AFC Wimbledon

The leafy and rather pleasant southwest London suburb of Wimbledon is more often associated with tennis – it is after all, the home of the famous All England Lawn Tennis Club – but another sport is also firmly associated with the area. AFC Wimbledon still proudly claims their roots to be in Wimbledon, despite their home ground of Kingsmeadow being located in neighboring Kingston upon Thames. Since 2002, the club has become an amazing success story and something of a rarity – a football club run by fans for fans.

The origins of AFC Wimbledon can be traced back to 2001 when, in a controversial move approved by the FA, the owners of the original Wimbledon FC decided to relocate to Milton Keynes, a distance of almost 70 miles. Almost overnight, the club lost virtually all of its support and a new club – AFC Wimbledon – was born from the enthusiasm and perseverance of the original supporters, led by Kris Stewart who also became the club’s chief executive. AFC – the initials being said to stand for ‘A Fan’s Club’ - Wimbledon was officially founded in 2002, playing in the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League, along with other teams from London and surrounding counties.

To attract players at short notice, trials were held on Wimbledon Common – unfortunately that didn’t prevent the club from losing their first game 4-0 to Sutton United. The new club got off to a relatively slow start in the 2002-03 season under their first manager Terry Eames, although they did finish third and had better than expected attendances averaging over 3,000. During the 2003-04 season, the club won their first 21 games, meaning they had an impressive 32 consecutive wins over two seasons. After Eames was sacked, Nicky English became caretaker manager and led the club to an amazing 9-0 win; under his leadership, AFC Wimbledon also finished as champions of the Combined Counties League and the Premier Challenge Cup.

AFC Wimbledon enjoyed even greater success during the 2004-05 season and another manger – Dave Anderson. The club ended up top of the division, as well as winning the Surrey Senior Cup and reaching the 3rd round of the FA Cup. They also set an amazing record – unbeaten for 78 league matches until a 2-0 defeat to Cray Wanderers. However, this success wasn’t repeated during the 2005-06 season; the club struggled all season and avoided promotion for the first time in several years. The next season wasn’t a good one either – by inadvertently fielding an incorrectly registered player, the club had three points deducted and was expelled from both the FA Trophy and the Surrey Senior Cup.

Another season, another manager. Terry Brown led the club to the top of the league during the 2007-08 season and to promotion to the Conference South. Throughout most of the next season, AFC Wimbledon was positioned near the top of the league and managed to win the title only in the last match of the season. 2010 started well – as of early 2010, the club was 5th from the top of the league and to the delight of its thousands of loyal fans, its future seems to be assured.