanese video game publisher Sega ...
since the club's inception in 2002.
The kit used by the club is currently manufactured by Puma. Previous manufacturers have been
Umbro
Umbro is an English sports equipment manufacturer founded in 1924 in Wilmslow, Cheshire and based in Manchester. They specialise in football and rugby sportswear featuring their ''Double Diamond'' logo. Umbro products are marketed in over 100 c ...
(2002), Tempest Sports (2002–14), and
Admiral Sportswear
Admiral is one of the oldest English sportswear brands, with a manufacturing emphasis on clothing for association football. Founded in 1914 in Leicester, Admiral was originally an undergarment brand but switched to the manufacture of apparel for ...
(2014–17). Other club sponsors are Reston Waste,
Cherry Red Records
Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well ...
, and author and YouTuber
John Green
John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube Content creation, content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' ( ...
.
In April 2022, the club announced that it would be switching its kit manufacturer for start of the 2022–23 season to
Hummel, a nostalgic link up with the kit manufacturer of the former
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. ...
in 1988–89 & 1989–99 seasons.
Mascot
In 2006, AFC Wimbledon introduced a new mascot to represent the club, a
Womble
''The Wombles'' are fictional pointy-nosed, furry creatures created by Elisabeth Beresford and originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. They live in burrows, where they aim to help the environment by collecting and recycl ...
known as ''"Haydon"'' after
Haydons Road, the nearest railway station to both Wimbledon F.C.'s original home ground,
Plough Lane (1912–98)
Plough Lane – named The Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons – is a football stadium in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rugby ...
, and the current
Plough Lane
Plough Lane – named The Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons – is a football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rugby league side London ...
.
Rivalries
Milton Keynes Dons
The most obvious of AFC Wimbledon's rivals are
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...
, the club which resulted from the
relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes
Wimbledon Football Club relocated to Milton Keynes in September 2003, 16 months after receiving permission to do so from the Football Association on the basis of a two-to-one decision in favour by an FA-appointed independent commission. The mo ...
in 2003. However there is some debate amongst AFC Wimbledon supporters as to whether this should be considered a rivalry. Since some supporters do not recognise the legitimacy of the club, it is argued they cannot be considered rivals. The two sides have met three times in cup competitions, all games at Milton Keynes, of which AFC Wimbledon have won one. Owing to MK Dons' relegation from the Championship in the 2015–16 season, alongside AFC Wimbledon's promotion from League Two, AFC Wimbledon and Milton Keynes Dons competed in the same league division for the first time in the 2016–17 season. Both clubs won one and lost one in that season's league matches.
Crawley Town
One of AFC Wimbledon's main rivals have been
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...
. This is purely due to their frequently fractious meetings at a non-league level since 2009. The two sides did not play each other between 2012 and 2015 due to Crawley's promotion to League One. However Crawley's relegation during the
2014–15 Football League One
The 2014–15 Football League One (referred to as the Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the Football League One under its current title and the twenty-second season under its current league division format. Th ...
season meant the two sides played each other on 15 August 2015 which the Dons won 2–1 after going a goal down.
Since Wimbledon's
2016 promotion into
League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
, they have met just once competitively in the 2nd round of the 2020/2021 Emirates FA Cup with Crawley Town winning 2–1.
Sutton United
AFC Wimbledon had never shared a league with
Sutton United
Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...
before 2022, but due to the geographical proximity the two clubs share a friendly rivalry. Sutton were the first team to play the reformed Dons on 10 July 2002, defeating them 4–0 at
Gander Green Lane. Before they met in the FA Cup in 2017, the most recent competitive match between the two sides was in the 2013
Surrey Senior Cup
The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...
semi-final at
Gander Green Lane on 11 April 2013, a game which Sutton won 5–2. The clubs played each other in the third round of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
on 7 January 2017, which resulted in a 0–0 draw. The replay took place at Kingsmeadow on 17 January 2017, with Sutton winning 3–1. The two clubs will both be in
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
for the 2022–23 season.
Stadium
Plough Lane
![Plough Lane, 18 May 2021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Plough_Lane%2C_18_May_2021.jpg)
Since its inception in 2002, AFC Wimbledon had stated that one of its primary aims was to play in
Merton, with a new stadium close to what it regards as its "spiritual home" of the original
Plough Lane
Plough Lane – named The Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons – is a football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rugby league side London ...
, where the original Wimbledon F.C. had played for over 80 years. This aim formed the basis of a project to create a new purpose-built stadium on the site of the
Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, located on Plough Lane approximately 250 yards from where the old football stadium had stood.
