Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon F.C. was the name of a now defunct
football club that played in south
London. Founded in
1889, the club spent most of its history in
non-league football, before a rapid ascent to the
top flight of English football in the late
1970s and early
1980s, spending most of the
1990s in the
Premiership. In
1988, Wimbledon beat champions-elect
Liverpool 1-0 in the
FA Cup final becoming the only football club in the country to have won both the professional and amatuer versions of the Cup, having won the
FA Amateur Cup back in
1963.
The club was forced to move out of its South London ground in
1992, sharing with local rivals
Crystal Palace for over 10 years, and in
2003, following ongoing relocation rumours, the club relocated seventy miles north to
Milton Keynes in
Buckinghamshire citing financial reasons, and was relaunched the following year with new colours and a new badge as
Milton Keynes Dons. The move was unpopular with the club's established fan-base, and supporters responded by forming a new club,
AFC Wimbledon, which they saw as the direct continuation of the sporting representation of the people of
Wimbledon.
Amateur beginnings
Wimbledon Old Centrals F.C. were formed in
1889, taking their name from
Old Central School on
Wimbledon Common, where players had been pupils. Early matches were played on the Common, and players used the
Fox and Grapes public house, which is in the same road as the school, as the team's headquarters and changing room. The name was changed to
Wimbledon in 1905. The club continued to play on Wimbledon Common until 1912, when they moved to
Plough Lane, their home for the next 75 years. They became one of the best known amateur clubs in the country, winning the
Isthmian League title eight times, and lifting the
FA Amateur Cup in 1963, beating
Sutton United F.C. 4-2.At the insistence of patriach chairman
Sydney Black, the club turned professional the following year, entering the
Southern League, where they had continued success.
In 1975, the club became nationally famous during a spectactular
FA Cup run. They were the first non league team that century to beat a
First Division team at its own ground, when they defeated
Burnley F.C. in the third round. In the fourth round they held the reigning First Division Champions,
Leeds United F.C., to a draw at Elland Road, with goalkeeper
Dickie Guy saving a penalty, before narrowly losing to an own goal in the replay at
Selhurst Park, in front of over 40,000 spectators.
On the strength of three successive Southern League championships, and also the fame derived from their FA Cup heroics, they were finally elected to the
Football League in 1977, after several failed attempts. They were then promoted or relegated every season from 1979 to 1984, before rapidly reaching the
First Division in 1986. They finished sixth in their first ever top division season, and early in 1986-87 had topped the league.
FA Cup win
Dubbed "
The Crazy Gang" because of the eccentric behaviour of their players and fans (and, indeed, the chairman,
Sam Hammam), their greatest moment came in 1988 when, very much against expectation, they won the
FA Cup beating the strong favourites
Liverpool 1-0, with a goal from
Lawrie Sanchez. Wimbledon captain
Dave Beasant became the first
goalkeeper to save a
penalty in an FA Cup final, stopping a controversial spot-kick (Clive Goodyear had clearly played the ball) from
John Aldridge.
Just days after winning the FA Cup, the club's directors announced plans to relocate to a new all-seater stadium in its home borough of
Merton. But, ultimately, nothing came of these plans and at the end of the 1990–91 season Wimbledon decided that its cramped
Plough Lane ground was beyond redevelopment, and moved into
Selhurst Park sharing with
Crystal Palace, where it remained for the next twelve years.
1990s: the 'Crazy Gang' in the Premiership
Bobby Gould, manager of the FA Cup winning side, remained in charge until the summer of 1990 when he was replaced by
Ray Harford, who in 1988 had guided
Luton Town to victory in the
League Cup. In 1990–91, Wimbledon finished an impressive seventh in the First Division, and with the ban on English clubs in European competition now lifted, Wimbledon fans hoped that Harford could guide the club to a European place for the first time ever — Wimbledon could not compete in the 1988–89
European Cup Winners Cup because of the ban on English teams following the 1985
Heysel disaster.
Harford resigned in the autumn of 1991 to be replaced by
Peter Withe, who remained in charge until the end of the season but was dismissed having proved highly unpopular with both players and fans. Wimbledon finished high enough in 1991–92 to become founder members of the new
Premier League, and
Joe Kinnear was appointed manager at the start of 1992–93. Wimbledon continued their strong form under Kinnear – the club's best seasons were 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1996–97, when Kinnear guided the club to respective sixth, ninth and eighth place finishes - during these seasons they often finished above bigger clubs like Arsenal, Tottenham, Everton and Liverpool. There were many quality players in the side, such as
Robbie Earle,
Dean Holdsworth,
Warren Barton and
Ben Thatcher. Wimbledon came close to domestic trophy success in 1996–97, when they reached the semi finals of the FA Cup and
League Cup, knocking out the holders of each Cup on the way and losing to the eventual winners in both competitions!
