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Wombles Downunder #273

By
onyadon
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SOME much-needed points have revived Wimbledon’s season just as some far-reaching decisions surrounding the Club’s future are about to take place .. we have it all covered in this issue of Wombles Downunder.

Back-to-back wins  over Port Vale and Reading, plus a point at Barnsley have lifted hopes as the Dons fight for their League One survival.

Tim Hanson looks into the reasons for the uptick in the Dons fortunes, while we spotlight the players who are making a difference. Steve Dowse  profiles the Dons’ most important player Marcus Browne, who has the innate ability to conjure something special, while Colum McAndrew runs his eye over exciting youngster Junior Nkeng as definitely one for the future. Windlesham Don  sees the return on loan of James Tilley as an important squad addition as he checks out the comings and goings in the midseason transfer window.

There is plenty going on off the pitch too as the Club wrestles with mounting losses and paying down the stadium debt, all while trying to keep the Club competitive on the pitch.

Ray Armfield and Trevor Pearce look at the outcomes of the recent Meet the Board debriefing for fans. Ray came away from the gathering   feeling reasonably positive while “there are undoubtedly difficult decisions and times ahead,” he adds “If we all work together, I think the choppy waters are still navigable. One thing looks certain though. This time next year, the Club may look and feel markedly different than it does right now.”

Trevor believes the meeting was crucial ahead of big decisions about the Club’s ownership model and its future. “Not everyone will agree with the Board’s decisions, and we’re all nervous of the risks… but the Club has to trust its owners — if that trust is misplaced then we’re probably doomed in any case,” he writes.

Former Dons Trust chairman Xavier Wiggins  firmly believes in the fan-owned model to take the club forward. He argues in a piece for this issue that the strongest possible option available is to adopt a Community Interest Company model. He explains how it works.

We have a look at how the recent back staff appointments in the Club’s Academy point to the importance of boosting its stalled production line, including the return of former Academy manager Mark Robinson in a short-term consultancy role.

Rob Ceccarelli tells the fascinating story of Racing Club de Calais and how it remarkably mirrors what happened with AFC Wimbledon. Terry McFadden updates us on the challenges facing the womens team and Tim Smith  celebrates a big anniversary; it’s precisely 50 years since he first watched Wimbledon.

Dave Kenwery is out and about with his Away with the Dons and Ian White   writes on the positive vibes for the new era London Broncos.

It’s all in WDSA’s latest Wombles Downunder newsletter edition No.273, the longest-running (by far) and respected fanzine devoted to Wimbledon, now in its 40th continuous year. Come on, make the call, come and join us as many others have, all around the world, you won’t be disappointed!!

Wombles Downunder has been chronicling Wimbledon FC since October 1985 …..

“WE were there when Fash was terrorising defences in the old Division 2; we were around when Dave Beasant lifted the FA Cup at Wembley; we witnessed the heart-rending day when the Dons went down from the Premier League, and left Neal Ardley on his haunches sobbing; we raged at the injustice of the hijack to Milton Keynes; we flippin’ burst with pride when AFC Wimbledon rose like a phoenix and we cheered when ‘it took only nine years’ to reach the Football League.”  For just one AUS dollar you get six continuous issues of the acclaimed ‘Wombles Downunder’ newsletter. We proudly produce a bevy of testimonials after reading Wombles Downunder …

Dickie Guy … Many thanks for sending me the famous Wombles Downunder fanzine. I’m very impressed I must say. Much much larger than I ever expected and very knowledgeable about our club. Great to see we have fans spread around the world.

Samuel West … I’ve never been asked to talk about my love for @AFCWimbledon in print before. So when the famous Wombles Downunder fanzine asked me, I was delighted. As well as me, in the latest issue (worth a subscription alone) there’s lots about the Great Comeback from the Great Flood.

Mikey Haswell … I enjoy talking to fans and sharing perspectives, and I came across Wombles Downunder on X. It felt like a great way to hear another viewpoint and read thoughtful pieces about the club and those connected to it. I’m looking forward to reading more issues.

Peter Slater, fanzine researcher .. “I’d have to say that Wombles Downunder should get some kind of award for most resilient fanzine, the ups and downs of the club are well documented so bravo for continuing through all that but even before that printing, stapling and posting (POSTING!!) fanzine from the other side of the planet to willing subscribers was quite a feat.”

Tim Hanson …. Wombles Downunder, in my view, is the most comprehensive collection of news and views on the Dons’ that you will see anywhere: not bad when it’s all brought together from the other side of the world. I’m proud to have been able to contribute to the newsletter for about 19 years now.

Xavier Wiggins … This is consistently great reading. Incredible that it is all done from the other side of the world. Keep it going!! Please subscribe if you love your Dons news.

