This lot certainly are having a go;-
https://www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/news/2020/may/latest-from-plough-lane/
Excellent news. So pleased for them going back to their roots.
Phenomenal. Surely one of the great stories of a club rising from the ashes of nothing left is AFC Wimbledon. Supporters whose determination refused to let their beloved club die. Good luck to them. :54:
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That is the new Plough Lane I imagine, when is it scheduled to open.
A great success , so pleased for the fans. Who is responsible for all of this, I would think they deserve more recognition, perhaps even a knighthood.
Good Luck to them must be brilliant for the fans returning.Not a large stadia by the looks but perfectly adequate I'm sue.
Their Chief Executive, Joe Palmer, has been one of the driving forces as he wants to take the fans back to their spiritual home. I believe the leasehold at Kingsmeadow is now owned by Chelsea as they purchased it in 2015 in order to use it for their women's and youth teams and to help AFC finance their new stadium.
Very pleased for them . The older fans who were at plough lane years back must be ecstatic.
That's all fine, but, with them back in the area, surely it poses a threat to our fanbase, no?
Not now, but, if they become a bit more successful, then they could nick a few of our fans, or even academy kids.
Rumour has it, Kahn bought that plot of land opposite Motspur, as Wimbledon we're sniffing around.
Anyway, fair play to them, they've come a long way back.
Quote from: Jimsbeerbelly on May 10, 2020, 05:39:51 PM
That's all fine, but, with them back in the area, surely it poses a threat to our fanbase, no?
Not now, but, if they become a bit more successful, then they could nick a few of our fans, or even academy kids.
Rumour has it, Kahn bought that plot of land opposite Motspur, as Wimbledon we're sniffing around.
Anyway, fair play to them, they've come a long way back.
I don't really think that AFC will pose a threat to our fan base. Chelsea being just down the road never swayed me!
Don't know why but I've always disliked MK Dons.
Quote from: Russianrob on May 10, 2020, 05:57:15 PM
Don't know why but I've always disliked MK Dons.
So have I. Always liked AFC though!
Quote from: Russianrob on May 10, 2020, 05:57:15 PM
Don't know why but I've always disliked MK Dons.
the majority of football fans do. What happened to Wimbledon was disgusting
Didn't AFC shaft Kingstonians though? Was never a lover of the old Wimbledon . A club moving back after 29 years away ,to an area where we've traditionally drawn fans from will obviously have an effect on future support.
Five football clubs in such a small area is too much
Not everyone can have Billionaire owners. The funding model for their initiative, involving a bond where hundreds of people are chipping in, is quite remarkable. There are some really pragmatic and well-intentioned football people behind what's happening there and I wish them all the best.
"What happened to Wimbledon was disgusting"
Totally agree. Imagine if we'd been sold and set up as MK Cottagers. I would like to think we'd have done exactly what the true AFC supporters have done but unlike them we'd never have been back home - the ground would have been flats within a couple of years.
Quote from: Oakeshott on May 10, 2020, 08:19:09 PM
"What happened to Wimbledon was disgusting"
Totally agree. Imagine if we'd been sold and set up as MK Cottagers. I would like to think we'd have done exactly what the true AFC supporters have done but unlike them we'd never have been back home - the ground would have been flats within a couple of years.
The Old Plough Lane is Blocks of Flats
"The Old Plough Lane is Blocks of Flats"
Indeed. But they have got moderately close. I doubt we'd have been allowed to play on Bishops Park, and I am not sure whether there is anywhere else in Fulham. Maybe something towards Acton might have been, indeed still would be, possible but it would be far less a second Cottage than what AFC are achieving is a second PL.
Quote from: HillingdonFFC on May 10, 2020, 07:28:32 PM
Didn't AFC shaft Kingstonians though? Was never a lover of the old Wimbledon . A club moving back after 29 years away ,to an area where we've traditionally drawn fans from will obviously have an effect on future support.
Five football clubs in such a small area is too much
Fulham, QPR, Brentford, AFC and Chelsea. Yes see what you mean, best that the team at the other end of the Fulham Road pack their bags and close shop.
Delighted to see this. The first football matches I attended were at Plough Lane ( Wimbledon in the Isthmian league). Then.in my teens I went for something bigger and landed At Fulham in 1962.
Quote from: HillingdonFFC on May 10, 2020, 07:28:32 PM
Didn't AFC shaft Kingstonians though?
In short no. Wimbledon set up the Kingsmeadow lease when they took it over so that Kingstonians would stay on rent free. Chelsea ladies, when they took over the lease, didn't want Kingstonians there. Kingstonians still couldn't afford to take on the lease even after all the years rent free or they'd still be there. The reason people think Wimbledon shafted Kingstonians is because they think AFC stole their ground. Truth is Wimbledon did everything they could within reason to help Kingstonians out. They got a lot more years there than the probably would've if another team or something else took over the lease when Wimbledon did.