At the end of the 1998-99 season, following a heart attack, Joe Kinnear resigned for personal reasons after seven years as Wimbledon manager. In the previous two seasons Wimbledon had finished just above the Premiership
relegation zone, and the recent club record £7.5million signing of
West Ham United striker
John Hartson had done little to address matters. Wimbledon had by now been taken over by a
Norwegian consortium led by
Kjell Inge Røkke, who appointed
Egil Olsen as manager. Olsen had taken the
Norwegian national team to the
World Cup tournaments of
1994 and
1998, and his new employers were hopeful that he could be a success at Wimbledon too. However, the transition proved to be the beginning of the end for the club.
Relegation from the Premiership
On the last day of 1999-2000 season, Wimbledon lost to
Southampton whilst their nearest rivals
Bradford achieved a surprise win over
Liverpool, meaning that the club were finally relegated from the top division of English football after 14 years. Olsen had been dismissed two games earlier, to be replaced by team coach
Terry Burton.
Terry Burton remained manager of Wimbledon for two seasons in Division One until he was controversially sacked at the end of
2001â€"2002 after the club had narrowly missed out on the promotion playoffs two seasons in a row. Notable players on the clubs' books during these years included former
Republic of Ireland captain
Kenny Cunningham, current West Ham Utd captain
Nigel Reo-Coker and current Watford midfielder
Damien Francis. After Burton's dismissal, goalkeeping coach
Stuart Murdoch took over as manager.
Move to Milton Keynes
Wimbledon's relatively low attendances, and the large number of rival clubs in London, had meant that Wimbledon could not enjoy the high gate receipts received by many other Premiership clubs. With the team homeless after the closure of
Plough Lane, throughout the
1990s the club's directors mooted the idea of moving away from London entirely to a more profitable location, much to the anger of the fans.
Dublin and
Cardiff were considered as potential new homes, before the directors settled on
Milton Keynes (which had a number of non League Football teams) as the best opportunity.
Such a move (over 70 miles) was unprecedented in English football. The club's fans saw the move as
sports franchising, a concept totally alien to English football; the traditional view of a football club is that it is an important part of the community and local fabric, rather than simply a business. Despite the ongoing and highly vehement opposition of the club's fans, and many other clubs' fans who held sympathetic views, on
May 28,
2002 the club was given permission by the
FA to relocate to Milton Keynes. The affair caused Wimbledon F.C to be nick-named perjoratively as "Franchise F.C."
Many of the club's fans, angered at the move and the removal of their team, founded their own club
AFC Wimbledon, in
2002. Despite having to start at the 8th level of the
football pyramid, AFC Wimbledon enjoys very sizeable support from former Wimbledon F.C. fans. The club currently plays in the
Isthmian League Premier Division, having already achieved two successive promotions in its short history.
2002-03 was Wimbledon F.C.'s last full season at Selhurst Park. With most fans having by now deserted the club in protest, the average attendance at Selhurst Park fell to fewer than 3,000. Murdoch's team still managed to secure 10th place in Division One, the strike partnership of
Neil Shipperley and
David Connolly managed a total of almost 50 goals between them. After further delays, they began playing in Milton Keynes early in the following season.
2003-04 was a disastrous season for Wimbledon. After the move to Milton Keynes, attendances improved only marginally. But nothing could disguise poor league form which saw the club relegated in bottom place after 33 defeats - the joint second record for the most league defeats in English football history. Only Doncaster (34 defeats) have lost more games in a league season (when they were relegated to the Conference in 1998).
After the end of the season, Wimbledon F.C finally cut all existing ties to their home town and were renamed Milton Keynes Dons.