Marc Jones … The WDSA “newsletter” is a rather humble moniker. It’s always been far more than that. A collection of opinions seldom found huddled together anywhere else. Its custodian and editor continues to serve the supporters furthest away as if the whole bunch of them live just opposite Plough Lane. Having fans so dedicated in all corners of the globe continues to give those of us actually just up the road a real sense of how special this club is. Long may this dedication and delightful gathering of opinions reign.

Ray Armfield …. Huge congratulations to @OnyaDon and @WDownunder for the production of Wombles Downunder. Such incredible and sustained dedication across the miles to producing readable and on-point material about all things Wimbledon. I often find out nuggets of information and exclusives contained therein that I didn’t previously know from sources in the UK.

Alf Galustian … I’m in Argentina doing clinics. I read the Wombles Downunder magazine. I think you are doing a great job for all the past, present and future followers of a club with a great history.

Graham Stacey … The Wombles Downunder Newsletter is a veritable treasure trove of information, analysis and opinion on all things Wimbledon. With big name contributors writing alongside fans old and new, and more stats than you can shake one of those bendy sticks at, it’s time (and an Aussie dollar/British pound) superbly spent for any Dons fan.

Terry Brown …. Many thanks Rob who allowed me the opportunity of reminiscing the most exciting and successful five years of my managerial career. Having read through his previous interviews with Allen Batsford, Harry Bassett and Dave Anderson it was a pleasure to be in such illustrious company… Really pleased with your special interview.

Tim Smith (BBC North) …  I really enjoyed reading that! It’s comprehensive, informed, opinionated – all the things a fanzine should be. I’m so impressed by Wombles Downunder.  It may be edited 9000 miles away, but it’s very well informed and a lot of what it predicts comes to pass. Much is being written about AFC Wimbledon at the moment, but I learn a great deal from our longest running fanzine and enjoy it even more.

Mick Smith … Excellent read bang up to date and very informative fanzine. More people should benefit from this type of publication.

Nigel Higgs … I always enjoy reading the WDSA newsletter and I am grateful to Rob for the opportunity to fill in some of the gaps in our history and to recall some great times in my interview.

Mike Taliadoros (Radio WDON) …. The newsletter is one of the most essential and informative reads available, not just for our Down Under fans,  but for Dons supporters all round the globe.

Mick Dore … Despite my input this is always an excellent read. Any Wimbledon fan give it a go, it’s brilliant.

Ian White .. The aspect of the publication I admire most is the open-minded approach to identifying content. It was such an approach a couple of years ago that saw me submit my first piece on London Broncos’ travails, a club now firmly linked with the Dons and long may that continue. I am immensely grateful to Rob for his support and encouragement.

Peter Thistle … Thanks very much for sending the WDSA Newsletter, which I enjoyed very much.  I am wondering now just why I have not subscribed before!  The articles are very well written, giving balanced views in a mature and sensible fashion.

Steve Dowse …  I’m in awe of what you put together from so far away and I look forward to every issue. Forty years makes Wombles Downunder the longest-running WFC/AFCW publication by a very long way. It’s also the best. Here’s to many more years.

Dave Anderson …. What a terrific read !! Covers the club from back to front. It’s a must if you’re a Don.

Erik Samuelson… I’ve always been impressed by the quality and the range of topics from Dons fans around the world.  WDSA brings them all together and produces a very high quality newsletter (and website). Long may it continue. My only grumble is that during our interviews he always manages to get me to say a bit more than I meant to, while respecting genuine confidences.

Bobby Gould … I have printed off the three pages of your Dons’ newsletter containing my interview and thoroughly enjoyed the read.  Hope your loyal readers enjoyed it as much as I did.

Derek French … Thanks for inviting me to tell some of the tales from my days at the Dons. Hope your readers enjoy it. It’s an excellent newsletter indeed, informative and interesting.

Kevin Gage …. You said I might be surprised by your ‘newsletter’……I certainly was!   A newsletter implies a sheet of A4, the type of thing I used to bring home from school! How times change! It’s a great read.

Ian Cooke …. Thirty years!! REALLY? I have always enjoyed the read and your correspondents are very similar in their views/outlooks to most of the fans I speak to.

Peter Leng …. Thanks for the newsletter: an excellent read as ever. It’s always such an interesting and engaging set of articles, and great to read others’ views and opinions on tactics, players and so much more. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jason Steger … Lots of info; good stuff. You do a great job. It’s good value.

Paul Jeater ….. Thirty years is a remarkable achievement, for any football publication, let alone one based in a different continent from that in which the Club that its focus is located. What makes WDSA newsletter so special is that it recognised the need to go ‘online’ ahead of the race and that it also complements rather than competes with other AFC Wimbledon fanzines.

Rob Cornell (Radio WDON)  ….. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being interviewed for the WDSA newsletter. It’s an excellent, well researched and well established magazine for Wimbledon and AFC Wimbledon supporters everywhere!

