If you fancy two free competitions with just the honour and bragging rights we have two competitions that as well as having a national/international competition you can also enter an AFC Wimbledon Supporters league.
First up is the straight forward Fantasy League where you pick any players who currently play in The FA Premier League and are involved in the world cup as long as you don't spend more than £100 million. The league season was great fun and if you took part you can use the same log in and password to set up your team. Once you have set up your team, go to the Leagues option on the right hand menu and enter the code 110747-21541
The second one is a BBC based competition with a team stock market over the next 6 weeks you can trade shares in each of the teams and based on popularity and media coverage the share price moves up and down, if you have played sportsdaq on the BBC you will know the drill once again it's good fun. You need to be a BBCi member and it's easy to sign up and join in click the link below to register and start trading.
Once you have registered e-mail me your membership number and I will add you to the league each group can have 30 people so we could have multiple groups.
Some really good feedback has come in all ready on the plans for next years Man Of The Match plans, some of the suggestions will be being put to the readers votes, so get ready to press your red button over the next few weeks as we vote out the ideas we don't like.
I am sure you have noticed the new major banner across the top of the front page and also the news page. These will appear for the next couple of weeks up until the World cup starts as they are promoting the summer world cup fund raiser, with only a few weeks to take part as well as accepting entries by cheque you can also pay the £5.00 cost by debit or credit card. Click the banner at the top of the page for all the details and try and win some money yourself.
The contest is open to anybody and everybody, as long as they pay the entrance fee so try and get people at work also signed up because the more people who join in will see a higher prize fund and more funds for the stadium fund.
Having a few spare weeks in between the end of this season, the world cup and then pre-season, I thought it would be a good time to have a look at doing a few things different next season. To start with I think the man of the match vote could do with a bit of a re-vamp, at the moment it uses a 3rd party programme that doesn't give us much flexibility, so I have come up with a new idea that I need to know your view's on.
The idea for the new season is that you get an opportunity to rate the players between 5 and 10 out of 10 and then also pick the star player of the game.
To make sure that I have things working at this end I have set up a test system and it would help if you could take part by clicking this link, if you have any comments or suggestions that you would like to make please drop me an e-mail at this address.
With the world cup just a few weeks away now don't forget that amazon has a whole host of books and items that can assist your enjoyment of the event. don't forget every item purchased after clicking any of the amazon links on this site results in commission being paid directly to the stadium fund so the club also benefit.
The result of the final Man Of The Match vote of the season, for the Surrey Senior Cup final was as follows: -
Anthony Howard 27 Votes 38.57%
Wayne Finnie 8 Votes 11.43%
Robert Ursell 8 Votes 11.43%
Tony Battersby 6 Votes 8.57%
Luke Garrard 4 Votes 5.71%
Andy Little 4 Votes 5.71%
Dave Sargent 4 Votes 5.71%
Paul Barnes 3 Votes 4.29%
Shane Smeltz 2 Votes 2.86%
Wes Daly 1 Votes 1.43%
Dwayne Plummer 1 Votes 1.43%
Michael Woolner 1 Votes 1.43%
Richard Butler 1 Votes 1.43%
I did warn last week when the new set-up for the 2006/07 season was announced that it might not be the final version well already it looks like we have our first change, so anybody who has booked for a weekend away on Canvey Island, it looks like you might have to change your plans.
It's reported that after Canvey were informed they were in the Ryman Premier League they asked that they be put into Division One, no news as to if this is due to costs or they didn't want to play against former owner's new side Chelmsford City we don't know but the good news is that in their place come Hendon.
Hendon still have to confirm where they will be playing next season but it wont be Claremont Road, lets hope it all gets sorted out quickly, and we look forward to visiting them next season.
Today at Kingsmeadow is the annual Family Fun day and so if you have nothing planned come down and it will be a great day showing the Community about our club.
The Funday starts at 11:00 and goes on to 16:00. One of warning the Athletics track has a meeting today and therefore the car park will be very busy.
The Man Of The Match Vote for Friday night's Surrey Senior Cup final defeat is now open please click below to cast your vote: -
Tonight we lost 1-0 in the surrey Senior Cup final and therefore ended up with no senior men's trophies for the season, but that's part of football and over the past couple of season we have been at the lucky end of the football spectrum. More information will be posted tomorrow.
We all know how impressive that stand looks at Woking when every seat is packed with yellow and blue and the noise that can be generated, well it's not only tonight that it is of benefit, last summer and during this season when Dave Anderson was talking to players he used it as another feature of the club, look at the support we can get. Having seen the reaction of people watching video clips was a simple Wow.
