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30/06/2002
Review Of The Month - As June draws to a close I thought it
would be a good time to have a look back on what has been a rollercoaster
month. From my point of view I was very close to giving up football
at the start of the month following the FA Decision but then after
talking to a few people I went along to Mitcham Carnival where the
plans for AFC Wimbledon were first announced to the public we had
a brilliant reaction to it and everyone was looking forward to the
Ryman AGM and an evening of celebration of 25 years of Wimbledon being
a league club on the 17th.
As we now know our hopes were dashed by a technicality of needing
95% of the vote, but the people of AFC Wimbledon were not prepared
to accept a no and Kris, Ivor, Trevor, Marc and a number of others
battled on looking for a league for us to play in. They found one
(The Combined Counties League) where the AGM would be a week later
this time we would only need 50.1% of the vote, but in the mean time
we had Wimbledon Village Fair and people were so interested in the
club.
Monday 24th June 2002 came and this time we got a yes and for 2002/03 we had a league to play in next up were the player trials on Saturday and what a day that was.I just want to say a huge thanks to everyone that has been involved in AFC Wimbledon I cant wait for July 10th and then bring on August 17th. |
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29/06/2002
Trials Report - Wow what a day lets start at the beginning.
Arranged to be met at Wimbledon at 9:15 by Dan and when I got to Wimbledon
Station also there was Sam and Mags so we all got a lift and thanks
to the brilliant signs found it no problem. Loads of helpers there
and a few players had already turned up even though it was 1.5 hours
before the start of the trials. We then realised we needed some water
for the players with an expected 300+ turning up this was a hell of
a lot of water so off me Dan and Clair went to Asda in search of water.
We got to Asda and picked up to trolleys and found the water section
we then loaded the trolleys with 26 packs of 4x2 liters of water so
quick math's shows that we had 208 liters off football we then also
thought we might need some ice we found the ice section which had
9 bags in we bought the lot :0) only problem was we were not sure
if we had a bin to put the bottles and ice in but ASDA didn't have
any so we had to do without. We loaded Dans car and then headed back
to base.
By the time we got back loads more people were in attendance and the
atmosphere was building. At about 11:15 the players were called together
and split into various groups based on positions of play. They started
off with group warm up exercises of just basic running and stretching
and then split into there groups. The training area was split into
two with the hedge as the divider. In one half it was basic ball skills
and the other was games. After a time they would swap round so that
they were assessed on both.
Then all of a sudden a very stranger moment as I was walking over
to get some registrations forms I saw David Barnard and a group of
people next to him chatting to someone else as I got closer I saw
it was Terry Burton!! He spoke to a number of the press people from
BBC London, ITV and SKY TV as well as Dons TV. It was such a great
moment and fans were just stunned that Terry was there.
After all the training was finished the players were called together
and the group of over 200 was reduced to about 50. Terry Eames thanked
all of the players for coming to the trials and congratulated the
ones who had made it to the next round. It was then a chance to grab
interviews with a few of the players that had made it through they
included A player from Finland who has come over for the next few
years who is 6 foot 5 and has blonde hair, Joe Sherrin who was on
Chelsea's books and came on as a sub for Zola when we played them
at the bridge in 97 he doesn't think he touched the ball in that game.
And the story of the day could go to Andy Auguste long story but had
a horrible journey down from Marlow with cars breaking down and arrived
late was told by someone just join a group but he didn't have any
trainers or socks so borrowed some and by the end of the day had made
it into the 2nd round (if anyone saw the BBC London report he was
the guy in the Lazio shirt.)
Today was a brilliant day and shows how fan the club has come over
the past month from the despair of 28th May 2002 to the joy of 29th
June 2002 what will 10th July 2002 be like :) |
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28/06/2002
Directions For Saturday - As mentioned the trials are at Wimbledon
Common extensions on Saturday 11:00-2:00 but people are needed from
09:30 if you are coming from town you need to head down the A3 past
Asda and then at the Robin Hood roundabout take the first exit so
the common is still on your left continue driving at a slow speed
past the houses and then there is a driveway that should be a signpost
on your left if you miss it you will need to go down to the roundabout
back up and try again. You can find a map of it by clicking here
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27/06/2002
Saturday's Trials - As you may be aware the trials are taking
place on Saturday for next seasons squad. A number of places have
been filled already and the word on the trialists are that they are
of a high standard so it not a case of turn up and bring you boots
as some people have suggested.
The trials start at 11:00 and are due to go on till about 2:00 but
people are needed to help from 9:30 onwards so if you can spare any
time drop an e-mail to AFC
Wimbledon. The trials will be done on Wimbledon Common Extensions
and full details of how to get there will be posted on Friday.