Richard Fairbairn (Aberdeen, Scotland) ….. Great fanzine, nicely written and it gives me some insights that it’s just hard to pick being a remote supporter.

Margaret Hung … An excellent edition. A very enjoyable read. Thank you.

Howard Fry .. Love reading your wondrous fanzine….

Stephen Crabtree (The Historical Don) … If you want in-depth, up-to-date, critical comment on every aspect of AFC Wimbledon then the Wombles Downunder newsletter is for you. Each issue Rob gets together a range of writers to examine the parts of the club other publications do not reach. Always well informed, at 200 not out it will no doubt be at the crease for many years to come.

Rob Bushaway (Derbyshire) … I have often commented that the news provided by the fanzine was much more informative than the national press. It’s been brilliant and fair to say it still is.

Andy Powell (Devon Womble) … I stepped inside Plough Lane to watch my first Wimbledon match sometime late in 1972/1973 (against Nuneaton Borough if memory serves me right), but beyond the fragments of sage wisdom in the local pub about our performances, and a constantly biased press; it was always hard to know much about what was really going on inside the boardroom, inside the dressing room, or occasionally, on the pitch (!) Now, almost 40 years later all I have to do is subscribe a token amount of dosh and I get Wombles Downunder newsletters loaded with the sort of stuff I suspect few club supporters get yet most crave. Where are you hiding the webcams Rob?  Probably the best £10 I’ve spent in years.

Paul Harman … Thanks for a great magazine. With the advent of technology, the Wombles Downunder newsletter is still required reading. I print each edition and spend the next couple of days reading the magazine.

Tony Shipman …. I’ve been meaning to subscribe to your newsletter for some months but didn’t pull my finger out until now.  Six bucks is a great deal and I will read it with interest.

So if you’ve been meaning to take out a subscription this is an opportune time to discover the many delights of Wombles Downunder. Here’s your chance, you’ve read what the many others say so don’t miss out on a consistently high-quality long-form read … so what are you waiting for?

To get your email PDF subscription to the comprehensive and widely-read Wombles Downunder fanzine and its many pages of quality reading simply follow this link and you will soon become a devotee as are many others around the world — UK, Europe, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, United States and Australasia.  Now 40 years on and still very much a thoroughly good read ….. and so much MORE than just a newsletter!!

The Dickie Guy Interview

By
onyadon
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0

“They gave me £500 to sign on which was a fair bit of money back then. I got home and laid all the fivers out across my bed!”

(i) Let’s start with how you came to join Wimbledon. On Millwall’s books as a junior, Wimbledon signed you from Tooting & Mitcham in 1967 and you made your debut at Stevenage in April 1968. Tell us how it all came about?

Dickie: At the time I was 18 and working as a Port of London Authority messenger boy on the London West India docks. Riding around the docks on a bicycle delivering letters etc., having previously been doing the same at London’s Wapping docks where I use to deliver up to head office in Trinity Square by the Tower of London. I’d been playing for Millwall colts in the South East Counties league for a few seasons, living literally a 10-minute walk from the old Den, Millwall’s previous ground. At around this time I was selected for the England Youth trials at RAF Cosford up in the midlands. Unfortunately, I never got into the England side, but I did represent London Youth FA in the FA County Youth Championships where we got to the final, and I got sent off ! Let me explain what happened. Their centre-forward punched the ball into our net after a goalmouth melee. Everyone saw it except the referee. Well, I used to get very uptight in games. A few minutes after he cheated and did that I had the ball in my hands to kick it up field when he tried to obstruct me and barged into me as I kicked. I just turned round and punched him straight on the chin, right in front of the referee who was a couple of yards away! Good connection as well, he went down like a sack of potatoes and I was sent straight off… always hated cheats. Sitting in the changing room crying and in comes one of our officials to tell me I had to come back out onto the pitch to collect my runners-up medal to the boos and catcalls from their supporters. I still have my London cap though which was presented to us after the game at a dinner. Right, so back to when I was working in West India Docks, where the  Port Health Officer George Dring was at the time the manager of Tooting and Mitcham FC. Fortunately, nearly everyone on the docks were football-mad so on the late shift which was 2-9pm I’d be away by five o’clock to go training or play games. Dring invited me down to Tooting and Mitcham who at the time were coached by Doug Flack, a former Fulham goalkeeper. I did some training sessions and they signed me. I went straight into the first team and after we played Wimbledon in the Premier Midweek Floodlit League I was asked to sign by the Dons  manager Les Henley. They gave me £500 to sign on which was a fair bit of money back then. I got home and laid all the fivers out across my bed !

(ii) You went on to be virtually ever present in the Wimbledon goal over the next decade. There is one incredible stat that between January 1970 and August 1977 you only missed a single game in a run of 449 consecutive matches and which included a remarkable run of 314  games straight. Tell us about the camaraderie and resilience within the team under manager Allen Batsford? Your thoughts on Batsford and his influence on you.

