The 1988 FA cup final saw underdogs Wimbledon famously overcome dominant football giants Liverpool. A first half goal from Lawrie Sanchez, and a penalty save from Dave Beasant, was enough to clinch victory in front of 98,000 spectators under the old Wembley’s iconic twin towers.
But in 2004, under the leadership of Pete Winkleman, Wimbledon FC moved from Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park to Milton Keynes and adopted the National Hockey Stadium as their home. A Few months later the club’s name was changed to MK Dons, which includes reference to Milton Keynes but keeping the nickname from Wimbledon.
The re-allocation and name change as a whole went down badly amongst fans, and many criticised Winkleman’s plans as being similar to American style sports “franchises”. Consequently, a certain number of supporters decided create a new team called AFC Wimbledon, who would go on to start in the lower leagues and work their way up the football hierarchy.
As for MK Dons, the club agreed to return trophies and memorabilia to the London borough of Merton and make no historical claims to being related to Wimbledon FC. However, legally they are still a continuation of the old club.
On the pitch however, the Dons have been flying high in League Two and are currently 3 points behind Peterborough with two games in hand.
And Yesterday saw their return to Wembley, this time in the final of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy rather than the more prestigious FA cup. A late controversial converted penalty and a strong header saw the Dons overcome their fellow League Two opponents Grimsby, by two goals to nil.
It may not be quite be the FA cup, but this victory for the Dons shows that they are back on the way to success, and with an almost certain promotion to League One on the cards, plus a brand new all-seater stadium, the future for the Dons is looking bright, after a difficult decade for the club’s history.
Tags: afc, all, alloutsport, dons, fc, Football, grimbsy, hockey, johnstones, keynes, league, milton, mk, national, out, paint, park, pete, promotion, selhurst, sport, stadium, town, trophy, wembley, wimbledon, winkleman
