“Footballers come and go, so do managers and owners. All that remains are the fans and, in the case of Wimbledon, we never left.” So said AFC Wimbledon’s Commercial Director in 2003, when Wimbledon FC's directors took the decision, supported by the FA, to move the club 70 miles from its base in south London to Milton Keynes. Biz/ed analysed the governance and financing of football back in 2004, noting the power of supporters and communities to resist threats to the grassroots of football and protect clubs’ heritage. Few cases illustrate this as well as that of AFC Wimbledon.
Wimbledon FC had risen in the 1970s and 80s from its position in the Southern League to the former Football League First Division. The idea of a non-league club rising to the top tier of English football was the stuff of fairy tales even then and when Wimbledon beat Liverpool FC to win the 1988 FA Cup, the legend was complete, it seemed. But the story of Wimbledon FC turned out to be far from over.
After years of financial mis-management, including the sale of the club’s ground at Plough Lane in 1994 by then-owner Sam Hammam, Wimbledon shared the home of Crystal Palace FC at Selhurst Park. Passing through the hands of Norwegian owners who tried in vain to relocate the club to Dublin, Wimbledon FC ended up being moved to Milton Keynes and re-branded as MK Dons in 2004. MK Dons originally claimed the former club’s history as their own, but after opposition from fans’ organisations, accepted that they are in fact a new club with no roots to Wimbledon FC.
In the meantime, supporters of Wimbledon FC had formed their own club to succeed the one that they felt had been stolen from them. AFC Wimbledon began in 2002 in the Combined Counties League on Step 5 of the non-league football pyramid, six levels below the bottom of the Football League. Promotions in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009, saw the club rise to the Conference National (or Bet Square Premier). Winning the playoff final against Luton Town tomorrow would complete their rise back to the Football League.
The meteoric rise of AFC Wimbledon owes much to its community spirit and ownership structure. The club is run and owned by its supporters through the Dons Trust, which has close to 2,000 members. The Dons Trust Board (DTB) is made up of elected supporters. They are responsible for the club’s progress while following the wishes of the membership. Although it issued shares to finance the purchase of the Kingsmeadow ground which it shares with Kingstonian FC, the club is run along the lines of a Industrial and Provident Society (essentially a cooperative) with the guidance of Supporters’ Direct. AFC Wimbledon offer an alternative vision for football club ownership, especially but not exclusively at non-league level.
For business purposes, the DTB delegates operational responsibility to the board of AFC Wimbledon plc, which was created as the company in which shares could be offered for sale. The plc sets three-year strategic plans and one-year budgets. It must have DTB approval for long-term financing, property acquisition, the offer of security on any assets of the club, payment of dividends, changes to the memorandum of association or company articles, and any capital expenditure that significantly exceeds the budget. The plc board reports on a monthly basis, provides quarterly financial reports, as well as giving forecasts and reviews of HR issues. The plc’s accounts are scrutinised by fans and shareholders alike.
The story of AFC Wimbledon serves as an inspiration to supporters of other football clubs, fed up with the pursuit of financial gain above the interests of fans and communities. It is the model for other supporter ownership initiatives such as FC United of Manchester. If the club follows Crawley Town into the Football League this season it will represent a victory for two competing models of club funding and ownership. Whatever the result on Saturday, the continued strength of AFC Wimbledon seems assured.