AFC Wimbledon proves football romance still exists

It's not often that a victory by a non-league English football team garners widespread press coverage, but Saturday’s 3-0 victory by semi-professional AFC Wimbledon over St Albans City did just that. Why? Because it wrapped up Wimbledon’s promotion to the Blue Square Premier - one rung below the Football League – marking what might prove to be a key moment in the history of one of Britain’s most famously maverick clubs.
 
AFC Wimbledon is the club formed in 2002 from the wreckage of Wimbledon FC. That was the team that rose rapidly from the Southern League to find fame in the First Division and then the Premier League from 1986 to 2000 before sliding back into obscurity. During its time at the top, with players including the infamous Vinnie ‘Psycho’ Jones, the club beat Liverpool 1-0 to take the FA Cup Final in 1988 – one of Wembley’s great shock results.

Their eventual downfall came when the Football Association allowed the team's owners to uproot the squad and move them from south London to Milton Keynes. It was the first time in British football history that a professional team was treated like an American-style franchise, and it was a disaster.

An unprecedented crowd of 4,657 came to support the Dons in their first game

Bitter fans of the ‘Dons’, who had supported the club on its topsy-turvy journey to the top and back, decided to use their anger at the FA's betrayal and set up a new team.

Following open trials on Wimbledon Common in June 2002, the new team played their first game, a pre-season friendly at Gander Green Lane, against Sutton United. They lost 4-0 – but in front of a huge crowd of 4,657. Wimbledon subsequently picked up shirt sponsorship from Sports Interactive, the software company behind the popular Championship Manager series of computer games.

In their first season in the Combined Counties League (2002-03), they achieved a creditable third place playing in front of an average crowd of more than 3,000 people at the Kingsmeadow stadium in Kingston. The next six seasons were marked by a remarkable four promotions as the team, led by three different managers, rose through the non-league pyramid.

Along the way they racked up 78 games unbeaten between February 26, 2003 and November 27, 2004 - a record at any level of the English game.

A promotion next season would put AFC Wimbledon back in league football. But the club's owners, the Dons Trust, want the team to consolidate their position in the Blue Square Premier before making a push for promotion that would require playing staff to go fully professional.

In a time of greedy boards using clubs as cash cows, the Dons Trust have been exemplary owners. They managed to purchase the Kingsmeadow stadium in June 2003 for £3m and have kept the club on a firm financial footing throughout its brief existence, giving hope to those who still hanker after the romance of the beautiful game. ·