Plans to develop the greyhound stadium site as either a multi-purpose stadium or as a football stadium were publicised frequently by the club and the media prior to 2013. In 2013 AFC Wimbledon announced that discussions were underway with
Merton Council
Merton London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Merton in Greater London, England. It is one of the 32 councils that form Greater London.
History
There were previously a number of local authorities responsible ...
over a joint bid for the greyhound stadium and surrounding land, in cooperation with developer
Galliard Homes
Galliard Homes is a British residential property developer based in Loughton. Operating across London and the Home Counties, Galliard Homes is the capital's largest privately owned residential property developer.
History
Galliard Homes was found ...
, to build a new football stadium, 600 residential units and a wide range of shops and community facilities.
The plans for the football stadium were approved unanimously by Merton Council on 10 December 2015. Clearance of the site in preparation for the new football stadium and housing was begun on 16 March 2018. The stadium's opening was initially planned for summer 2019, however, delays have caused the approximate completion date to moved to 25 October 2020. The land's freehold was transferred to an AFC Wimbledon subsidiary on 24 December 2018, among other transactions that also formally transferred ownership of
Kingsmeadow
Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2, ...
to
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
.
Wimbledon played the first four home matches of the 2020–21 season at
Loftus Road
Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers.
In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...
whilst Plough Lane was being completed.
The club played its first match at Plough Lane on the evening of 3 November 2020 with a 2–2 draw against
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
.
Loftus Road
AFC Wimbledon started the 2020–21 season at Loftus Road after agreeing a temporary groundshare agreement with Queens Park Rangers, while construction of Plough Lane was completed. They played four league games at the ground, plus two cup ties, before departing at the end of October 2020. Due to the coronavirus restrictions in place at that time, all of the club’s games at Loftus Road were played behind closed doors.
Kingsmeadow
![AFCWvsRamsgate](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/AFCWvsRamsgate.jpg)
The club played at the 4,850 capacity Kingsmeadow
in
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...
until May 2020. Until 2017, AFC Wimbledon groundshared with
Kingstonian
Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division.
The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...
with the Dons being the landlords and Kingstonian the tenants since the summer of 2003; before then the roles were reversed. In November 2015 AFC Wimbledon supporters voted to approve the selling of Kingsmeadow to
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football ...
to help fund a planned new ground in Merton,
On 13 December 2017, the contract was signed for the new stadium to be built, with Kingstonian leaving the ground in 2017 as a result.
Ground purchase and debt
Upon their foundation in 2002, AFC Wimbledon entered into a ground–sharing arrangement with
Kingstonian
Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London which currently plays in the Isthmian League Premier Division.
The club was founded in 1885 by YMC ...
to play home fixtures at
Kingsmeadow
Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea U21s. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian F.C. and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850, with 2, ...
in the neighbouring borough of
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...
.
After Kingstonian entered administration to avoid bankruptcy and lost the Kingsmeadow lease in October 2001. It was assigned in April 2002 by the administrators to a property developer, Rajesh Khosla, who was also by then owner of the club.
After an
SGM SGM, or sgm, may refer to:
Science
* Second Generation Multiplex DNA profiling system - also see SGM+
* Scanning gate microscopy
* Spherical Grating Monochromator beamline of Canadian Light Source
* Semi-global matching algorithm in stereo ima ...
, it was felt by the AFC Wimbledon board of directors that securing ownership of Kingsmeadow would safeguard the ground for the future of both clubs. In March 2003 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; £3 million needed to be raised.
AFC Wimbledon were already sub-tenants at Kingsmeadow, before raising £2.4 million to buy the lease from Khosla in June 2003, with a view to making Kingsmeadow their home. Kingstonian secured a 25-year sub-tenancy agreement with AFC Wimbledon, with customary break clauses. The clubs operated a ground-sharing arrangement, with Kingstonian receiving preferentially cheap rental terms.
Expansion
At the end of the
2011–12 season, AFC Wimbledon commenced work on building a new 1,000 capacity all-seater stand to replace the existing Kingston Road End. This was completed by 13 October 2012 game against
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...
which saw an attendance of 4,409. The new stand was named the North Stand before being renamed The
Nongshim
Nongshim Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean food and beverage company headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Nongshim was founded in 1965 under the name Lotte (conglomerate), Lotte Food Industrial Company. The name was changed to Nongshim in 1978.
The ...
Stand and in July 2015 the
John Green
John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube Content creation, content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including ''The Fault in Our Stars'' ( ...
Stand following sponsorship deals. The work increased the stadium capacity to approximately 4,850 with 2,265 seats.