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26/06/2002
Sites And Sounds of Combined Counties League - OK no sounds
but why spoil a good headline :)
Here are a list of a few sites that you may find of use over the next few weeks and any more good ones I will list on the site: -
First up An
Unofficial Combined Counties Site - A good starting point, has uptodate fixtures, results, league tables and links for most of the clubs in the division.
For information on the various clubs in the division you could have
a look at Football
Mitoo
Soccerlinks.co.uk has a large non league section which can be found
here
If you wish to read the online version of the Non League Newspaper
you can here
Non League.net has loads on info and includes a dedicated AFC Wimbledon
forum click hereAs I said will add additional sites as we go along.
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25/06/2002
Combined Counties Premier Cup Draw - The fixtures will be out
in about two weeks, just after the Rymans League announce there's
as three CCL clubs groundshare at Ryman Grounds. But the first cup
draw has been made this year we cant enter either the FA Cup, FA Vase
or the FA Trophy but a number of other contests can be entered like
the London Senior Cup and the Combined Counties Premier Cup and in
this the first two rounds have been drawn we got the following fixtures:-
Round 1 - Walton Casuals Vs AFC Wimbledon
Round 2 - Walton Casuals or AFC Wimbledon Vs Reading Town or Southall
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25/06/2002
Dawn Of A New Era - So this morning a lot of people found out that we had been elected to the Combined Counties League and then thought but who are we playing? What websites are out there? How Do I get there? Well over the next few days I will try and answer a lot of these questions, first up who we will be playing against.
This season (2002/03) 1 team was relegated and three promoted (obviously
we were one but the other two promoted were Frimley Green and North
Greenford United the team relegated was the famous Cranleigh who apparently
finished bottom the last 4 years in a row and conceded 180 goals last
year. The full list of teams are: -
AFC Wallingford, Ash United, Bedfont, Chessington & Hook, Chessington United, Chipstead, Cobham, Cove, Farnham Town, Feltham, Frimley Green, Godalming & Guildford, Hartley Wintney, Merstham, North Greenford United, Raynes Park Vale, Reading Town, Sandhurst Town, Southall, Viking Greenford, Walton Casual,s Westfield, Withdean 2000 |
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24/06/2002
Another Friendly- Wednesday 17th July 2002 Bromley Away
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24/06/2002
The Man From Combined Counties He Say Yes :) - At at 21:50 tonight W&WW guestbook went mental with the words YES then it was confirmed by Kris Stewart to Lawrence that the Combined Counties League had accepted us for the 2002/03 season and the season starts on the 17th August 2002.The fixture list is due out round about the 10th July 2002 (same day as Sutton game)
Can I just say a huge thanks to everyone connected with AFC Wimbledon
Kris Stewart and Ivor Heller, Marc Jones, Terry Eames and loads of
other people behind the scenes this time last week a lot of people
were going to give up on football now just bring it on.
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24/06/2002
It's Monday Night Must Be An AGM - Tonight's AGM is at the
Combined Counties League and fingers crossed will see us elected to
this league. After the reorganization of the Rymans League The Combined
Counties League (CCL) is at the same level as Rymans 2nd Division.
As soon as I know the result I will do an update. |
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23/06/2002
Pre Season Games - AFC Wimbledon have announced there pre season games for the 2002/03 season and the details are as follows: -Wednesday 10th July 2002
Vs Sutton United at Gander Green Lane 7:30pm
Saturday 13th July 2002
Vs Dulwich Hamlet at Champion Hill 3:00pm
Saturday 20th July 2002
Vs Borehamwood at Meadow Park 3:00pm
Monday 12th August 2002
Vs Enfield Town at Cheshunt FC 7:45pm
I will provide more information and travel information on these nearer
the time. |
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23/06/2002
Wimbledon Village Fair - Yesterday (Saturday) was Wimbledon
Village Fair and the Dons Trust had two stalls there. It was a brilliant
day where we even got sun burnt!! The number of people that came to
the stall and were aware of AFC Wimbledon was incredible a raffle
was held and £500 was raised as well as loads of other money from
new members donations and the new car stickers that will be all over
South London and elsewhere from now. |
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18/06/2002
So What Now? - After the disappointment of the rejection of
The Rymans league last night came the surprise news that there may
be a route into the Combined Counties League. Before we can be accepted
into the league we will yet again need to go through another Annual
General Meeting. The Combined Counties Annual General Meeting takes
place on Monday 24th June 2002 (next Monday).
