AFC Wimbledon

AFC Wimbledon

Full name	AFC Wimbledon
Nickname(s)	The Dons, The Wombles, AFCW, The Crazy Gang
Founded	2002
Ground	Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames (Capacity: 4,720 (1,265 seated))
Chairman	Erik Samuelson
Manager	Terry Brown
League	League Two
2010–11	Conference National, 2nd (promoted via playoffs)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

AFC Wimbledon is a professional English football club that traces its origins to Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. Based at Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, the club are members of Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football.

The club began in 2002 as a result of the Football Association's sanctioning of Wimbledon Football Club's relocation to Milton Keynes, the new town in Buckinghamshire. Wimbledon supporters opposed to this move reacted by founding their own side, AFC Wimbledon. In view of its transplanting to Milton Keynes, a large majority of Wimbledon fans felt that the original club no longer represented Wimbledon's legacy and tradition, and thus withdrew their support, choosing instead to start an alternative club from scratch.

When AFC Wimbledon was formed it affiliated to both the London and Surrey Football Associations and entered the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League. The side has since been promoted five times in nine seasons: during this time, it played 78 consecutive league matches without defeat, which is an all-time record in English senior football.

History

For a statistical breakdown by season, see List of AFC Wimbledon seasons.

Formation

Main article: Relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes

The club was founded by supporters of Wimbledon Football Club, led by Kris Stewart, in June 2002. Days earlier, the Football Association had agreed to allow Wimbledon F.C. to relocate 56 miles north to the new town of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire. The principal involved in this relocation was unprecedented in English football; by moving in such a way, Wimbledon F.C. were cutting all ties with the area of Wimbledon. Although Wimbledon F.C. were unable to physically move to Milton Keynes for over a year, their traditional local support dried up almost immediately in protest.

In June 2002, in order to assemble a competitive team at such short notice, AFC Wimbledon held player trials over three days on Wimbledon Common, open to any unattached player who felt he was good enough to try out for the team. From these trials, the club's squad for their inaugural season was chosen. The new team attracted a crowd of 4,657 fans for their first ever game, a pre-season friendly against Sutton United on 10 July where they were beaten 4–0.

Non-League football (2002–11)

Ryan Gray prepares to take a corner during 2003–04 season

AFC Wimbledon fans and players celebrate promotion to the Conference South at the end of 2007–08.

AFC Wimbledon's first manager was Terry Eames. They started slowly but won their last eleven league games of the 2002–03 season, finishing third in the Combined Counties League, and only narrowly missing promotion to Isthmian League Division One. Their average attendance exceeded 3,000 — higher than the average attendance the same season of Wimbledon F.C., still playing in the First Division.

In 2003–04, AFC Wimbledon won their first 21 league games before a draw on 10 January 2004, giving them 32 consecutive wins in league games over two seasons. By this time, they were the only club in England at any level to maintain a perfect league record for the 2003–04 season. Despite the sacking of Eames, AFC Wimbledon's success continued under caretaker manager Nicky English, whose first game in charge resulted in a club record 9–0 victory. The team went on to finish as champions of the Combined Counties League, and unbeaten at that. Promotion to the Isthmian League First Division was therefore assured, and the club even completed a double by winning the league's Premier Challenge Cup.

Under newly appointed manager Dave Anderson, AFC Wimbledon took their form into the next season — they led the division all season, and ran away with the title to seal promotion to the League's Premier Division. AFC Wimbledon also took part in the FA Cup for the first time, reaching the Third Qualifying Round. Victory in the Surrey Senior Cup sealed two doubles in a row. During this 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. They 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).

The 2005–06 season proved far more competitive than previous seasons — after winning their first few games, AFC Wimbledon found themselves struggling to remain in the play-off places. After fluctuating form they eventually reached the play-offs with a 1–0 win against Anderson's former club, Hendon. However, defeat at Fisher Athletic meant no third promotion in a row. The Dons again reached the final of the Surrey Senior Cup, losing 1–0 to Kingstonian in a fiercely contested derby.

