The rise of AFC Wimbledon has been well documented. Founded by Wimbledon FC fans in 2002 in retaliation to the genetically engineered MK Dons franchise, the club began in the Combined Counties Premier Division before being promoted four times in seven seasons, notching an all-time English senior football record of 78 games unbeaten along the way, drawing debt-dwarfing crowds for rival clubs and earning plaudits for their community work and ownership structure.
In June 2006, the club’s supporter-shareholder initiatives paid dividends, as a loan taken from Barclays Bank allowed them to formally purchase their Kingsmeadow ground in the London borough of Kingston for £3 million, thus saving co-inhabitants Kingstonian FC from extinction. Their debt has since been reduced to around £600,000 and further fundraising schemes are on-going.
On Friday night, AFC travel to Crawley Town for a Blue Square Bet Premier League fixture, in a top-of-the-table clash that could be crucial in their quest to bring the heart and soul of the once self-styled ‘Crazy Gang’ back to the big time. Having already achieved professional status, their self-sustaining model based on fan entitlement is well admired, in contrast with that of their opponents, whose expensively assembled squad has recently overtaken the early season pace-setters at the Division’s summit.
Crawley were bought out last summer by co-owner Bruce Winfield and associates, who earmarked the Sussex club for a swift surge up the league ladder; a flurry of transfer activity culminating in their narrow defeat at Old Trafford in Round 5 of the FA Cup - the first time a non-league side had reached the last sixteen of the competition since 1994.
That memorable cup run created a congested calendar for Crawley, at one time seven games behind Terry Brown’s Wimbledon, but Steve Evans’s team have risen to the challenge and usurped AFC as league leaders at the start of the month, amid a poor run of one win in five for their fellow promotion-chasers. AFC now lie six points back and face what is potentially their last opportunity to derail the frontrunners’ push for automatic elevation to League Two this evening.
The visitors have injury concerns ahead of the mammoth meeting, with right-back Sam Hatton and midfielder Christian Jolley facing late fitness tests, while their hosts’ defender Charlie Wassmer, winger Scott Neilson and striker Craig McAllister are also involved in a race against time to be ready for the game of the day at a sold-out Broadfield Stadium.
With third-placed Luton Town looking to take advantage of any slip up by either side, AFC will have one eye trained over their shoulder, as they jostle for position in what is looking increasingly likely to be a fiercely contested play-off affair in just seven games' time.
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