Plough Lane, currently known as the Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons,
is a multi-purpose football stadium in
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
* W ...
, south-west
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, which has been the home of
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in ...
since 3 November 2020.
A
groundshare
A groundshare, also known as a shared stadium or shared arena, is the principle of sharing a stadium between two local sports teams. This is usually done for the purpose of reducing the costs of either construction of two separate facilities and ...
with rugby league side
London Broncos
The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...
began in 2022.
Stands
* Cappagh West Stand – 4,267 capacity
* Reston Waste South Stand (rail seating terrace) – 1,092 capacity
* Ry Group East Stand – 2,391 capacity
* Paul Strank North Stand (away end) – 1,465 capacity
History
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English Association football, football club formed in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane (1912–1998), Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Cent ...
played its matches at the original
Plough Lane
Plough Lane, currently known as the Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rug ...
stadium from 1912 until 1991. AFC Wimbledon's new stadium lies approximately 200 yards further east. After 1991 Wimbledon F.C. began a ground-share with
Crystal Palace at
Selhurst Park
Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...
, with the intention of moving to a new all-seater stadium elsewhere at a later date due to the original Plough Lane stadium being considered unsuitable for conversion into a modern all-seater stadium. Numerous locations within and beyond the borders of Merton were considered for a possible new stadium, but none of these came to fruition, and in 2003
the original Wimbledon club controversially relocated 70 miles north to
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...
and rebranded as
Milton Keynes Dons.
In 2002 a
phoenix club,
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in ...
, was formed by the club's supporters after the
Football Association
A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...
gave Wimbledon F.C. permission to move to Milton Keynes. For the initial eighteen years of its existence, AFC Wimbledon played at
Kingsmeadow Stadium, in the neighbouring London borough of
Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
.
Since its inception, AFC Wimbledon had stated that one of its primary aims was to return to
Merton, with a new stadium close to what it regards as its "spiritual home" of the original
Plough Lane
Plough Lane, currently known as the Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rug ...
. This aim formed the basis of a project to create a new purpose-built stadium on the site of the
Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, located approximately 200 yards from the original Plough Lane football stadium, where the original Wimbledon side played for 80 years.
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 over a joint bid for the greyhound stadium and the surrounding land, in cooperation with developer
Galliard Homes, to build a new football stadium, 600 residential properties and a range of community facilities.
Development
Construction proceeded with the permanent west stand initially, with main entry from the south off Plough Lane. This is a four-storey structure with general admission access from the first floor, and hospitality above. This structure seats 4,267 spectators; semi-permanent stands on the other three sides brings initial capacity to 9,215. Among the semi-permanent seating, the most vocal home fans will be in the south, which will include a
safe standing area; a family area along the east; and away fans will be in the north stand, which is isolated with its own entry.
A secondary entrance for home fans in the south and east stands is located on the easterly pedestrian-only street, Greyhound Parade.
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, but did not take place until 3 November 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 to
Chelsea.
Finances
The club thus purchased and cleared the site of the former
Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium in anticipation of construction. In 2019 it was announced that a minimum of £2 million in
crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...
would be needed to construct a scaled-down version of the original design with a single permanent stand and an initial capacity of 9,000; as of August 2019, the £2 million mark had been raised through
Seedrs
Seedrs Limited is an online equity crowdfunding company, headquartered in East London's Tech City, founded in 2009 and launched by Jeff Lynn and Carlos Silva in 2012. Since 2022 it has been a subsidiary of American crowdfunding company Republi ...
. In November 2019 it emerged that financing of a final £11m needed to complete the ground as envisioned was not forthcoming; the club's fan ownership initially considered scaling down the project, or accepting outside investment into the club by relinquishing ownership to meet the shortfall. However, alternative financing was quickly raised by club supporters by way of a bond issue which raised over £5 million. In May 2020, the final remaining financing needed to sign all construction contracts was confirmed following key investment from local businessman
Nick Robertson.
Opening
AFC Wimbledon played their first match at the ground on 3 November 2020 against
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...
– a 2–2 draw, with the first-ever goal at the new stadium scored by Wimbledon's
Joe Pigott in the 18th minute of that match. No fans were able to attend, however, owing to national
COVID-19 restrictions
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions), were implemented in numero ...
in effect at the time.

In December 2020, the Dons Trust announced that they were discussing a potential groundshare agreement with Rugby League side
London Broncos
The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...
. A vote by the Trust membership in March 2021 resulted in 91.7% of those voting in favour. It was subject to revised planning permission which had been opposed by a group of residents but these issues were resolved before the 2022 season.
On 25 March 2021, an NHS
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
vaccination centre opened in the stadium's event space; some of the first to be vaccinated were club supporters.
The first game at the stadium with fans being able to attend was on 18 May 2021 when 2,000 people watched the Dons play
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
's under-23 side in a friendly match specifically intended to test the public safety standards of the new stadium. The first match to take place at the ground with a capacity crowd was AFC Wimbledon's 3–3 draw against
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
on 14 August 2021.
Recent history
On 16 September 2021, the club agreed a further three-year deal with their Kingsmeadow stadium sponsor
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 w ...
and thus Plough Lane was renamed the Cherry Red Records Stadium.
On 21 October 2021, AFC Wimbledon Women played their first game at the stadium winning 7-1 in the Women's FA Cup against Walton Casuals in front of a record crowd.
On 30 January 2022, the London Broncos played their first match at Plough Lane against the
Widnes Vikings
The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...
.
On 5 March 2022, Plough Lane hosted the FA Women's Continental League Cup Final between
Chelsea Women and
Manchester City Women.
The largest attendance at Plough Lane of 8,659 was recorded on 8 March 2025 for a league game against
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...
. The record for a cup game was 8,595 on 6 January 2024 for an FA Cup third round match against
Ipswich Town.
In September 2024, after the
River Wandle
The River Wandle is a right-bank tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. With a total length of about , the river passes through the London boroughs of London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Sutton, Sutton, Londo ...
burst its banks,
AFC Wimbledon's
EFL Cup
The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England.
Orga ...
third round tie against
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
had to be rescheduled from 24 September to 1 October 2024, and moved to Newcastle's
St James' Park
St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...
, due to flood damage to the Plough Lane pitch. Newcastle United donated £15,000 to the social media funding appeal to fix the damaged stadium.
In the rearranged fixture, Wimbledon also received a big percentage of the gate receipts of the capacity crowd.
[ Following the match, Wimbledon made an offer of a summer friendly at Plough Lane to Newcastle United.] Two other home fixtures (against Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...
and Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...
) also had to be rearranged.[
]
Sponsorship
The stadium as a whole has been sponsored by 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 w ...
since 16 September 2021; the company had previously been stadium sponsors at Kingsmeadow.
Current sponsors for the various parts of the stadium are:
*The Paul Strank Stand – The north, away, stand.
*The Ry Stand – The east stand.
*The Reston Waste Stand – The south, home-supporters' stand.
*The Cappagh Stand – The west, or main, stand.
Expansion
The ground has planning permission to be expanded to 20,000 spectators.
References
External links
*
{{LB Merton
Sport in the London Borough of Merton
Football venues in London
AFC Wimbledon
Buildings and structures in Wimbledon, London
English Football League venues
2020 establishments in England
Sports venues completed in 2020
London Broncos
Rugby league stadiums in London
Multi-purpose stadiums in the United Kingdom