When many fans think of football (soccer) in England, typically the Premier League and its 20 clubs come to mind. In fact, there are over 1800 football clubs at numerous levels in England. For fans of Welcome to Wrexham, it has been discussed how confusing it is. For the unfamiliar, here is a quick primer:
· 5th Level – The National League consisting of 24 clubs
· 4th Level – EFL League Two consisting of 24 clubs
· 3rd Level – EFL League One consisting of 24 clubs
· 2nd Level – EFL Championship consisting of 24 clubs
· Top Level – Premier League
Additionally, there are multiple other levels with regional teams all fighting to break through to the sport’s top levels. Teams move up through promotion or down through relegation on a seasonal basis. This does not occur for any sports in the states, but imagine the Chicago White Sox becoming a AAA team next year. That is English football in a nutshell.
On a recent trip to England, the family and I were scheduled for a tour of Stamford Bridge, home of Chelsea FC of the Premier League. Prior to our scheduled tour, we received an email from the team letting us know they had to cancel the tour due to a game on the same day. Ah yes, one other thing I learned about English football…there are A LOT of different tournaments throughout the season (you Welcome to Wrexham fans also know this). So, our tour was bumped due to UEFA Conference League Qualifying.
Fortunately, we had another football tour scheduled. Full disclosure, I’m a recent football fan. I’d watch the U.S. teams compete in the Olympics but that was about it until a few years ago. I cannot recall why I started watching football, but I did and it stuck. I needed to pick a team of course. Not knowing much about football, I simply guessed. I’m a big fan of tennis. Wimbledon had a football team. That is the story. With that, we showed up for our tour of Cherry Red Records Stadium, home of AFC Wimbledon. For those keeping score at home, AFC Wimbledon currently plays in League Two.
Our tour consisted of a small group of about 10-12 folks and our tour guide has been a Wimbledon season ticket holder for upwards of 30 years. He began with asking us how much he needed to speak about the team who should not be mentioned. I knew very little about this, but here is the incredibly short version as I’ve since found out.
Wimbledon Football Club was formed in 1889. The team was called The Dons, The Wombles, and even The Crazy Gang for a short time. Over time, the team rose through the ranks, reaching the First Division (this is prior to the formation of the Premier League) in 1986. The team was relegated in 2000 and in 2001, the club announced it was moving to Milton Keynes. This incredibly unpopular decision led to supporters forming AFC Wimbledon. To further muddy the waters between the two teams, the new Milton Keynes team also has the name, The Dons. From the outside looking in, there are clearly a lot of hard feelings these 20+ years later.
So, back to the tour. Cherry Red Records Stadium, which opened in 2020, has a capacity of 9,215. The stadium is a charming place that seems like it would provide a great atmosphere for matches. The tour began with a visit to the stadium suites that are largely like suites in any other stadium and provided a great view of the pitch.
Next stop was the locker rooms. There was very little difference between the home and visitors locker rooms and the tour guide pointed out that many teams say this is the best visitor’s locker room in League Two. Both locker rooms lead into an area that has the entrance to the pitch.
This being the first professional football pitch I’ve ever been on (or right next to anyway, we didn’t step inside the lines) I have nothing to compare it to. Suffice to say that with a stadium full of fans, I can imagine it would be an amazing experience to play a match here. For the fans, there appeared to be no bad seats anywhere in the stadium.
We next visited the south stands. The south stands are for the most hardcore of AFC Wimbledon fans and the section includes a safe standing area. In between the rows are sturdy metal rails making it near impossible to fall forward. This became a requirement after an incident is 1989 in which ninety-seven Liverpool fans died after a crush of fans during an FA Cup match.
As we headed into the concourse, it was impossible to miss some rusty blue metal gates. The gates were from the original Plough Lane, former home of Wimbledon. When Plough Lane closed, someone spray painted “Womble Til I Die” on the gate. The gate sat in a metal scrap yard for many years, and someone tried to clean up the yellow spray paint. The team was able to restore the gate to some extent and it recently became a permanent fixture inside the concourse.
The final stop was the museum. The museum is a small room within the team shop. There is a lot of team history crammed into the small room and it is well worth taking the time to look around. One of the featured displays is the greatest performance in the history of the club, the 1988 FA Cup. In 1988 Wimbledon played Liverpool in the final. Called one of, if not the biggest upset in the history of the FA Cup, Wimbledon won 1-0 on a goal by Lawrie Sanchez in a match played in front of almost 100,000 fans at Wimbley Stadium. Hopefully as the team is able to do more around the grounds, there can be a larger area dedicated to all the historical items they have. Those items seem a bit compacted in such a small area.
The tour took about an hour and was well worth the cost of 15 pounds for adults and 5 for kids. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but very much enjoyed the tour guide’s stories about the club and some of the players that have passed through Wimbledon over the years. The team is very much tied to the community. In fact, ownership is a trust that involves all the members with a one-member, one-vote system. Unfortunately, the team wasn’t home for a match while we were in London, but given how much I enjoyed the tour and the story behind the team, I’ll be back for a match or two.
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