We still don't know who the 11 clubs that voted no are and there has
been a lot of speculation that it included both Tooting and Mitcham
and Sutton United although sources from atleast one of the clubs and
representatives of AFC Wimbledon believe that both voted for us to
be elected.
The story about the champions being promoted direct to the regionalised
Division one of the Rymans has been cleared up a bit. There is no
"direct" promotion and the champions of the 3 feeder leagues are put
forward to the Rymans AGM for two available places. Part of the criteria
for being promoted would be based on ground standard and with Kingsmeaddow
being of conference standard should see us past that test.
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18/06/2002
A Night Of Mixed Emotions - I am writing this at 00:40 in the morning so it may read a bit strange but here goes.
Last night several hundred dons fans conversed on the Fox and Grapes
pub on Wimbledon Common. The Fox and Grapes is the famous pub where
Wimbledon Old Centrals changed before playing there games. The gathering
was for two reasons 1) to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Wimbledon
being elected to the league 2) To await the verdict of the Rymans
League on our election to Division 2.
We knew it was going to be a while before we knew the outcome so people milled about drinking and chatting and a few interviews being done for the media.All of a sudden a rush was made as an announcement was made and the shock news that we have not been elected to the league, all we knew was that we hadn't picked up enough votes. The atmosphere was stunned and people just couldn't believe that yet again a decision had gone against us. Loads of interviews were done with the likes of Terry Eames and members of The Dons Trust and WISA spokespeople, but we still didn't know why.
At about 10:15 Ivor and Kris arrived back from the meeting and spoke
to everyone they were completely done in but vowed not to give up
the fight, this was greeted by huge cheers.
Then at the request of the local residents the pub shut at 10:30 so we moved on to the Hand In Hand. The mood was anger and questions being asked about why and how this had happened.
Then the evening turned Marc Jones arrived from the Fox and Grapes
and said there had been a development and this is where it gets complicated.
Marc explained that Ivor had just had a call from The Rymans league
who explained the situation to him. Under the Rymans constitution
any team who applies to them must give 21 days notice, if they don't
they must get 95% of all votes to get elected. This meant that out
of 88 votes we had a margin of 4 to get elected which would be very
tough. One story going round was that we had 66 Votes for and 11 Votes
against the other 11 were either abstentions or unable to vote. The
important news is that we have been invited to apply for The Courage
Combined Counties League and if we win that we would be promoted to
Rymans League Division One South which would be the same as if we
won Division Two next season.
As expected the news totally changed the atmosphere with an air of
excitement and anticipation of the new season.
We still need to be accepted by the Combined Counties league but the
word is that we would be in with a really good shout. Ivor explained
that had they known the election rules they more than likely would
have applied direct to the Combined Counties League.
I will do a further update in the morning but for now I'm done. |
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16/06/2002
Monday Evening - Monday is the 25th anniversary of Wimbledon
being elected to the league and it could also be the day that AFC
Wimbledon is elected to the Rymans League. To celebrate the first
occasion and hopefully the second as well a number of supporters and
ex players will be having an evening get together at the Fox and Grapes
pub on Wimbledon Common. If you need to find directions to the Fox
and Grapes pub click
here and you will see it in the top left hand corner. People will be there from about 7:30pm and it would be great to see everyone there, we never know if the weather is nice it might even involve a game of footy on the common as well. |
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14/06/2002
AFC Wimbledon - 2002/03 Kits - There are three kits for next
season due to the fact that some clubs may play in a mixture of the
Home and Away Kit and they are as follows: -
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14/06/2002
AFC Wimbledon - Badge - Last night the badge was unveiled for
AFC Wimbledon as with the kits it has been designed by Marc Jones
of weird
and wonderful world.com
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14/06/2002
AFC Wimbledon - The First Few Steps - Tonight there was a Dons
Trust SGM where a number of details of the possible formation of AFC
Wimbledon were disclosed. To be accepted by the Rymans League a number
of points had to be cleared 1) A Limited Company be formed 2) Registered
with the London FA 3) Financial backing in place 4) Ground to play
at 5) Football Committee in place 6) Playing Kit ready.
The meeting at The Rymans league is on Monday the 25th anniversary of Wimbledon being elected to the league and tonight all these points were answered. With the answers as follows: -1) A limited company in the name of AFC Wimbledon has been formed.