Quote from: Fulham 442 on May 10, 2020, 05:18:31 PM
Their Chief Executive, Joe Palmer, has been one of the driving forces as he wants to take the fans back to their spiritual home. I believe the leasehold at Kingsmeadow is now owned by Chelsea as they purchased it in 2015 in order to use it for their women's and youth teams and to help AFC finance their new stadium.
Joe Palmer is a fairly new appointment. I would say Eric Samuelson was more instrumental before him. The fan funding initiative was pretty much driven purely by the fans and not so much Palmer. There was talk of needing to finally bite the bullet and sell the majority of the club to an "investor group." It was shut down pretty hard by the fans who stepped up with multiple crowd funding efforts and then with the bond scheme. The ground is going to be 1 permanent stand and 3 temp stands to begin with. You can see the flats on the old plough lane site from the new ground.
Quote from: Jimsbeerbelly on May 10, 2020, 05:39:51 PM
That's all fine, but, with them back in the area, surely it poses a threat to our fanbase, no?
Maybe retrospectively. As a Wandsworth boy looking for a club to support in the early 1960s, I would have chosen Wimbledon if they had been a fully professional club (instead of Southern League). The 'glamour' of the 1st division seduced me away from the lowly Dons. Oh, how fickle we fans are...
Quote from: Carborundum on May 10, 2020, 07:47:38 PM
Not everyone can have Billionaire owners. The funding model for their initiative, involving a bond where hundreds of people are chipping in, is quite remarkable. There are some really pragmatic and well-intentioned football people behind what's happening there and I wish them all the best.
Looking at the pictures of the stand it looks like there will be a lot of space above and beyond the seats for non match day commercial money making facilities which you would think would be a large part of their business plan.
For this to work good transport links and adequate parking need to be available.
It will be 9000 capacity so twice the capacity of Kingsmeadow. In the current ground the seating is sold out to season ticket holders and there's not much available on the day.
As for them pinching our support, won't Charlton and Crystal Palace have more to fear? Merton is on the other side of London.
Quote from: domprague on May 24, 2020, 02:43:13 PM
It will be 9000 capacity so twice the capacity of Kingsmeadow. In the current ground the seating is sold out to season ticket holders and there's not much available on the day.
As for them pinching our support, won't Charlton and Crystal Palace have more to fear? Merton is on the other side of London.
Blimey I hope you don't mind me saying this but please do not get a job as a Black Cab Driver, have you ever lived in London or visited long enough to read a Street map. Merton is not on the other side of London, and Wimbledons new ground is even nearer to Fulham than Merton even though it is in the borough of Merton.
Approx distance between Fulham and Merton 4 and a half miles.
Approx distance between Charlton and Merton 12/13 Miles.
Approx distance between Crystal Palace and Merton 5 and a half miles.
Post code Fulham SW6
Post code Wimbledon/ Merton SW19.
Postcode Crystal Palace SE25
Postcode Charlton SE7
Blimey, my bad as I believe the young folk put it. I thought it was near the site of their old ground.
I see what everyone means now.
Quote from: Woolly Mammoth on May 24, 2020, 06:49:42 PM
Quote from: domprague on May 24, 2020, 02:43:13 PM
It will be 9000 capacity so twice the capacity of Kingsmeadow. In the current ground the seating is sold out to season ticket holders and there's not much available on the day.
As for them pinching our support, won't Charlton and Crystal Palace have more to fear? Merton is on the other side of London.
Blimey I hope you don't mind me saying this but please do not get a job as a Black Cab Driver, have you ever lived in London or visited long enough to read a Street map. Merton is not on the other side of London, and Wimbledons new ground is even nearer to Fulham than Merton even though it is in the borough of Merton.
Approx distance between Fulham and Merton 4 and a half miles.
Approx distance between Charlton and Merton 12/13 Miles.
Approx distance between Crystal Palace and Merton 5 and a half miles.
Post code Fulham SW6
Post code Wimbledon/ Merton SW19.
Postcode Crystal Palace SE25
Postcode Charlton SE7
Quote from: domprague on May 24, 2020, 07:31:09 PM
Blimey, my bad as I believe the young folk put it. I thought it was near the site of their old ground.
I see what everyone means now.
Quote from: Woolly Mammoth on May 24, 2020, 06:49:42 PM
Quote from: domprague on May 24, 2020, 02:43:13 PM
It will be 9000 capacity so twice the capacity of Kingsmeadow. In the current ground the seating is sold out to season ticket holders and there's not much available on the day.
As for them pinching our support, won't Charlton and Crystal Palace have more to fear? Merton is on the other side of London.