“I had a lot of respect for Allen, his professionalism and his methods, but I did still get the ‘hairdryer treatment’ off him a few times over the three seasons while he was manager.”

Dickie: Yes, I missed that one game. I think it was away to Dagenham in the London Senior Cup. Shame that, I probably could have played but didn’t feel quite right so I told Allen and he played my mate Paul Priddy in goal. When Allen came the whole set-up became more professional, training was better organised and undoubtedly harder and more often than not three nights a week. We would practice set pieces, corners,  free kicks, defensive shapes, where every player needs to be in any given situation. Extremely repetitive was the training, and that’s one of the reasons we were so successful. Not so much fun for me, though. standing in goal freezing while they practised free kicks over and over again! Alas no specialised goalkeeping training in those days. There was a very good camaraderie in the squad and Allen brought several players from Walton and Hersham  with him. Just as well as we only had about five players  on contract. He brought Dave ‘Harry’ Bassett, Dave Donaldson, Roger Connell, Kieron Somers and Billy Edwards. I had a lot of respect for Allen, his professionalism and his methods, but I did still get the ‘hairdryer treatment’ off him a few times over the three seasons while he was manager. 

(iii) Any discussion about you always comes back to those famous FA Cup exploits at first division Burnley — the first non-league team of the 20th century to beat a First Division team away from home — and the greatest English team of the time, Leeds United, in 1975, and all with a basic squad size of just 14 players! Team-mates always rate your performance at Burnley as the pinnacle. As a goalkeeper your memories of that incredible display at Turf Moor to set up the fourth round visit to Elland Road, and that particular moment you pulled off your signature penalty save off Peter Lorimer at Leeds. What particularly stands out for you from that day and the resulting media clamour to get you on The Big Match on television to talk about it? That season you were also named among the Rothman’s Football Yearbook players of 1974-75.

Reliving the memories…

Dickie: Yeah, the Burnley game at Turf Moor, that was some occasion. Playing in front of 20,000 supporters was a new experience for us, being used to only about 3,000 at Plough Lane. In the first half I had very little to do, but the second half it was non-stop action, backs-to-the-wall stuff with me diving here, there and everywhere. At the time the Burnley chairman Bob Lord had issues with the TV companies and had banned TV cameras from his ground. Shame as that would have been a good DVD to show the grandkids! If I remember correctly the draw was made straight after the game while we were in the bath. To draw Leeds United was a dream come true. Excitement prevailed. Straight back to Glen Aitken’s house in sunny Deptford for a party to celebrate. Then, up to Elland Road for the next round.  We stayed in a hotel the night before the game, not much sleep was had though. Arrived at Elland Road on the day of the game and I’d never seen so many people outside a football ground in my life! Nerves started to kick in. We went out to customarily inspect the pitch pre-game, pretending to read the programme as I was walking out but I was actually shaking in my shoes! The ground was about half-full by then and their supporters were chanting Leeds Leeds Leeds and banging on the hoardings. By kick-off the ground was packed with 46,000 fans. Everyone wanted to see what this non-league side that had embarrassed Burnley were all about. The crowd was huge because there were several games in the area  called off due to the inclement weather. As in the first half against Burnley I had very little to do. I don’t think they had a shot of any significance, due to our dogged defending. But the second half was completely different, their manager must have given them a real rollicking at half-time. One thing I vividly remember about that game, and it wasn’t the penalty, although that does stick in my mind, was that quite early in the second half I caught a pull-back cross from their right. It was, if I may say so, a really good catch in those thin cotton gloves, not the gloves that are worn today that makes it so easy to catch a football. So I caught the ball, well pleased with myself as it was probably the first thing I really had to do so far in the game. After catching it, I dropped it to the ground to dribble it to the edge of the area to pick it up and kick it up field. Little did I know that behind me lurking was a Leeds player waiting to pounce, nick the ball and slot it into our goal. Just in time I realised he was there and immediately dropped on to the ball. OMG! Can you imagine that happening? I’d have been ridiculed for the rest of my entire life! So, with that instance out of the way I settled down and we defended well. They were a great side but just couldn’t break us down. I have a short DVD of the last five minutes or so, leading up to when Harry Bassett made his infamous tackle, almost waste high to give away the penalty. Completely unnecessary, as Bob Stockley was doubling up on him and could have easily nicked the ball if he got passed Harry. I cannot put in writing what I called Harry back then, but he did say he’d make me famous, and he did in some small way, to the extent of being invited along with five first division goalkeepers to play a basketball match against the Harlem Globetrotters at Wembley and appearing on a TV programme That’s Life against football dribbling dogs, where one actually scored! Back to the penalty, their supporters went crazy when it was awarded, as you’d expect, I was gutted and the DVD I have shows me whilst waiting for the penalty to be taken, attempting to lash out at the goalpost in frustration only to miss it! I had decided before that if Leeds were to be awarded a penalty and it’d be Lorimer who took it, I would dive as far to my right as I possibly could. Bearing in mind, back in the day, goalkeepers couldn’t move their feet until the kick was taken, which obviously made it extremely difficult to stop penalties. As it turned out, Lorimer scuffed it, and so I had to pull my right hand back to stop the ball, and heaven forbid, diving over it. Jeff Bryant cleared the ball, but the last five minutes or so left in the game became unbelievably frantic and we held out for that famous draw. Pandemonium ensued. But as I said earlier I used to get very uptight and stressed in games. Instead of acknowledging our supporters I couldn’t wait to get off the pitch and into the dressing room, and when I did I burst into tears! Weird that, eh? Think it must have been to release the pressure valve, but a couple of slugs of brandy that somehow had found its way into the dressing room and I was fine. I was taken from the dressing room up to the gantry to be interviewed, meeting my wife Josie on the way who was in floods of tears, happy tears, I must add. Did some interviews up there and the enormity of the situation began to sink in. Our non-league side had held the mighty Leeds, one of the best sides, not only in England but in Europe, to a goalless draw on their own patch! I was then asked to appear on Brian Moore’s Sunday lunchtime programme the Big Match. A car was sent for us very early on the Sunday morning, too early in fact after the previous night’s celebrations. Hangovers are not a problem when you have just held the mighty Leeds! Did the TV interview with Brian Moore, who I must say was a perfect gentleman. Following the interview someone asked me if we’d be going home to watch the match/interview on TV as the programme had been pre-recorded. Well, actually I explained that our TV at home had packed it in the week before, and because of the build-up to the game I had not had it repaired or replaced. Brian Moore got wind of it  and, knowing  that we lived in Bromley only a few miles from him, immediately invited us back to his house for Sunday lunch and watch the programme with his family. He got straight on the phone and told his wife to lay out two more places for lunch, a lovely roast it was. After lunch he drove us back home. A really top fella was Brian Moore. And yes, at the end of the season I was named in the Rothmans Football Yearbook for 1974/1975. That was something completely unexpected but very much appreciated.

