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Let the building begin! Work starts on Wimbledon's Plough Lane return

Coming home: AFC Wimbledon’s return to Plough Lane is the feel-good story that football needs
Coming home: AFC Wimbledon’s return to Plough Lane is the feel-good story that football needs

A little bit of history was created this morning in south west London as AFC Wimbledon’s return to SW19 officially begun.

Football has not been played in the town since the Premier League Dons were turfed out of Plough Lane in 1991 and their home eventually bulldozed to make way for flats. Good things come to those who wait.

A lot has happened since, with Wimbledon FC carted off to Milton Keynes and totally rebranded while their fans – spurred on by that injustice – worked tirelessly to not only to create a new club and keep the name alive, but to power it through the divisions.

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Though one thing was missing as they did just what the originals did, bound their way up through Non-League football against all odds.

Having been told since the early 90s that there was just no way football would be played again in a town which seemingly only had room for tennis, the final middle finger to those who told them to give up was raised last year.

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On Friday morning, the first exciting step to was taken to create the New Plough Lane – just yards from the site where the Crazy Gang so famously ran amok, taking no prisoners as the Dons went from the Southern League to FA Cup winners.

The good old days: Arsenal visited Wimbledon’s Plough Lane back in 1988 – the year the Dons won the FA Cup
The good old days: Arsenal visited Wimbledon’s Plough Lane back in 1988 – the year the Dons won the FA Cup

The first crane entered the site and construction work on the stadium is expected to start as soon as site clearance is finished.

AFC Wimbledon could be home by the start of the 2019-20 season, just under 30 years since Vinnie Jones, John Fashanu and Lawrie Sanchez were kicking lumps out of anyone who dared enter.

The modern day Dons, with survival in mind in League One following six promotions since their 2002 rebirth, are a little more classy than their suit-burning forefathers, naturally.

Their manager, Neal Ardley, was part of the Wimbledon squad which were dragged from Plough Lane to Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park in the early 90s.

A teenager then, he remembers the old place well. “I will never forget the hot water always being turned off and the toilet paper being removed from the away dressing room!” he told us.

Biggest victory: Last year’s win over bitter rivals Milton Keynes was cheered all over, but Plough Lane is their greatest success
Biggest victory: Last year’s win over bitter rivals Milton Keynes was cheered all over, but Plough Lane is their greatest success

“I’m not sure we would be able get away with that these days, but it will be so wonderful for Wimbledon to be back to where it really belongs. The club has taken huge steps forward.”

One of the heavyweights behind the return is chief executive Erik Samuelson. He said: “As a community-owned club we are delighted to be returning to our spiritual home in Plough Lane.

“In addition to bringing League football back to Wimbledon the new stadium will form a base from which to expand our award-winning community work.

“Ever since we were reformed in 2002 we’ve been nurturing a dream of returning to a stadium of our own, back in Wimbledon. Today is the start of turning that dream into reality. We are on our way!”