WIMBLEDON CONSIDER PARTNERSHIP

AFC Wimbledon have said that they will be considering a partnership work for their new stadium. The Chief Executive of the club recently revealed that he is confident that the club can work with the Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium owners in order to build a new stadium at this location.

The club has expressed its interest in purchasing the location and building a new stadium. It is expected that AFC Wimbledon will be constructing a 15,000 seater stadium at this location. This follows reports from the council, who are extremely interested in seeing intensive sporting activity developed in this region.

In the original format of Wimbledon FC, the club was playing in the Plough Lane up until 1991. They were even sharing grounds with Crystal Palace at the Selhurst Park until 2002. They were also given permission to move to Milton Keynes only recently and were playing their home games at the Kingsmeadow. This ground was purchased in 2003. The Chief Executive of the club has revealed that it is extremely essential that the club moves away from its current stadium Kingsmeadow in order to progress both on and off the field. He said that the club eventually decided to build a 15,000 seat stadium ahead of the plans to construct a 25,000 seater stadium.

“[Moving] is an essential part of our business. We are constrained for growth where we are now. We can’t increase our income and get a better team and move up through the leagues on a stadium of this size. We need to move somewhere bigger and have a timescale that makes sense. It’s a combination of completing the romantic dream and the hard-nosed business thing of [the fact] we’ve got to do it. Our primary interest is in the stadium but there needs to be a development around it,” said the chief executive of AFC Wimbledon.