The fascinating tale of third and fourth-tier sides AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons, and their battle for the crown of "the original Wimbledon".
In 1889, a club named "Wimbledon" was founded in south-west London. The club spent the bulk of its existence in the semi-professional and non-league ranks until the 1976–77 season, when it was elected into the Football League ladder—joining the four professional tiers. A run of exceptional football across successive campaigns saw the club rocket up the divisions at astonishing speed, eventually reaching the top flight—the old First Division—rubbing shoulders with the elite and competing for the title in the 1986/87 season alongside fifteen other top-flight outfits.
Their completely unexpected FA Cup triumph in 1988 cemented the giant-killers' reputation, earning them their fairytale status.
Everything seemed rosy until figures at the top of the club decided that Wimbledon's modest, intimate home, Plough Lane, was simply too small and antiquated, having remained largely unchanged since the club’s semi-pro days. That was where the trouble began—marking, in truth, the beginning of the end for this charming club.
Back in 1979, Wimbledon chairman Ron Noades had already explored relocating the side to Milton Keynes—a new town built from scratch just years earlier, where the club was promised a plush new ground. Officials in Milton Keynes were eager to raise the town's profile, dangling tax breaks for football clubs willing to up sticks and move into the borough. Noades noticed boards at Charlton Athletic and Luton Town flirting with similar proposals, and was keen to get in on the act.
In the end, Wimbledon stayed put at Plough Lane until 1991. However, after the board failed to redevelop the ground to meet modern post-Taylor Report standards, it was shut down. Wimbledon were forced into a ground-share with neighbouring Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park—an arrangement both sets of supporters look back on as a dark chapter to this day.
In September 2003, following a scandalous decision by an FA-appointed independent commission, the relocation to Milton Keynes was finally sanctioned. The move might have drawn less outrage had this fledgling town not sat some 55 miles north of London in Buckinghamshire—a world away from Wimbledon's south-west London heritage and community roots. This unilateral ruling sparked the events that led to the birth of a new club. On a warm evening in June 2002, a band of supporters refused to acknowledge Milton Keynes as the continuation of the historic Wimbledon and formed AFC Wimbledon. The club started life as tenants at Kingsmeadow, home of non-league Kingstonian in the grey London suburb of Kingston upon Thames. What was meant to be temporary became permanent; the ground-share has rolled over for eight seasons now, and the Wombles still find themselves without a true home of their own.
Today, the two sides compete in different tiers: MK Dons in League One and AFC Wimbledon down in League Two. Their most recent clash came in the FA Cup on 2 December 2012, ending in a 2–1 victory for MK. MK Dons are fixated on climbing into the Championship, routinely finishing in the top ten with the gloss of a well-resourced, dogged outfit.
AFC fans, however, have only one thing on their mind: going home. As of March 2014, planning permission for the proposed new stadium complex—located just across from the site where the old Plough Lane now lies in eternal rest—has yet to receive the green light. Insiders at the club concede with a heavy heart that ground is unlikely to be broken before 2016 at the earliest.
We visited AFC Wimbledon during our 2013 tour. We were welcomed into a warm, community-driven club, owned and run by supporters who genuinely revere the club and its heritage.
As for our answer to the rhetorical question posed in the headline—you can almost certainly guess it already…
And so, allow us to sign off with the traditional terrace cry: COME ON YOU DONS!!!
The gates of Plough Lane and the famous graffiti that has followed the club's faithful ever since their departure.