Sale
In 2015, AFC Wimbledon agreed plans to sell Kingsmeadow to Chelsea in order to help finance their plans to move to a new stadium in Merton. Chelsea's intention was to use the ground for their own youth and women's teams and were not willing to accommodate Kingstonian. This was met with protests from Kingstonian fans, as the club would be left without a home ground of their own.
Since the sale, Kingstonian have had to groundshare with
Leatherhead
Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...
and then
Corinthian-Casuals. AFC Wimbledon departed Kingsmeadow in May 2020.
Ownership and legal status
AFCW
plc was placed under the ownership of The Dons Trust, a supporters' group which is pledged to retain at least 75% control of that ownership. In 2003 a minority interest was sold in a share issue in order to finance the purchase of Kingsmeadow; given the circumstances of the club's formation, this decision raised concerns among some members but was quickly accepted.
The Dons Trust is an
industrial and provident society
An industrial and provident society (IPS) is a body corporate registered for carrying on any industries, businesses, or trades specified in or authorised by its rules.
The members of a society benefit from the protection of limited liability ...
registered with the
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the financial regulation, regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investmen ...
as "Wimbledon Football Club Supporters' Society Limited". This is not to be confused with Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association (WISA) although WISA has as one of its stated constitutional aims "to purchase shares in AFC Wimbledon's holding company".
The original chief executive was Erik Samuelson, a retired accountant, who carried out his full-time duties in return for the nominal sum of one
guinea
Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...
a year, because "it sounded posher than a pound". Samuelson retired in 2019; he was replaced by the club's former COO, Joe Palmer.
Community work
The club places great emphasis on its role as a social focus for the entire local community, and part of this role is to offer the chance to play football to all. For this reason AFC Wimbledon established the Community Football Scheme (CFS) in 2004. On 1 May 2010, AFC Wimbledon's Community Football Scheme was awarded the FA Charter Standard Community Club Award, the highest graded award attainable in the FA Charter Standard Club Programme, in recognition of the club's outstanding coaching facilities in the local community. The club offer a number of different football courses open to children of any ability aged 4–14, who receive coaching from FA qualified coaches. The club aim to reach as many children as possible through their football and multi-sports programme by having vital links with their surrounding boroughs, most notably
Merton and
Kingston, which has allowed them to become one of the main providers of sports coaching in their local community.
AFC Wimbledon also offers a Schools Coaching Programme in
Merton,
Kingston and neighbouring boroughs. The club look to encourage a healthy and active lifestyle for both Primary and Secondary school children through football and a range of other sports. The sessions are run with an emphasis on learning, development and health awareness in a fun coaching environment. On 15 March 2012, coaches from the CFS, in partnership with the
Football League's main sponsor
nPower, engaged in a community outreach scheme promoting the FA's 'Respect' campaign to school pupils. Nearly 2,000 children aged 10 and 11 were taught how abusive verbal and physical behaviour on the pitch to both players and referees should never be tolerated under any circumstances. The aim of the nationwide 'Respect' scheme in schools is to eradicate racism, homophobia, violence and dissent from the next generation of footballers and supporters.
On 27 March 2012, AFC Wimbledon became the first football club to be presented with the Prime Minister's
Big Society Award
The Big Society Award is a British award set up by prime minister David Cameron in November 2010 as part of the Big Society initiative. The awards recognise community work done in the UK that demonstrates the Big Society. Over fifty awards had b ...
for outstanding contributions to the local community. The club was recognised for the honour because it offers a wide range of community development schemes including 19 youth and women's teams, school health and sport projects (hundreds of children a week participate in the outreach schemes provided) and a range of innovative activities, including a stadium school to help children get to grips with maths by using football as a teaching aid.
Congratulating AFC Wimbledon on receiving the award, then Prime Minister
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
said:
Accepting the award, Erik Samuelson, chief executive of AFC Wimbledon stated:
A group formed by the club's fans, the Dons Local Action Group, stepped up during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
in 2020, ensuring community members were distributed sufficient food and that students locked down at home had the technology they needed to keep up with classes.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
''For youth teams see
AFC Wimbledon Development Squad and Academy.''
Player of the year, club captains and top scorers
The following table shows players who have previously been selected to be club
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, have been The Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association (WISA) player of the year and have been the player who scored the most league goals in a season (including
penalties
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
* Penalty ...
) in chronological order:
Most league appearances and goals
''For a list of all AFC Wimbledon players who hold appearance or goal-scoring records see
List of AFC Wimbledon records and statistics
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club, based at Plough Lane in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, Greater London. The club was formed on 30 May 2002 by supporters of Wimbledon F.C., Wimbledon Football Club, led by Kris St ...
