AFC Wimbledon head to Newcastle in buoyant mood despite sinkhole saga

All the discussion about AFC Wimbledon in recent weeks has been focused on the pitch – not performances but the gaping hole in one corner caused by flooding. Crowdfunding efforts in the aftermath were paused after raising a little more than £120,000, but match postponements could not have come at a worse time after the team’s promising start to the season.

Wimbledon sit sixth in League Two despite playing two games fewer than everyone above them owing to the sinkhole at the Cherry Red Records Stadium. They have won four of their opening six matches, and throw in knocking out Premier League Ipswich as part of their run to the third round of the Carabao Cup, they have little to fear going into their rearranged tie at Newcastle on Tuesday.

Wimbledon have maintained a fan ownership model since being founded in 2002, when the original club were dragged to Milton Keynes. Few at a similar level can claim such continuity. Wimbledon fully understand the highs and lows involved, the pressure put on those ensuring there are funds to keep a fourth-tier operation running, let alone progressing. It took a toll on many to get the club back to their historic home at Plough Lane as raising the required cash proved hard work. It has been worth the toil, even if all concerned have been let down by the soil.

This is the latest in a long list of fires that needed putting out, and those at Wimbledon are adept at doing just that. From restarting at the bottom of the pyramid to raising £9.8m in bonds from fans to completing the move back to Wimbledon, to dealing with the pandemic, the club have required plenty of quick thinking to solve problems that might have seemed insurmountable for some. The money raised in the past week – including £15,000 from their opponents on Tuesday, Newcastle – will go towards covering costs. The club are still awaiting the flood damage to be fully assessed in order to find out the impact and whether rectifying it will be a quick fix or not.

Wimbledon’s long-term future is in safe hands under the head of football operations, Craig Cope. Johnnie Jackson has been manager for more than two years, overseeing a 21st- and 10th-place finish. Other clubs might not have been so patient but, given time, the former Charlton midfielder has made steady progress. The recruitment and academy operations are helping bring in money, with three players leaving for north of £1m in recent seasons. The most lucrative sale was that of the midfielder Jack Rudoni, who started in the club’s academy and was sold to Huddersfield for £1.75m in 2022, a transfer boosted by a 20% sell-on clause when Rudoni moved to Coventry this summer for £5m.

Beneath the first team, the academy is producing a number of assets. The goalkeeper, Spike Brits, was sold to Manchester City, Leo Castledine to Chelsea and Justin Clarke to Everton. The club reached the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup last season, beating Blackburn on the way, before losing 1-0 at Sheffield United. There is consistent talent production beyond what most League Two clubs are achieving.

There is a strong community spirit at Wimbledon, too. They have two charitable arms, the AFC Wimbledon Foundation and the Dons Local Action Group, the former doing football-focused work, while the latter began during Covid, helping to provide meals to locals. Have the charitable endeavours and Wimbledon’s backstory inspired fans hoping for a better course for their own club? “Absolutely,” says Graham Stacey, who created the sinkhole fundraiser, “and the messages we’ve been getting have been awe-inspiring from teams, or fans of teams across the country. There are around 120 other clubs, or fans of other clubs, who donated.

“I’ve been overwhelmed at the support and the supportive messages that people have left, and reading them is just as gratifying as seeing the donations come in. It’s been fantastic, inspiring.”

With Plough Lane unable to host Newcastle last week, Wimbledon must now travel to St James’ Park, a bittersweet moment as they would have preferred to bring Eddie Howe’s expensively-assembled side to south-west London. Instead they get to visit one of the country’s most historic grounds and play in front of 52,000 spectators. Wimbledon have the sixth-highest average attendance in the fourth tier, with nearly 8,000 watching them defeat their most bitter rivals, MK Dons, two weeks ago.

Those figures help make the club sustainable, born out of a committed group of fans who did not want to see football in Wimbledon die. Discussions are ongoing about whether external investment should be accepted, because it would complicate the ownership model. It is another of the many tough decisions needing to be made at Wimbledon.

“It’s an amazing achievement, but what we sometimes forget is that in terms of the history of football clubs, we’re almost a baby,” says Stacey, who was previously on the Dons Trust board, of the fan-ownership model. “I think there’s a lot more to come. In 20 years, we started back at the bottom, we were promoted within nine years back into the Football League, we were promoted into League One, we built a £32m stadium in Wimbledon, and we’re showing what things can be done.”

A little hole in the pitch is not to be worried about. As Stacey says: “We’re Wimbledon and we smash through these things.”