For the club's subsequent history, please see Milton Keynes Dons F.C.. For continuing football in Wimbledon, see AFC Wimbledon.*
FA Cup** Winners: 1987-88
*
F.A. Premier League** Best season 6th: 1993-94
*
Football League** First Division best season 6th: 1986-87
** Third Division Runners-up: 1983-84
** Fourth Division Champions: 1982-83
*
Football League Cup** Semi-finals: 1996-97, 1998-99
*
F.A. Amateur Cup** Winners: 1962-63
** Runners-up: 1934-35, 1946-47
*
Southern League** Premier Division Champions: 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77
** Premier Division Runners-up: 1967-68
** First Division Runners-up: 1964-65
*
Southern League Cup** Winners: 1969-70, 1975-76
*
Isthmian League** Champions: 1930-31, 1931-32, 1934-35, 1935-36, 1958-59, 1961-62, 1962-63, 1963-64
*
Athenian League** Runners-up: 1920-21
*
London Senior Cup** Winners: 1930-31, 1933-34, 1961-62, 1974-75, 1976-77
*
Plough Lane (
1912-
1991)
*
Selhurst Park (
1991-
2003)
*
National Hockey Stadium (
2003-
2004)
*
Allen Batsford (1977-78) - Wimbledon's first manager in the Football League
*
Dario Gradi (1978-81) - Guided Wimbledon to their first promotion
*
Dave Bassett (1981-87) - Took Wimbledon into the First Division
*
Bobby Gould (1987-90) - Won the F.A Cup for Wimbledon
*
Ray Harford (1990-91) - Guided Wimbledon to seventh place in the league
*
Peter Withe (1991-92) - Secured Wimbledon's place in the new Premier League
*
Joe Kinnear (1992-99) - Took Wimbledon to Premiership finishes between 6th and 16th place as well as reaching both domestic cup semi finals in 1997
*
Egil Olsen (1999-2000) - Managed Wimbledon for most of their final Premiership season
*
Terry Burton (2000-2002) - Managed Wimbledon at the end of their final Premiership season and for the subsequent two Division One seasons
*
Stuart Murdoch (2002-2004) - Managed Wimbledon during their final two years under that name and their first few months as Milton Keynes Dons
*
Neal Ardley - Played as a midfielder during the 1990s and early 2000s as well as being capped by the England U-21 side
*
Warren Barton - Signed from Maidstone United in 1991 and became England's most expensive defender on his £4million move to Newcastle United in 1995
*
Carl Cort - Young striker who debuted for Wimbledon in 1997 and was later sold to Newcastle United
*
Kenny Cunningham - Signed from Millwall in 1994 and was also a regular Republic of Ireland international
*
Hermann Hreiðarsson*
Michael Hughes - Played for Wimbledon during their final two seasons as a Premiership club
*
Roger Joseph - Longstanding Wimbledon defender who also went on to play for
AFC Wimbledon*
Øyvind Leonhardsen - Was Wimbledon's first choice left winger from joining them from Rosenborg in 1994 until he was sold to Liverpool in 1997
*
Chris Perry - Talented defender who joined Tottenham in 1998
*
Neil Sullivan - Wimbledon's regular goalkeeper in their final four Premiership seasons
*
Hans Segers - Kept goal for Wimbledon between 1988 and 1996
*
Nigel Winterburn - Helped Wimbledon reach the First Division in 1986
*
John Scales - Helped Wimbledon beat Liverpool in the 1988 F.A Cup final and was transferred to Liverpool six years later
*
Ben Thatcher - £1.5million signing from Milwall who played for Wimbledon in their final four Premiership seasons
*
Keith Curle - Played for Wimbledon between 1988 and 1991
*
Terry Phelan - Left back in the 1988 F.A Cup triumph
*
Efan Ekoku - Nigerian striker signed from Norwich in 1994, remained with the club until 1999
*
Dave Beasant - Captain and goalkeeper in the 1988 F.A Cup triumph
*
Alan Cork - Wimbledon's record scorer with 145 goals between 1977 and 1992, also collected an F.A Cup winner's medal in 1988
*
Robbie Earle - Midfielder signed from Port Vale in 1991 who spent nearly a decade with the club before a ruptured panchreas ended his playing career
*
John Fashanu - Striker who played in the 1988 F.A Cup triumph and remained at Wimbledon until 1994
*
Marcus Gayle - Attacking midfielder who was on Wimbledon's books between 1994 and 2001
*
Vinnie Jones - Controversial, tough-tackling midfielder who had two spells with Wimbledon - during the first spell he was an F.A Cup winner
*
Lawrie Sanchez - Scored Wimbledon's winning goal in the 1988 F.A Cup final
*
Dennis Wise - Left-winger in Wimbledon's 1988 F.A Cup success
*
Eric Young - Centre-back in 1988 F.A Cup success
*
Nigel Reo-Coker- Midfielder who became a teenage captain at Wimbledon before moving to
West Ham United and becoming their captain
*
John Hartson - Welsh striker who cost a club of record £7.5 million from
West Ham United*
Meadowbank Thistle F.C., which moved out of
Edinburgh to
Livingston, to become
Livingston F.C.*
Relocation of professional sports teams*
Historical Dons site (by Dave Hambly)*
The Wimbledon Old Players Association
