What's the real story, or rather the history?
I talk to people who won't go there and hate the Dons because they 'bought' a club. Then again I've heard people talk about Wimbledon having every chance to keep the original club, but no one took it up.
So who sold out?
If the MK Dons hadn't formed would there still have been a Wimbledon FC?
Surely it wasn't a case of Wimbledon being fine and then the following Saturday they were no more?
Sour grapes?
A case of 'if we can't keep Wimbledon alive, no one can have it'?
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MK Dons & Wimbledon
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Posted 4 months ago #
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The whole thing was a travesty.
It paves the way for the "Manchester United City Allstars" to move to London when they are formed. No bad thing I suppose, at least the fans will be nearer to the ground.
Posted 4 months ago # -
I doubt if the fans ever wanted to have Wimbledon moved to Milton Keynes
but then thats something they didn't have control ofThe wikipedia page will tell you all you need to know
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relocation_of_Wimbledon_F.C._to_Milton_KeynesPosted 4 months ago # -
GlitterGary - Member
The whole thing was a travesty.
It paves the way for the "Manchester United City Allstars" to move to London when they are formed. No bad thing I suppose, at least the fans will be nearer to the ground.
Just like American sport 'franchises'
Posted 4 months ago # -
Wimbledon was barely hanging on to being 'Wimbledon' even before the move to MK. They had a crappy groundshare with Crystal Palace, which was also unpopular with supporters, and efforts to find a South London site of their own for stadium redevelopment had been fruitless. The club was losing money hand over fist, and in my opinion would not have survived as a separate entity for much longer.
Doesn't justify MK being effectively able to 'buy' a football league 'franchise' rather than build from the lower leagues. But it fits with the ethos of the town, I suppose.
Posted 4 months ago # -
But it fits with the ethos of the town, I suppose.
But not football, unfortunately. You're right that they were in a mess at the time though.
At least the proper Wimbledon team are doing ok and have reached the league, the proper way.
Posted 4 months ago # -
In summary, some rich bloke bought the club, then moved it to Milton Keynes, and then changed the name to MK Dons.
So, Wimbledon FC basically ceased to exist.
You can't just move a club and expect the faynbase to move with it, that's daft.
So a group of fayns formed their own club, and called it 'AFC Wimbledon', as they coon't use 'Wimbledon FC' for legal reasons.
AFC are now recognised as the 'Wimbledon' club. MK Dons are merely what was formed from stripping the assets of the old club.
What people resent (and this includes fayns of many, many other clubs), is that rather than forming a club and working your way up, the owner just bought his way into the league, and never had any intention of preserving anything of Wimbledon FC.
Forming an entirely new club wooduv meant having to spend a lot more money in the long run, and would not necessarily have guaranteed progression up from local leagues into the football league, quickly enough for the club to be turning a profit.
MK Dons are a club that don't deserve to be in the Football League. AFC Wimbledon, having fought their way up through the ranks, are now just one division below them, and as a football fayn, I look forward to the day when they overtake MK Dons and rise above them.
Posted 4 months ago # -
They had to change the name as they were no longer able to be called Wimbledon.
But surely AFC Wimbledon will never become ‘big’ as I’d assume they’ll reach the point of being in the same position as the original Wimbledon, probably worse off due to the prevalence of money in the game today.
Posted 4 months ago # -
Would be interesting to know how many Wimbledon FC fans now follow MK Dons.
Did Winkleman "buy" a 2nd division football team? Or did he offer to build them a new ground 50 miles north of the one they were borrowing? Which, in an attempt to ensure the club continued, the directors felt was a the right decision?
I can fully understand why original WFC fans might be aggrieved, but clearly there weren't enough of them to secure funding for a ground near to Wimbledon itself.
Posted 4 months ago #
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