The 2006–07 season was Anderson's last in charge, and AFC Wimbledon lost to Bromley in the play-off semi-final. Much of the season was overshadowed by the threat of a proposed 18-point deduction by the FA 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 ineligible. However, this punishment was eventually reduced to a three point deduction and a £400 fine 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 and the FA Trophy that year.

Under new boss Terry Brown, AFC Wimbledon achieved promotion to the Conference South the next season, beating Staines Town 2–1 in the play-off final. AFC Wimbledon quickly adjusted to Conference South football during 2008–09, being amongst the leading clubs for most of the season and winning the title on the final day. The club competed in the Conference National during 2009–10, finishing eighth, 14 points yet a mere three places short of the playoff zone.

The following season, Wimbledon finished as league runners-up. In the promotion play-off final, they beat Luton Town 4–3 in a penalty shoot-out after the match had ended in a 0–0 draw after extra time. The winning penalty was scored by club captain Danny Kedwell. The victory resulted in the club winning promotion into The Football League for the first time.

Football League (2011–present)

AFC Wimbledon currently play in Football League Two, English football's fourth tier, during the 2011–12 season.

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, the ground that AFCW part owned with Kingstonian; given the circumstances of the club's formation, this decision raised concerns among some members but was quickly accepted.^{[citation needed]}

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

The Chief Executive is lifelong fan Erik Samuelson, a retired accountant, who carries out his full-time duties in return for the nominal sum of one guinea a year, because "it sounded posher than a pound".

Ground purchase and debt

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

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

After an SGM, it was felt by the 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. This purchase took place a few weeks before the proposed formation of the Kingstonian Supporters Trust which AFC Wimbledon's Supporters Trust had been advising. That trust itself would have considered purchasing the lease to the ground had it been able to raise the funds.

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

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

It is difficult to find space for a ground in Wimbledon, but although Kingsmeadow is now home it doesn’t mean we will be here all our lives. But, for now, we are very happy at Kingsmeadow.

However, it is the club's long term ambition to relocate to a new stadium with a capacity around 10,000 (with potential for expansion) in the London borough of Merton, where the original Wimbledon club last played in 1991.

Sponsorship

AFC Wimbledon have been sponsored by computer games developers Sports Interactive, creators of the Championship Manager and Football Manager series, since the club's inception in 2002; the SI logo appears on the front of the team's shirts. SI Managing Director Miles Jacobson said of the sponsorship deal: "We are huge supporters of grass roots football. Most of us play grass roots football at some level (or in my case, below grass roots!), and we know that that is where the stars from tomorrow are going to come from."

The idea for Sports Interactive sponsorship came from Nick Robinson, who was an employee at Eidos, Sports Interactive's then-publishers. However, Eidos were not willing to fund the deal, and so Sports Interactive found the cash themselves.

The sponsorship of AFC Wimbledon is not Sports Interactive's first support of lower-league football; they sponsored a "Save York City" charity football tournament in 2001.

Players

Current squad

As of 9 March 2012.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Seb Brown 3 DF Gareth Gwillim 5 DF Jamie Stuart (captain) 6 DF Brett Johnson 7 DF Sam Hatton 8 MF Ricky Wellard 10 FW Jack Midson 11 FW Luke Moore 12 MF Christian Jolley 13 DF Chris Bush 15 MF Sammy Moore 16 DF Fraser Franks 17 DF Mat Mitchel-King

No. Position Player 18 MF Brendan Kiernan 19 MF Kieran Djilali 20 GK Jack Turner 22 DF Callum McNaughton 23 MF Rashid Yussuff 24 MF Jordaan Brown 25 MF George Moncur (on loan from West Ham) 27 FW Byron Harrison 28 MF Billy Knott (on loan from Sunderland) 29 FW Jason Euell (on loan from Charlton Athletic) 30 FW Jason Prior 32 MF Huw Johnson DF Pim Balkestein (on loan from Brentford)