Dickie Guy interviewed on The Big Match

(iv) Under Batsford, Wimbledon built an undeniable case for election into the Football League. There was a close bond within the team, but Batsford was forced out after four and a half months into a challenging first season. You also had a personal transition. You started the inaugural season in goal, but then vied with Richard Teale as the starting custodian before you became a victim of the incoming manager Dario Gradi regime and left for Maidstone United after 553 total appearances for Wimbledon. Can you reflect on that time and how the move to full-time football presented problems for you?

“I’d had 11 years at the club, eight of them as the first name on the team sheet, a testimonial game against Chelsea, made possible by Dario Gradi and his contacts at Chelsea and hundreds of great memories and friends.”

Dickie: Yes, we did have a strong case for election to the Football League and finally achieved it after winning three Southern League Premier Division titles in succession along with various cups along the way. Extremely good work by our then chairman Ron Noades, who helped enormously to achieve it. I started the season in the first team but only managed to be selected for about a dozen games and so decided to leave as I wasn’t in the plans of Dario Gradi, the manager at the time. That was okay, I’d had 11 years at the club, eight of them as the first name on the team sheet, a testimonial game against Chelsea, made possible by Dario and his contacts at Chelsea and hundreds of great memories and friends. There was press talk during my time at the club that Crystal Palace may have been interested in signing me, but nothing ever materialised. I would have liked to have gone full-time, but towards the end of my time at the club I had applied for voluntary redundancy from the docks, but that would have had to have been matched if I was to sign for anyone. I remember when we played Middlesbrough at snow-covered Ayresome Park in an FA Cup replay, maybe it was Allen Batsford’s second or third season in charge, and I had a particularly good game, only to be beaten by a penalty which Allen told me would be placed one way if they got a penalty, I went that way and it was put the other way! We were all in a nightclub after the game and some of the Middlesbrough players were there as well. Graham Souness came over and spoke with me and asked what I’d want financially to sign, I just replied ‘five grand’. I meant that as a signing-on fee as that would have been about what I’d have got as a severance payment from the docks. I don’t know whether he thought I meant five grand each week, but nothing more was asked or said! So the following season after only starting a dozen or so games and not wishing to be a reserve keeper I opted to leave and sign for Maidstone United following a few of our players, who’d gone there earlier, Glen Aitken and Billy Edwards. Chairman Ron Noades presented me with a lovely inscribed silver cup on my 500th appearance for the Dons. The cup still sits proudly in our dining room at home, cleaned meticulously every month or so by Josie. Although Ron was not the most popular person, I quite liked him, and Bassett and our wives spent two holidays at his apartment in the south of France. Paid for, of course! Great holidays they were as well.