Tonight is our chance to show yet again the quality of our support.This season has been another great year so let get behind the team and show our thanks to each and everyone of them.
Tonight we have the last matchday updates of the season and so a big thanks to everyone who has tuned in during the season to catch up on the games, be it our own games, or the additional games I have done updates on. Last week the Fisher Vs AFC Wimbledon playoff game smashed all previous records and during the day around 120,000 requests were submitted for updates, a normal high profile game would get around 70,000 requests.
If you cant make the game tonight all the action will be updated as soon as it happens by the updates and you can follow the action by clicking the Matchday link at the top of the page.
Although we finished the season with a whole host of injuries but hopefully over thee last 10 days some of these may have cleared up with regards to eligible players we know of one player who is definitely out and two who could return to the squad.
Scott Curley started a four match ban period last Saturday, but unfortunatley although he is unable to play as the ban is from all competitive football but the surrey Senior cup doesn't count toward one of the games, and therefore he will miss the first four games of the 2006/07 season.
Whilst Scott starts a ban Shane Smeltz and Dwayne Plummer have completed their bans and therefore can return to the squad if picked.
Well the list of teams has been announced for next season, although things might change like they did last year, so until we see the full fixture list, don't be surprised if some changes are made. Listed below are the details of the clubs that have left the league, either promoted, relegated or shifted and also the new teams into the league.
| Leaving | Joining | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Going to | Team | Coming from |
| Braintree Town | Promoted Conference South | Ashford Town (Middx) | Promoted Southern League Western |
| Fisher Athletic | Promoted Conference South | Boreham Wood | Promoted Southern League Eastern |
| Redbridge | Relegated Ryman 1 (North) | Canvey Island | From Conference See note below |
| Windsor & Eton | Relegated Southern League (South & West | Carshalton Athletic | Relegated Conference South |
| Maldon Town | Relegated Ryman 1 (North) | Horsham | Promoted Ryman 1 |
| Hendon | Relegated Ryman 1 (North) | Ramsgate | Promoted Ryman 1 |
| Wealdstone | Moved To Southern League Premier | Tonbridge Angels | Promoted Ryman 1 |
Just to clear up a couple of points, at Ryman 1 level for the 2006/07 season it will be splitting into two leagues of 22 teams and will be called Ryman 1 North and Ryman 1 South.
If you have been following the suggested line up on Tony Kempster's line site it was suggested that Maidenhead would be joining the Ryman Premier League but following confirmation that Canvey Island requested relegation from Nationwide Conference as current backer Jeff King has left the club and joined Chelmsford City, meaning they wouldn't be able to survive in the Conference next season. The rules state that any club that request relegation must drop a minimum of 2 leagues and therefore some movement was done and Canvey Island will now be in Ryman premier next season.Although all the promotion and relegation issues have been resolved in step's 2, 3 and 4 it may be another week before we have official confirmation of the set-up for the 2006/07 season.
A meeting took place of the Non League committee at The Football Association where a proposed line up would of been discussed this includes the possible moving of clubs from one league, (Ryman, or Southern) to another due to where they are based, this is then looked at and confirmed by the Football Association tomorrow (11 May).
As ever Non League Guru, Tony Kempster, should have confirmation of each league and once he has this information he will update the maps on his site that you can view here.
Friday night of course see's us make the trip to working for the surrey Senior Cup final. By public transport the easiest route is train to woking and then come out the station where trains from london arrive, walk down the long hill and through the park, and down to the ground.
When you enter the ground, we have been allocated the stand at the far end of the ground and the terrace down the side, so remember to bring your colour's and voices and continue where we left off at Champion Hill just over a week ago.
For fans of Donsonline you will be pleased to know they will be in attendance flying back from Australia, via Singapore for the game, let's hope they can remember how to use the video camera. :) Another supporter flying in from Long distance is Dave Hambly, better known to a lot of us as SoCalDon and leader of the US Dons AFC Wimbledon Supporters club. Dave arrives Friday Lunchtime and fly's back sunday morning, so once again a great effort by him.
Next weekend see's the official end of the AFC Wimbledon 2005/06 Campaign first on Friday night we are of course down to Woking for the Surrey Senior Cup Final and then on Friday we have the Family Fun day and a chance to show to the community what a great club we have, their are always lots of events taking place including a five a-side competition and lots of different stalls and this all takes place at Kingsmeadow. So if you have some spare time net Sunday bring some people down and I am sure they will all have a brilliant time.
As you start to be looking towards summer holiday's don't forget if you are looking for any books, or items to take away with you take a trip over to the Amazon shop where you can find a whole range of items.