2) On Wednesday we were accepted as a senior side into the London FA
3) The Dons Trust had hoped to raise £20,000 over the past 2 weeks
to show that we had backing this figure has been reached and passed
by an additional £50,000 yes we have over £70,000 with money coming
in from all over the world
4) Tonight it was announced that a ground share agreement had been
signed at Kingsmeadow the home of Kingstonians Football Club, this
ground has League grading so should see us OK with the Rymans League
5) A Football Committee has been put in place with the 2002/03 Manager
of AFC Wimbledon being Terry Eames. Terry used to play for Wimbledon
and has been a big supporter of The Dons Trust he spoke to the meeting
and said he had 20 players ready to sign up and had been contacted
by loads of people some ex youth players some ex league players.
6) The playing kit was unveiled and a quick description although I
most probably wont do it justice is Home Kit Blue with Yellow Trim
Away Yellow with Blue Trim and 3rd Kit is White with Blue trim.
The final step is the meeting on Monday the procedure is that AFC Wimbledon do a presentation in the afternoon and then they decide if it should go to the full AGM in the evening when a vote will be held on election or not.
The meeting was packed with Dons Fans figures seemed to be in the
region of 700 people. The strangest part of the night was when a guest
asked to speak and said "I have an interest in this as I am the owner
of Milton Keynes City Football Club and I live in Mitcham, South London."
He spoke about the problems that would be faced but wished everyone
well. A number of TV crews were there including Sky TV.
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08/06/2002
Mitcham Carnival - Today sees Mitcham Carnival take place and
The Dons Trust has a float in the parade. It starts at about 12:00
from Figgs Marsh where they parade will go on to Three Kings Piece.
To get to Mitcham you can get a bus from Tooting Broadway numbers
44, 264, 270 or 280 or if you get a train from Wimbledon to Tooting
come out of the station and turn left it's a bit of a walk but the
first bit of green is Figgs Marsh and then you get to Mitcham. Lets
hope it's a good day for all. |
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05/06/2002
The Dons Trust And Request Regarding "AFC Wimbledon" - I have received the following request via The Dons TrustDONS TRUST STATEMENT ISSUED 11.30PM 31/05/2002
The Dons Trust has been approached by a group of members, acting as individuals who wish to secure the future of senior football in Merton and the surrounding area. They have requested that The Trust manage a fund of monies to enable the creation of a football club to continue the tradition of Wimbledon Football Club, in the community from which it originated. If the funds are raised, the intention is for the club to be playing as "AFC Wimbledon" in the Rymans League Division 2 in the season 2002-3. The group has also informed us that, subject to membership approval, they want the club to be controlled by the Dons Trust.
The establishment of a club for the forthcoming season requires that AFC Wimbledon have a ground-sharing agreement at a suitable stadium in Merton or the surrounding area by June 12th. To achieve this a minimum of £20,000 is needed before that date to pay for the rental of the stadium. Several locations have been identified, but details cannot be disclosed until an agreement has been made.
Whilst the Dons Trust Board is generally supportive of the arguments behind this proposal, and agrees that it comes within the terms of the Trust Constitution objective of "2 iii) To provide and maintain facilities for the enjoyment of professional football", it has decided that it cannot commit to spending any of the Trusts funds on this venture without first consulting the membership. To that effect a Special General Meeting has been called on Thursday 13th June 2002, 7.30pm Wimbledon Community Centre, St.George's Road, Wimbledon. Further details of the meeting and the proposals will be distributed to all members in the next few days.
In the meantime, the Board is prepared to work with the group to provide a facility for the collection of any monies towards their goal. This will be held as a separate fund within the Dons Trust bank account and will be used by the group, which will constitute as a Limited Company, for the purposes of securing admission to the Rymans League.
The fund will be for both donations and advance season ticket bookings for AFC Wimbledon home matches in season 2002-3.
We are asking for £200 for an Advance against a Season Ticket for
AFC Wimbledon so that the £20,000 can be raised by the deadline, however
we will accept smaller amounts in increments of £50/£100/£150. Donations
or season ticket bookings should be sent together with the details
listed below (this is important because we need to keep a record and
reply to you) a Cheque, payable to "The Dons Trust" to the following
address:
Ron Trayhorn.
Treasurer,
The Dons Trust
37 Albemarle Gardens
New Malden
Surrey
KT3 5BB
Details to include:
Name and address (essential!)
Amount donated £
Amount for seasonticket deposit £
Name or names of all individuals covered
DOB for under 16âs
Address
Phone numbers
E-mail
DT membership number (if applicable ö on the reverse of your founder member badge)
If you require further details about this or any other matter regarding
the Dons Trust, please e-mail info@thedonstrust.org Any assistance
you can offer the Trust, please indicate specific skills/availability
over the next 4-6 weeks , or e-mail volunteers@thedonstrust.org
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