(v) Throughout all that time at Wimbledon who were the best players you played with and why?

Dickie: The best players during my time at the club were probably Roy Law, who was centre-half and captain when I first joined along with Tommy McCready, another centre-half. During Allen’s time as manager Dave Donaldson and Jeff Bryant, both centre-halves, and Ian ‘Cookie ‘ Cooke. Ian scored a hell of a lot of goals, he still comes to the club, sits next to me in the stand and is a Vice-President.

(vi) Wonderful times were ahead for Wimbledon under Dave Bassett, Bobby Gould and Joe Kinnear, culminating in that sensational win over Liverpool – another great team of the time – and witnessing Dave Beasant saving a John Aldridge penalty on the way to a famous FA Cup win at Wembley. Your reflections of that momentous day and Lurch’s save from a goalkeeper connoisseur’s point of view?

“Knowing Dave Beasant was in the room I recalled that when I made my penalty save against Lorimer I thought I’d cracked it, you know, a non-league keeper saving a penalty against Lorimer in the FA Cup. But then this big lump of a keeper comes along 13 years later and makes a proper save from a proper penalty, wins the FA Cup and gets to meet the lovely Princess Diana! That’s really cracking it!”

Dickie: Great times came to the club under Dave Bassett as manager. Getting the club to the Premiership was an incredible feat. Think Harry holds the record for the most managerial promotions. Still occasionally see Harry at Plough Lane and he is actually godfather to one of our sons, Michael. Bobby Gould was manager on that most famous of occasions when Wimbledon defeated Liverpool at Wembley to win the FA Cup. But really, it was Harry’s team. Watching that game actually put my wife into labour with our twins Jennifer and Michael and they were born the next day or so. And a great save from Dave Beasant from the penalty. At an end-of-season dinner a few years back I was invited to make a speech. Knowing Dave Beasant was in the room I recalled that when I made my penalty save against Lorimer I thought I’d cracked it, you know, a non-league keeper saving a penalty against Lorimer in the FA Cup. But then this big lump of a keeper comes along 13 years later and makes a proper save from a proper penalty, wins the FA Cup and gets to meet the lovely Princess Diana! That’s really cracking it!! But it was a really great save, and what a time and place to make it! I see Dave occasionally when he comes to Plough Lane.

(vii) Then came the gut punch of Wimbledon being hijacked up to Milton Keynes in 2002. You were a very outspoken opponent of the club’s re-location. Your reflections on that highly charged time of your cherished club folding and your role in the reforming of the fans-owned AFC Wimbledon and those player trials on the Wimbledon Common?

“Only the resilience of the famous four of Ivor Heller, Trevor Williams, Marc Jones and Kris Stewart and the overwhelming support, encouragement and enthusiasm of our supporters got the club reborn.”

Dickie: It was a terrible time in 2002 for the club and our supporters when the club was stolen from us. I was outspoken because of the injustice of the situation. The club at the time was sharing or using Selhurst Park for games. I went to a few games there but didn’t like the chairman Sam Hamman or the idea of sharing a ground full stop. Hamman used to parade around the pitch before kick-off with his Wimbledon hat and scarf and waving to the crowd lapping up all the attention and applause only to sell the club up the river a short time later. Only the resilience of the famous four of Ivor Heller, Trevor Williams, Marc Jones and Kris Stewart and the overwhelming support, encouragement and enthusiasm of our supporters got the club reborn. What happened back in 2002 was shameful that the FA allowed it to go ahead. It will never happen again, nor will a story like ours. The greatest story in football. I was invited to cast my eyes over the goalkeepers who had come to the trials on Wimbledon Common. It was a difficult job as to who might be good enough, as most decent players would already have been fixed up with a club, but numbers were whittled down and a successful team was formed.

(viii) Speak of your pride in being asked by Ivor Heller to become Club President and the importance with which you attach to your position as its titular head and respected club ambassador?

“I love the club and would do anything for the club, but do not wish to get involved in club politics. I see myself as an ambassador of the club, and am very proud to be one.”

Dickie: To be asked to become President of our club was a very proud moment for me and always has been and always will be. I think it was at the end of our first season after being reformed, maybe after a bus parade through Wimbledon, I was in the Alexandra pub in Wimbledon, a very much favoured haunt of our supporters, with my wife and family. Ivor and Kris were there too. Ivor called me over and out of the blue asked me to be club President. I was speechless, though at first thought that he may have been winding me up, but no, it was a genuine invitation to become club President. So now I have been Club President of AFC Wimbledon for approximately 22 years! I have though, quite recently in fact, made it clear to our chairman and to various other people connected to the club, that I do not wish to get involved in any politics at the club. I love the club and would do anything for the club, but do not wish to get involved in club politics. I see myself as an ambassador of the club, and am very proud to be one.