Don't forget after clicking the link on any page any items that are purchased in that visit result in commission being paid to the Stadium Fund.
It may be more than a month before the World Cup get's under way but one supporter will set off next weekend walking over 500 miles to Germany, the reason for this feature is that John Reeve, is the father of Tim Reeve who used to play youth Team football for Chelmsford City before Tim died from Leukaemia in December 2005. Tim wanted to watch England play in the World Cup in Germany so following his death his dad vowed to Honour the dream and Walk from Wembley to Frankfurt.
John started the first part of the pre-walk yesterday when he walked through his home area of Essex and was joined by at least one AFC Wimbledon fan took part on the route.
For more information on the route and also information about Tim, please click the following link and if you are able to sponsor John I am sure he will appreciate it.
The Results of today's playoff's mean that next season we will have Hampton & Richmond and Tonbridge Angles in the premier Division, Fisher beat Hampton 3-0 in the premier Playoff and therefore progress to the Conference South whilst Tonbridge beat Dover 3-2 to secure promotion to the Premier Division.
Fisher never really looked in danger at their match and for parts of the second half played the flowing attacking football that they are capable of, it will be interesting if they make any sort of Impact in Conference South next season.
Today is playoff Final's day around non-league, unfortunatley of course we didn't make it past Fisher, but this afternoon I will be making the trip over to Champion Hill to see how they get on against Hampton & Richmond, the major updates will be posted onto the updates page via the link above. Whilst the winners will move up to Conference South the losers remain in the Ryman Premier Division and as well as playing us next season will also face the winners of the Division 1 playoff which sees Tonbridge Angles face Dover Athletic, so we know we will have one extra trip to Kent next season.
The result of the final League related Man Of The Match vote is now listed below, this relates to Tuesday's game at Fisher in the playoffs, thanks to everyone who has voted: -
Luke Garrard: 47 votes 51.65%
Anthony Howard: 13 votes 14.29%
Tony Battersby: 10 votes 10.99%
Michael Woolner: 4 votes 4.40%
Dave Sargent: 3 votes 3.30%
Paul Barnes: 3 votes 3.30%
Scott Curley: 3 votes 3.30%
Dean Brennan: 2 votes 2.20%
Robert Ursell: 2 votes 2.20%
Wayne Finnie: 2 votes 2.20%
Andy Little: 1 vote 1.10%
Richard Butler: 1 vote 1.10%
A chance to reflect on last night and the majority of people in thee ground last night that beyond the actual result was a great night for the club. Getting on a train that arrived at East Dulwich a full 100 minutes before the kick off it was amazing to see the number of people who poured off the train, and then we arrived at the pub which was wall to wall with AFC Wimbledon fans, if you were a local going down the pub for a quick drink you would of been in for a big surprise.
Arriving at the ground the crowd was well spread out and people ready to sing for the whole game all the way round the pitch, songs were sung during warm up and then the team were greeted by an AFC Wimbledon wall of noise.
As the game started Fisher were the same as the many times I have seen them this year and with some nice passing in midfield and although it seemed impossible they increased their attack with the return of Leroy Griffiths, who has been on loan at Aldershot where he had scored 6 goals in the conference in that time.
Fisher took the lead on 19 minutes with Leroy Griffiths heading home a very good cross. We could of been awarded a penalty in the first half when richard butler appeared to have his legs taken away from him right in front of the ref. The other downside of the half was that we played around 5 minutes of it without Wayne Finnie when he had to leave the pitch for stitches, and then on 28 minutes he had to be substituted for the far from fit Chris Gell.
The AFC Wimbledon players left the pitch to a huge standing ovation from all sides of the ground, as the players came back out Paul Barnes and several of the other players signaled for us to continue the excellent support. The match continued to be a huge battle. With 22 minutes left Fisher got a second goal when Griffiths played the ball to Steve Watts who scored from just inside the box.
The AFC Wimbledon players or supporters heads didn't drop and we continued to encourage the team on, with just 12 minutes left their was a moment of hope when Anthony Howard got his name on the score sheet and more money for the ground fund to make the score 2-1 this sent the noise level through the roof once again, but as we entered injury time Frankie went down injured and had to be carried from the pitch. As Frankie was being taken from the pitch Luke Garrard was on the main terrace side and almost in tears we could see him pleading with the supporters as if to say, "Please keep this up this is incredible, we still have a chance in the remaning minutes."
The ref then bough an end to our playoff hopes with the blowing of the Full Time Whistle but then came a lovely moment, the vast majority of supporters rather than sloping off to the exit stayed behind and almost as one stated a chant of "We're Proud Of You" this went round the ground and continued until the players had left the pitch around 10 minutes later. This was true togetherness the players had given all they could, the supporters had done the same and both groups appreciated the effort that the others had given.