.''
Notable former players
Wimbledon Old Players Association
As part of WISA's campaign to try and reclaim the history of Wimbledon Football Club, the Wimbledon Old Players Association (WOPA) was formed in 2005. Membership of WOPA is open to all former Wimbledon F.C. and AFC Wimbledon players and managers. Among the sixty founding members were
Glenn Mulcaire
Glenn Michael Mulcaire (born 8 September 1970) is an English private investigator and former non-league footballer. He was closely involved in the News International phone hacking scandal, and was imprisoned for six months in 2007 for his role i ...
, who scored AFC Wimbledon's first ever goal in 2002
and Kevin Cooper, who remains the club's all-time highest goal scorer with 107 goals between August 2002 and May 2004, as well as retaining the title for the most goals scored in a season with 66 during 2003–04. Others that joined included some of the legends of the old
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. ...
such as
John Fashanu
John Fashanu (, born 18 September 1962) is an English television presenter and former professional footballer.
In his former career, he was a centre-forward from 1978 until 1995, most notably in an eight-year spell at Wimbledon in which he wo ...
,
Dave Beasant
David John Beasant (; born 20 March 1959) is an English football coach and former football goalkeeper.
As a player, he was a goalkeeper, who notably played top-flight football for Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Southampton and Nottingham ...
,
Efan Ekoku
Efangwu Goziem Ekoku (born 8 June 1967) is a former Nigerian professional footballer, and sports commentator.
As a player, he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Norwich City and Wimbledon and in Switzerland for Grassho ...
,
Neil Sullivan
Neil Sullivan (born 24 February 1970) is a professional football player and coach. He played as a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2013, playing in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, and represented Scotland internat ...
,
Dave Bassett
David Thomas Bassett (born 4 September 1944 in Stanmore) is an English football manager and a former player. During his career he has managed Wimbledon, Watford, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Barnsley, Leicester City and ...
,
Wally Downes
Walter John Downes (born 9 June 1961) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently manager of AFC Wimbledon.
As a footballer, Downes played the majority of his career for Wimbled ...
,
Marcus Gayle
Marcus Anthony Gayle (born 27 September 1970) is a football coach and former professional player who serves as club ambassador at Brentford.
Gayle's primary position was as a striker but also played as a winger and central defender towards ...
,
Neal Ardley
Neal Christopher Ardley (born 1 September 1972) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder. He is currently the manager of Solihull Moors.
Ardley was capped at Under-21 level by England. Ar ...
,
Alan Kimble,
Andy Thorn,
Roger Joseph,
Dickie Guy
Richard John Guy (born 6 January 1949) is an English former goalkeeper for Wimbledon during the 1960s and 1970s. Today, Guy is the President of AFC Wimbledon, the supporter-owned club which represents Wimbledon.
Playing career
Guy made nearly 6 ...
,
Allen Batsford
Allen Batsford (9 April 1932 – 28 December 2009) was an association football manager.
He was appointed manager of Walton & Hersham in 1967 and led them to the Athenian League title in 1969 and the Amateur Cup in 1973. Batsford first tas ...
, Roger Connell,
Ian Cooke,
Roy Law and Steve Galliers. On 16 July 2006, WOPA fielded a team in the
Masters Football Tournament at
Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena (originally the Empire Pool, now known as OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, used for music, comedy, family entertainment and sport. The 12,500-sea ...
, with AFC Wimbledon's backing. The team included
Carlton Fairweather
Carlton Fairweather (born 22 September 1961) is an English former professional footballer and the former manager of FA WSL club Sunderland Ladies.
Playing career
Fairweather began his career in Non-League football with Dulwich Hamlet, Bromley ...
,
Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...
,
Marcus Gayle
Marcus Anthony Gayle (born 27 September 1970) is a football coach and former professional player who serves as club ambassador at Brentford.
Gayle's primary position was as a striker but also played as a winger and central defender towards ...
, and
Dean Holdsworth
Dean Christopher Holdsworth (born 8 November 1968) is an English former professional football player and manager. As a striker he scored 193 goals in 610 league games over a 22-year career. Despite playing for 16 clubs in 19 spells the majority ...
.
In June 2010,
Vinnie Jones
Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer.
Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chelse ...
, another former player of
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. ...
, donated his 1988 FA Cup winners medal to the fans of AFC Wimbledon. The medal is on display at Kingsmeadow.
Management
Current management and coaching staff
Current academy and youth development staff
Managerial history
These statistics incorporate results for league matches (including
Play-off
The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
matches) and results in all major League Cup competitions (including the
Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup, the
Isthmian League Cup
The Alan Turvey Trophy, formerly the Isthmian League Cup is a football knock-out cup competition organised by the Isthmian League in England.