(ix) You have bounced back from adversity. You suffered a heart attack in 2010 and 12 years ago you were diagnosed with cancer of the larynx  which ultimately led to your voice box being removed. Can you discuss those health challenges and the amusing tale of the surgeon who recognised you on the operating table?

“Took a few years for me to stop being embarrassed by my voice, sounding a bit like Sean Dyche, the Burnley FC now Forest manager, but it doesn’t bother me anymore.”

Dickie: Yes, I had a heart attack in 2010. I was working at a house in Chelsea. I had an electrician on site and another fella who worked for me regularly. The sparky had finished what he had to do, waved us goodbye and left. Ten minutes later he was back saying his van wouldn’t start and could we give him a push start. So we gave him a hand. Soon after I started to get chest pains. Being ever vigilant with my health and the fact that the pains were continuous and getting worse, I decided to go to hospital to get checked out. This is where it gets silly, or I get stupid! I thought then that if I’m going to be in hospital I didn’t want my family having to come all the way up to Chelsea to visit me, as the Brompton Hospital, a major heart hospital was five minutes away, I decided to drive all the way back to our local hospital in Bromley Kent where we lived. So stupid of me to do that, but it all worked out alright in the end as the heart attack paid off our mortgage, with the insurance cover we had. On December 16, 2014 I had my larynx removed due to recurring cancer. I’d had four weeks of radiotherapy two years earlier and was told the cancer had been cured but like rust on an old car it came back. Went back into hospital for three and a half weeks, missed Christmas, New Year and my birthday, but the staff were absolutely fantastic. Took a few years for me to stop being embarrassed by my voice, sounding a bit like Sean Dyche, the Burnley FC now Forest manager, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. The operation was carried out at Guy’s Hospital (keep it in the family, of course!) up by London Bridge. I have to go back every four or five weeks or so when the valve in my throat leaks fluid into my lungs, they change the valve which takes about ten to 15 minutes. When I first got sent to Guy’s from our local hospital to be examined by the consultant, he said ‘I know you, you’re Dickie Guy who used to play in goal for Wimbledon.’ He is a football man, supporter of Aston Villa and Worcester City. Very nice fella, very good surgeon, thank goodness. Richard Oakley is his name. I must be honest, I’ve not been too lucky with my health over the last few years. Hip replacement, same hip twice that I dislocated four weeks after second time it was fitted, and that was really painful, let me tell you! Then a couple of years back, I woke up in the night to visit the loo and could barely walk. Turns out I had a bacterial spinal infection, seven weeks in hospital for that one, then I had to learn to walk again. Happy days! Then most recently cancer struck again in another part of my body. Two years of treatment failed to work but surgery did last year and I’m cancer-free again. Every time I go to Guy’s Hospital I see plenty of people worse off than me, so onwards and upwards, count your blessings, I say. 

(x) In July 2021 you were awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Merton. It is the highest civic award a local authority can give someone. Ivor Heller says you were “utterly beside himself! He was completely flummoxed and so delighted” when you were told about the honour. Can you tell us how you felt about getting that particular recognition?

“Funny thing is the TV commentator of the Leeds game actually said after the penalty save ‘he should be given the Freedom of the Borough’ Well,  I was .. only 46 years later! Better late than never!”

Dickie: The Freedom of the Borough Award came as a complete surprise to me. Fantastic and I was and am extremely proud to be honoured in that way. Funny thing is the TV commentator of the Leeds game actually said after the penalty save ‘he should be given the Freedom of the Borough’ Well,  I was .. only 46 years later! Better late than never!

(xi) Wimbledon are carrying on their fine tradition of high-class goalkeepers through the coaching/mentoring of Ashley ‘Bayzo’ Bayes. Can you talk of the importance Bayzo has for the club in his role and which club goalkeepers have impressed you over the years?

 

Dickie: Bayzo is an absolute legend at our club. I’ve never known anyone so enthusiastic about goalkeeping. He is bubbly in the extreme, unbelievably in love with goalkeeping, lives for it. He has done wonders for our club in bringing on goalkeepers. One keeper who stands head and shoulders above the rest is ‘Rambo’ Aaron Ramsdale. I felt so sorry for him to be left out of the Arsenal side as it ruined his chances of going to the World Cup with England. Now at Newcastle, but still a No.2 to Nick Pope, I hope he soon gets to be a No.1  again. Top keeper and a top fella, he’s been back to Plough Lane and played football with my grandkids after watching a game.

(xii) Finally, Dickie, in close to a 60-year lifetime connection, what does Wimbledon mean to you, what has it given your life?   

The Batsford Boys

Dickie: This club gets in your blood. It certainly has got in mine. It’s apart from watching football, it’s the friends made over the years of coming to the club. There are people there that go back to the Leeds, Burnley and Middlesbrough Cup runs. You are  talking 50 years ago! Last January we had a Batsford Boys reunion dinner at the club. Fifty years has passed, but all but one of the surviving players attended. Organised by John Lynch chairman of Wimbledon in Sporting History and the Wimbledon Old Players Association. A great night was had by all.