Blimey I hope you don't mind me saying this but please do not get a job as a Black Cab Driver, have you ever lived in London or visited long enough to read a Street map. Merton is not on the other side of London, and Wimbledons new ground is even nearer to Fulham than Merton even though it is in the borough of Merton.
Approx distance between Fulham and Merton 4 and a half miles.
Approx distance between Charlton and Merton 12/13 Miles.
Approx distance between Crystal Palace and Merton 5 and a half miles.
Post code Fulham SW6
Post code Wimbledon/ Merton SW19.
Postcode Crystal Palace SE25
Postcode Charlton SE7
Your right it is near the site of their old ground at plough lane, but the distances remain about the same.
I am a Black Cab Driver....and I've never heard of any of these places......I would say Tooting & Mitcham are going to suffer.... they'll also get support from Kingston & Wandsworth...
Quote from: H4usuallysitting on May 24, 2020, 08:17:21 PM
I am a Black Cab Driver....and I've never heard of any of these places......I would say Tooting & Mitcham are going to suffer.... they'll also get support from Kingston & Wandsworth...
Is Wandsworth closer to Plough Lane than it is to Stevenage Road ?
I think they will pick up fans who fancy seeing live football without becoming a club member or paying a fortune.
Quote from: Riversider on May 24, 2020, 08:28:10 PM
Quote from: H4usuallysitting on May 24, 2020, 08:17:21 PM
I am a Black Cab Driver....and I've never heard of any of these places......I would say Tooting & Mitcham are going to suffer.... they'll also get support from Kingston & Wandsworth...
Is Wandsworth closer to Plough Lane than it is to Stevenage Road ?
Some parts are & some parts are not. In any event the walk from Tooting Broadway or Wimbledon is a long one. Limited bus services from either direction too.
I always thought, though happy to be told otherwise was Wimbledon's demise started when gate receipts stopped being split as they relied on trips to Old Trafford, Liverpool etc to generate income to add to money from their pub & Nelson's night club. And with a lack of a decent home crowd upped sticks for MK.
I go past the new building site several times a week & when finished the ground will be surrounded by large blocks of flats. Be interesting to see if they can fill it.
London is never as the crow flies. I went to the old Plough Lane a couple of times from Hammersmith, once by car and once by public transport, and it took forever.
I would think that, if they were going to pinch from the West London teams they would have done so while in Kingston.
I also think that geography has little to do with who people support these days. That is, unless all the Man City shirts I see in South East England are from people who have popped down from Manchester for the day.
Not the easiest place to get to transport wise when it opens.Nothing to fear about them potentially stealing our fan base imo
Quote from: Riversider on May 24, 2020, 08:28:10 PM
Quote from: H4usuallysitting on May 24, 2020, 08:17:21 PM
I am a Black Cab Driver....and I've never heard of any of these places......I would say Tooting & Mitcham are going to suffer.... they'll also get support from Kingston & Wandsworth...
Is Wandsworth closer to Plough Lane than it is to Stevenage Road ?
As I said they'll get support from Wandsworth....from memory (did the knowledge, so long ago)... One side of Revelstoke Road is Wandsworth the other is Merton..... And Wandsworth is a very very big borough......It also appears AFC Wimbledon have been doing a great job with food parcels - with regard to support...if they're successful they'll fill it
Haydons Road Station will be the nearest.....does anyone remember having a night out at Nelson's....with the sticky carpet...and always a punch up about 10 minute's before it closed
Quote from: H4usuallysitting on May 25, 2020, 09:26:42 AM
Haydons Road Station will be the nearest.....does anyone remember having a night out at Nelson's....with the sticky carpet...and always a punch up about 10 minute's before it closed
You are correct Haydons Road is the nearest station but 2 trains an hour in the middle of winter wouldn't excite. I only went to Nelsons once, it was enough.
Quote from: H4usuallysitting on May 25, 2020, 09:26:42 AM
Haydons Road Station will be the nearest.....does anyone remember having a night out at Nelson's....with the sticky carpet...and always a punch up about 10 minute's before it closed
Been to Nelsons as a punter, and I also worked on the door there, often a punch up there, and on the odd occasions there was a player involved. Their crazy gang was just that crazy. I remember after Wally Downs retired as a professional and a couple years later I played against him in a Sunday Sportsman's League Match at the old KLG Ground which is now Asda. It ended 2 2, He was a very very competitive player took no prisoners, and very cute, the sort of bloke you would rather have on your side.
KLG was a nice ground....there was also a very nice ground at Manresa House..... I used to like a Friday night at Nelson's....and then a Saturday at Sinatra's Croydon..... Cheeky Pete's was another haunt & The Bird's-nest
I've been to Haydons Road a couple of times. The wait for a train was so long I thought it had been shut down after I arrived.
