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 ...

is an English professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club, currently based in Merton,

Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...

. The club was formed on 30 May 2002 by supporters of

Wimbledon Football Club Wimbledon Football Club was an English association football, football club formed in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane (1912–98), Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centr ...

, 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. Un ...

, Marc Jones and Trevor Williams who strongly opposed the decision of an independent commission appointed by

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 ...

to allow 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 ...

, to be subsequently renamed as Milton Keynes Dons. AFC Wimbledon was accepted into the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League for the 2002–03 season. The club's average home attendance at league fixtures for their first season exceeded 3,000 – higher than the average attendance in the same season of Wimbledon F.C., who were still playing in the First Division (now the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

). AFC Wimbledon have also set a record for the longest run of unbeaten league games at any level of men's semi-professional or professional 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 ...

). The club went on to achieve 5 promotions in 9 seasons, ensuring that they were the first club to be formed in the 21st century to achieve Football League status, and making them the youngest of the 72 Football League clubs. On 30 May 2016, AFC Wimbledon achieved their 6th promotion to

Football 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 ...

after victory in the 2016 Football League Two play-off final, exactly 14 years to the day since the club's formation.

Key

The Division is shown in ''italics'' when it changes due to promotion, relegation or league reorganisation. ;Key to league record *P = Games played *W = Games won *D = Games drawn *L = Games lost *F = Goals for *A = Goals against *Pts = Points *Pos = Final league position ;Key to rounds *QR2 = Qualifying round 2 *QR3 = Qualifying round 3 *QR4 = Qualifying round 4 *Prelim = Preliminary round *R1 = Round 1 *R1S = Round 1 Southern Section *R2 = Round 2 *R3 = Round 3 *R4 = Round 4 *R5 = Round 5 *R6 = Round 6 *QF = Quarter-finals *SF = Semi-finals *RU = Runners-up *W = Winners *N/A = Did not compete ;Key to goalscorers * = Number of league goals scored

Seasons

Notes

:A. AFC Wimbledon were defeated 2–1 by

Fisher Athletic Fisher Athletic F.C. were a semi-professional football club from South East London, which last played in the Conference South, which is one of the two leagues that form the sixth tier of the English football league system. The Bermondsey-based ...

in the Isthmian League Premier Division play-off semi-final on 2 May 2006, preventing the club from achieving three back-to-back promotions. :B. AFC Wimbledon were deducted 3-points and fined £400 (reduced from an 18-point deduction on appeal) for the fielding of

Jermaine Darlington Jermaine Christopher Darlington (born 11 April 1974) is an English former professional footballer and current manager. He was most recently joint manager of Faversham Town. Career Playing career Darlington began his career as a trainee at Char ...

who had not been registered correctly by the club as he required 'international clearance' in order to be transferred from the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, Welsh national foo ...

to the Football Association of England and had therefore played in three matches whilst still ineligible. The 'Darlington affair' also resulted in expulsion from the Surrey Senior Cup and the FA Trophy that season. :C. AFC Wimbledon were defeated 1–0 by

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 Isthmian League Premier Division play-off semi-final on 1 May 2007. :D. AFC Wimbledon beat Staines Town 2–1 in the Isthmian League Premier Division play-off final on 3 May 2008. :E. AFC Wimbledon beat Luton Town 4–3 in a penalty shoot-out after the match had ended 0–0 in

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

in the

2011 Conference National play-off final The 2011 Conference Premier play-off Final, known as the 2011 Blue Square Bet Premier play-off Final for sponsorship purposes, was a football match between AFC Wimbledon and Luton Town on 21 May 2011 at the City of Manchester Stadium in Mancheste ...

on 21 May 2011. :F. AFC Wimbledon were deducted 3 points and given a £5,000 fine suspended for one year by a Football Disciplinary Commission hearing for the ineligible fielding of Jake Nicholson in a 4–3 win over

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 ...

on 22 March 2014. In addition the club was required to pay the costs of the hearing. It was found that the player's multiplicity contract had in fact expired on 19 March 2014 and had not been renewed on that date due to the illness of a key member of the club's administrative staff. :G. AFC Wimbledon beat

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, ...

2–0 in the 2016 Football League Two play-off final on 30 May 2016. :H. AFC Wimbledon finished the season with a 1.00 PPG (35 points in 35 matches) which finished them in 20th position above Tranmere Rovers by 0.06 PPG after League One voted to curtail the season following months of postponement due to 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 ...

."EFL statement: League One opts to curtail"
'' EFL'', 9 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020

Key

Seasons

Notes

References

Further reading