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 2 DF Ryan Jackson (at Cambridge United) 4 MF Max Porter (at Newport County) 14 MF Lee Minshull (at Newport County) 21 MF Reece Jones (at Hampton & Richmond) 26 MF James Mulley (at Hayes & Yeading) FW Charlie Strutton (at Maidenhead United)

Player of the Year

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

Year	Winner
2002–03	Lee Sidwell
2003–04	Matt Everard
2004–05	Richard Butler
2005–06	Andy Little
2006–07	Anthony Howard
2007–08	Jason Goodliffe
2008–09	Ben Judge
2009–10	Danny Kedwell
2010–11	Sam Hatton

Former players

As part of WISA's campaign to reclaim the history of Wimbledon Football Club for the community of Wimbledon, 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 founder members were John Fashanu, Dave Beasant, Efan Ekoku, Neil Sullivan, Dave Bassett, Wally Downes, Marcus Gayle, Neal Ardley, Alan Kimble, Andy Thorn, Roger Joseph, Dickie Guy, Allen Batsford, Roger Connell, Ian Cooke, Roy Law and Steve Galliers. Glenn Mulcaire scored the team's first goal, against Bromley in 2002.

On 16 July 2006, WOPA fielded a team in the Masters Football Tournament at Wembley Arena, with AFC Wimbledon's backing. The team included Carlton Fairweather, Scott Fitzgerald, Marcus Gayle, and Dean Holdsworth.

Management

Current management and coaching staff

Name	Nationality	Role
Terry Brown	England	Manager
Stuart Cash	England	Assistant manager
Simon Bassey	England	Coach
Marcus Gayle	Jamaica	Reserve team manager
Mike Rayner	England	Physiotherapist
Jason Moriarty	England	Fitness coach
Rhiannon Luke	Wales	Sports therapist
Anup Sharma	England	Club doctor
Paul Quinton	England	Club doctor

Managerial history

Dates Manager 2002–04 Terry Eames 2004 Nicky English (caretaker) 2004–07 Dave Anderson 2007–present Terry Brown

Ladies

Tony Milstead is the manager. AFC Wimbledon Ladies switched affiliation from Wimbledon F.C. after the 2002–03 season.

Reserves & Youth

The club places very 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.

The Dons have established both boys' and girls' youth teams from under-19s level all the way down to under-7s.

Reserve Team

Marcus Gayle is the manager of AFC Wimbledon Reserves. The team participate in the Suburban League Premier Division A.

As of 8 March 2012.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Mark Fox GK Ulysees Obame GK Jake Weekes DF Charlie Girdler DF Wilson Gondwe DF Nathan Gordon DF Jake Hill DF Ben Hutchings DF Billy Joe King DF Adam Turner DF Jamie Warren DF Ade Osifuwa MF Nathan Balanta MF Karl Douglin MF Callum Dunne MF Max Noble

No. Position Player MF Bill Hussey MF Harry Knock MF Josh Pearson MF Jake Rose MF Hugo Sikuade MF Ritchie Whittingham MF Yascine Yahia MF Zachary Richards FW Louie Theophanous FW Brett Cummings FW Jerson Dos Santos FW Elliott Frost FW Elton Gjoni FW Daniel Lawrence FW Kevant Serbony

Youth team

Mark Robinson is the manager of AFC Wimbledon youth team. The team participate in the Football League Youth Alliance, and has the status of centre of excelence.

As of 8 March 2012.