After the game I thought if we lost I would be really down, but to be honest I was gutted, but extremely proud of the players and supporters and people I spoke to afterward felt the same. way. Just over a month ago most of us thought we would miss out on any chance of the play-offs but having made it we now know that next season our aim will be to at least get back to them and next year win them. The season is far from over as we still have the trip to Woking for the Surrey Senior Cup final on Friday Week.Last night we lost 2-1 at Fisher Athletic in the Playoff semi final we were 2-0 down and then Paul Barnes pulled a goal back but we couldn't get the extra goal. More information tonight.
The Man Of The Match Vote is now open please click the link below to cast your vote: -
Hopefully tonight not many people will bee following the updates live as that will mean we are all at the game, but I understand some people are not able to get to the game, so if you agree one of them people I will do my best to keep you updated of all the action from Kick off through to the last whistle of the night, you can follow the action by clicking the Matchday live link above.
So tomorrow night is a huge game, in fact that's a huge understatement, lets just from the moment we get into the ground until we leave the ground make noise like hasn't been heard before at a Ryman's League game before. The easiest way to get to the ground is to get the over ground to East Dulwich some trains from Wimbledon go direct these are the 17:51, 18:23 and 18:50 these take 20 minutes t get to East Dulwich the other train times from Wimbledon are the 17:56, 18:27, 18:55 these three trains need a change at Tulse Hill and total journey time is around 30 minutes.
It is recommended that you get to the East Dulwich station by 19:00 as it's about a 10 minute walk to the station and the turnstiles at the ground are very narrow and it may take a while to get in.
It was a drama packed afternoon at Heybridge this afternoon as the first semi-final took place in the Ryman premier division. in a game that Heybridge apparently dominated and took the lead right on half time through Richard Jolly. In the second half Hampton leveled the score on 70 minutes. The match then moved into extra time, and apparently few chances took place with Hampton apparently happy to put players behind the ball and take their luck in the penalty shoot out.
With Full time of extra time arriving Heybridge went first in the penalties and a Dean Holdsworth effort was saved, Hampton scored. both teams scored the next series Hampton scored to put them 4-2 up and meant that Heybridge had to score but Richard Jolly's penalty wasn't converted and Hampton won, so they will travel to either Fisher or ourselves for the final on Saturday.
The Ryman League has 4 playoff games at the semi final stage across the two divisions, (Premier & Division 1) three of these games are taking place today, they are : -
Premier Division - Heybridge Swifts Vs Hampton & Richmond
Division One - Metropolitan Police vs. Dover Athletic
Division One - Tonbridge Angels vs. Tooting & Mitcham United.
Any updates I get from these games will be posted on the site and then of course we have tomorrow night and more on that will follow later.
The Stadium Fund benefited by over £1,000 at Saturday's game thanks to two donations first of all I have been asked to pass on a big thank you from Richard Lonsdale who ran the London Marathon and has now raised £840 for the stadium fund as people who had sponsored him paid up and some additional people also contributed.
The second one is a big thank you to readers of this site who use the Amazon Link during the period January to March 2006 the Stadium fund has benefited by £171.25. The Amazon shop is of course open all day every day so if you are looking for any items click any of the links and then any items you buy result in commission being paid to the Stadium fund.
One of the thousands of items in the store at thee moment is Series 2 of New Tricks this is the one that has the "AFC Wimbledon Pub Scene" so if you wish to add some classic Alun Armstrong (who was at the game on Saturday) to your DVD collection, I have added a direct link below: -
With around a quarter of the season left I invited readers of the site to take part in a prediction competition to select the remaning results for teams who looked like they would end up in the playoffs, the one team I didn't include was Billericay as we know they came on a late run and only just missed out on the playoffs. When the contest started the table looked like this.
| Team | Points at start |
|---|---|
Braintree Town |
70 |
Fisher Athletic |
62 |
Heybridge Swifts |
60 |
Hampton & Richmond Borough |
59 |
Staines Town |
55 |
Worthing |
53 |
AFC Wimbledon |
52 |
Walton & Hersham |
51 |
The combined effort of the 56 people who took part in the contest Suggested that the League Table would finish as follows - 1) Braintree, 2) Heybridge Swifts, 3) Fisher Athletic, 4) AFC Wimbledon, 5) Hampton & Richmond which was spot on how how the league table finished. Maybe AFC Wimbledon fans do know a bit about football after all.
I will do a full results breakdown over the next week or so but a big thanks to everyone who took part.