History
Isthmian League Chairman and President Alan Turvey was among the FA's "150 Grassroots Heroes" ...
, the
Conference League Cup
The Conference League Cup (formerly known as the Setanta Shield for sponsorship reasons, and before that the Bob Lord Trophy) was a football competition open to clubs playing in the Football Conference.
History
The competition was formed for ...
, the
Football League Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
and the
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
) as well as results in the
FA Vase
The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...
, the
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
and the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
.
''* Terry Eames was suspended as manager on 13th February for disciplinary reasons, but was not officially dismissed until 18th February 2004. Following his suspension, the role was undertaken by his assistant Nicky English.''
''** Wally Downes was suspended as manager on 25th September 2019 after he was charged by the Football Association over bets placed on games, with his assistant Glyn Hodges taking over his duties. Downes was not officially dismissed until 20th October 2019, when he was suspended by the FA after admitting breaching Football Association rules around betting. Hodges was then named his permanent replacement.''
Women
AFC Wimbledon Women
AFC Wimbledon Women are a women's football team from London. The team currently competes in the .
The club was founded after the ladies team representing Wimbledon F.C. decided to transfer to AFC Wimbledon, after the old club's relocation. The ...
switched affiliation from
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. ...
after the
2002–03 season.
Chris Lyons is the manager and the team competes in the
PL South East Division One.
Wimbledon Women's former player
Sophie Hosking
Sophie Hannah Marguerite Hosking MBE (born 25 January 1986) is a retired British rower.
Personal life
Hosking was born in 1986. The lightweight rower David Hosking is her father. She attended Kingston Grammar School in London, before completi ...
won an
Olympic gold medal
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
for
Team GB
Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their British Olympic team. The brand was developed after the nation's poor performance in the 1996 Summer Olympics, and is now a trademark of the BOA. I ...
in the women's lightweight double sculls at the
London 2012
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
games. Hosking continues to be an avid supporter of AFC Wimbledon and demonstrated as such when she painted her fingernails in the club's royal blue and yellow colours for the Olympic final at
Dorney Lake
Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Wi ...
on 4 August 2012.
Club honours
:''Statistics are correct as of 2 May 2009.''
League honours
*
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
**
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
*** Play-off winners (1):
2015–16
*
Football Conference
The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...
**
Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...
*** Play-off winners (1):
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
**
Conference South
The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...
*** Champions (1):
2008–09
*
Isthmian League
The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...
**
Premier Division
*** Play-off winners (1):
2007–08
**
Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
*** Champions (1):
2004–05
*
Combined Counties League
The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...
**
Premier Division
*** Champions (1):
2003–04
Cups and Trophies
*
Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup
** Winners (1):
2003–04
Minor honours
*Isle of Man Tournament
** Winners (1):
2009–10
*Lanes Cup
** Winners (2):
2007–08 2011–12
*
London Senior Cup
The London Senior Cup is the County Senior Cup of the London FA. The London Senior Cup was first won by Upton Park in 1882. Although the leading professional sides in London no longer compete, the Cup has been won in the past by the likes of Ar ...
** Winners (1):
2013–14
** Runners-up (1):
2009–10
*
Surrey Senior Cup
The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...
** Winners (1):
2004–05
** Runners-up (1):
2005–06
Awards
*Big Society Award
** Winners:
2011–12
*BBC London Sports Awards Team of the Year
** Winners (1):
2011–12
*BBC London Sports Awards Non-professional Team of the Year
** Winners (1):
2003–04 2008–09
*FA Charter Standard Community Club Award
** Winners (1):
2009–10
*Football League Family Excellence Award
** Winners (2):
2011–12 2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*Football League Award for Community Promotion of the Girls/Kids Cup
** Winners (2):
2011–12 2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*Football Conference Fair Play Award for Good Sportsmanship
** Winners (2):
2008–09 2009–10
*Isthmian League Fair Play Award for Good Sportsmanship
** Winners (1):
2007–08
*Conference South Programme of the Year
** Winners (1):
2008–09
*Isthmian League Programme of the Year
** Winners (1):
2007–08
References
External links
*
The Dons Trust*
{{DEFAULTSORT:AFC Wimbledon
2002 establishments in England
Association football clubs established in 2002
Combined Counties Football League
Fan-owned football clubs in England
Football clubs in England
Football clubs in London
Isthmian League
National League (English football)
Sport in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Sport in the London Borough of Merton
English Football League clubs
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...
Phoenix clubs (association football)