This afternoon, having lost track of what day of the week it was, I was disturbed to hear that it was Saturday and that the AFC Wimbledon crowd was cheering on their team in a EFL Division One match against Bradford City, a few hundred yards away. I could have gone?
City lie 4th in the table and Wimbledon second from bottom, so the eventual 2-1 victory for The Dons came as a great Christmas present to their loyal fans.
The two clubs have met previously seven times, once in the cup and the rest in the league; Wimbledon winning three times and the Bantams 4. Games between the two only began in 2011, so there is not much of a history.
On Boxing Day the Wombles take on Pompey at Fratton Park in what can only be known as the A3 derby. Portsmouth today were beaten 0-2 by high flying Shrewsbury.
AFC Wimbledon has recently gained planning permission to develop a new stadium at the Wimbledon greyhound stadium. This is close to the club's original home ground at Plough Lane, Wimbledon's ground from 1912 till 1991. I had played their a few times in what was the London Floodlight League, a midweek competition for clubs in the South London region that had lights; not many did in those days.
The other issue arose when Wimbledon hosted MK Dons at Kingsmeadow in September in the league. Wimbledon refused to include the opponents name on the programme and only referred to their opponents as MK on their scoreboard. The Wimbledon club believes that named "Dons" belongs to their history.
Bad blood has existed between the two since 2002 when MK Dons was formed by the original Wimbledon owners, as they moved to Milton Keynes to establish a new club. AFC Wimbledon reformed with locals and supporters from the lowest rung of the Pyramid in the Combined Counties League, playing teams such as Godalming Town. They then remarkably rose through the Isthmian (Div One and Premier), Conference (South and Premier) and then the Football League. And as they say, that is history.
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