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Jack Greenaway GK Charlie Phillips DF Emmanuel Akiotu DF Kyle Bernard DF Tasharn Braithwaite DF Matthew Cunnington DF Oluyesi Daley DF Jim Fenlon DF Greg Haydon DF Duvaine Lindo DF Terry Murray DF Sam Whiting DF Harry Wise MF Thomas Beere MF William Bor MF George Chambers MF Bobby Connelly MF Charlie Craig

No. Position Player MF Matthew Drury MF Charlie Fayers MF Charlie Gee MF Aaron Harding MF Chace Jacqhaurt MF Mike Lowka MF Andre Morgan MF William Nightingale MF Jonathon Sentongo MF Kieran Tarbie MF Ben Thompson MF Khan Williams-Mitchell FW Nii Amarfio FW Sam Baffour FW Reiss Garwood FW Josh Oyibo FW Andre Thompson

Honours

Following the move of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes and its rebranding as Milton Keynes Dons, there was much debate over the rightful home of all the honours won by Wimbledon F.C.. Former supporters argued that the trophies won by Wimbledon F.C. rightfully belong to the community of Wimbledon and should be returned to the local area. AFC Wimbledon believe that the honours of Wimbledon F.C. belong to the fans, as illustrated by the following statement on the club's official website:

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

In October 2006, an agreement was reached between Milton Keynes Dons F.C., the MK Dons Supporters Association, the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association and the Football Supporters Federation. The replica of the FA Cup plus all club patrimony gathered under the name of Wimbledon F.C. would be returned to the London Borough of Merton. Ownership of trademarks and website domain names related to Wimbledon F.C. would also be transferred to the Borough. It was also agreed that any reference made to Milton Keynes Dons F.C. should refer only to events after 7 August 2004, the date of the first league match played as Milton Keynes Dons. As a result of this deal, the Football Supporters Federation announced that the supporters of Milton Keynes Dons would be permitted to become members of the federation, and that it would no longer appeal to the supporters of other clubs to boycott MK Dons matches. The replica trophies and Wimbledon F.C. memorabilia were returned to Merton on 2 August 2007.

Only honours won by AFC Wimbledon are listed here. For a list of honours won by Wimbledon F.C., see Wimbledon F.C.#Honours.

• Football Conference
  • Conference National
    • Play-off winners (1): 2010–11
    • Runners-up (1): 2010–11
  • Conference South
    • Champions (1): 2008–09
• Isthmian League
  • Premier Division
    • Play-off winners (1): 2007–08
  • Division One
    • Champions (1): 2004–05
• Combined Counties League
  • Champions (1): 2003–04
• Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup
  • Winners (1): 2003–04
• Surrey Senior Cup
  • Winners (1): 2004–05
  • Runners-up (1): 2005–06
• Supporters Direct Cup
  • Winners (3): 2002–03, 2005–06 2009–10
  • Runners-up (2): 2004–05, 2006–07
• Phil Ledger Memorial Cup
  • Winners (1): 2010–11

Records

AFC Wimbledon's progress through the football pyramid up to the present day

Club records

• Biggest home victory: AFC Wimbledon 9–0 Slough Town, 31 March 2007.
• Biggest away victory: Chessington United 0–9 AFC Wimbledon, 14 February 2004.
• Biggest home defeat: AFC Wimbledon 0–4 Hampton & Richmond Borough, 1 April 2006.
• Biggest away defeat: York City 5–0 AFC Wimbledon, 7 April 2010.
• Longest unbeaten league run: 78 matches, from 26 February 2003 to 27 November 2004 (This is currently the longest unbeaten run of consecutive league matches in all senior English football)
• Record home attendance: 4,722 at Kingsmeadow, 25 April 2009 against St Albans City.

Player records

• Most appearances: 194 (as of July 2011), by Sam Hatton - May 2007 - Ongoing.
• Most goals: 107, by Kevin Cooper in 105 appearances between August 2002 and May 2004.
• Most league goals in a season: 53, by Kevin Cooper (66 in all competitions) during 2003–04.

External links

• Official website
• The Dons Trust
• WDON
• The Fans' Stadium
• Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association
• AFC Wimbledon on BBC Sport: Club News – Recent results – Upcoming fixtures – Club stats