WOMBLES NO LONGER WOMBLING FREE

The Wombles are back in town, at last planning to return to their spiritual home, Plough Lane. The club has been on the move since leaving Plough Lane in 1991. Wimbledon Football Club has had many names too.

Founded in 1889 as the Old Centrals, a group of local schoolboys, they played on Wimbledon Common until finding a permanent ground at Plough Lane. They joined the Athenian League in 1919 and later the Isthmian League in 1921-2. The club had much success after the war including victories in the FA Amateur Cup, beating Sutton United in 1963, after their prolific scorer, Eddie Reynolds, scored all four goals with his head, a feat never done before or since at Wembley. The 4-2 win made Wimbledon one of only two clubs to win both the Amateur and FA Cup after their astonishing humbling of Liverpool in 1988. The other club is the Old Carthusians. (The Royal Engineers also lay claim to the double, but this was achieved under two different names).

Another remarkable FA Cup run in the club's history took place in 1974-5. Having fought through the qualifying rounds, they had beaten Burnley in the 3rd Round, becoming the only non-league club to beat a "top flight" club in the 20th century. Their run of success ended in the Fourth Round proper, with a defeat by then mighty Leeds United, having held them to a draw in the first game.

In 1977-8 Wimbledon were elected to the Football League, taking the place of Workington FC. In the next nine years the club rose to the First Division (1985-6). Known as the "Crazy Gang", the club acquired a reputation for eccentric behaviour on their way to success.

The Taylor Report (in 1991) forced the club to leave their home ground and share with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. They were relegated from the Premier League in 2000, the MK Dons saga began which encouraged the true Wombles' supporters to form their own club, AFC Wimbledon, which started its new life in the Combined Counties League. Training took place on local park pitches and a trial for players attracted over 200 hopefuls.

Their first match, a pre-season friendly, against Sutton United drew a crowd of over 4,500, a following that has never dwindled.

Merton Council has just granted planning permission to develop the old Plough Lane site into an 11,000 stadium with a view to increasing capacity to 20,000. Presently playing at Kingsmeadow in Kingston, AFC Wimbledon is ground sharing with Kingstonian FC and intend to offer a share to them when they get their new stadium..