IAN COOKE TRIBUTE

I first met Dickie Guy in 1967. When I arrived at Wimbledon four years earlier Mick Kelly was the 1st team keeper and also the England Amateur XI custodian, but he was snapped up by QPR. Frank Smith came in from Spurs — a big, 6′ 3” but thirty something, and past his prime, although he was still a good goalkeeper. Then this fresh-faced youngster arrived from Tooting and quickly made his mark as an athletic, well-built ‘safe pair of hands’ and quickly became a  fans’ favourite, which you will know is never easy as the last line of defence is fraught with danger and any weakness/mishandling is soon pounced upon, not just by the opposition but sometimes the home crowd as well!! It says something that Dickie remained ever popular over such a long time but his record for the number of clean sheets, great saves, and general secure ball handling speaks for itself. Whilst any tributes about him always refer to his penalty save against Leeds United in the FA Cup, my own pick of his sterling performances was the one in the previous round against Burnley. The first half was not overly stressful but after we scored, early in the second half, they ramped up their efforts and tested our defence with wave after wave of attacks. Be it crosses or shots Dickie’s handling that day was immaculate and it is very regrettable that there is unfortunately no film of that game [apparently film crews were banned by Bob Lord, the Burnley Chairman, in an effort to increase the attendance, and probably in case the result went against them!]. But it was a masterclass in goalkeeping technique, athleticism and superb handling. However, it was after the Leeds game that Dickie was invited to a BBC TV studio and met Bob Wilson, the former Arsenal goalkeeper, who was working on ‘Match of the Day’ and they struck up a lasting friendship.  There is only one incident that Dickie doesn’t like being discussed, which relates to the Scarborough in a quarter final of the FA Trophy. The ball was played behind Billy Edwards, and Dickie came off his line, with the result that they both left it for each other and Scarborough scored the only goal of the game and we never got to Wembley! Dickie and Billy still blame each other and it is a ‘no-go’ area for them both!  Of course, it was terrible news when Dickie was diagnosed with throat cancer several years ago, but he, wife Josie, and their family have handled this setback with strength and fortitude for which they have been rightly praised. We manage to get out occasionally for a game of golf, together with Ivor Heller and, of course, we meet regularly during the football season at both home and away games and discuss all things Wimbledon. I will close by saying that the Club has benefitted greatly over many years from the past and continuing efforts of Dickie Guy.

[The Dickie Guy Interview was first published in the December-January 2026 issue of the Wombles Downunder fanzine.  Details on how you can subscribe to Wombles Downunder.]

Epic Journey Shines Light On Football For Good

By
onyadon
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I didn’t walk to all 92 league grounds to prove anything. I walked because I believe in  Football for Good  – the foundations, charities, fans and volunteers who use football to change lives every single day. Walk92 was my way of shining a light on that world. And what a world it is.

Everywhere I went I saw the power of sport delivered humbly and brilliantly. Chesterfield’s Boots on the Ground. Shrewsbury and Walsall’s back-to-work programmes. Our own AFC Wimbledon Foundation partnering with the Street Soccer Foundation to tackle youth homelessness. And, of course, it wasn’t just foundations: DLAG’s fight against poverty humbles me daily. Walk92 has raised £58,000 so far — thank you to everyone who donated, sponsored, carried my rucksack, fed me, put me up in a hotel or on their sofa. I will never forget that generosity.

The walk itself was a mix of dangerous roads, beautiful paths, and every kind of landscape this country has to offer. Coastal paths. The Cotswolds. And between Barrow and Newcastle, I realised I was quietly walking along the edge of three national parks. I watched some football too — Doncaster v Dons, Wrexham v Sheffield Wednesday, Cambridge v Crawley, and the mighty Tow Law Town v AFC Newbigginfield. Football in all its glorious forms.

But Walk92 was really about people. I walked with friends I rarely see for more than eight minutes at a time, yet we spent eight hours talking about life. Proper walk-and-talk stuff. Deep, honest, overdue conversations. Some people did multiple legs — Mick Lonergan walking for The Jack Lonergan Foundation in memory of his son, visiting the grounds Jack never got to. Jon White and so many others. And I was alone for half of it — which meant thinking time. Real clarity. I thought I’d listen to music or podcasts. I didn’t. I was simply present. And talking to animals: peacocks, a stoat, wild horses, chickens in a Blackburn street, and seeing far too much South Wales underwear roadside. Don’t ask!

A huge highlight was arriving at Wimbledon on Saturday 18 October. We were away at Plymouth which was a shame, but it was impossible to pan around the fixture list. Lana from the Foundation welcomed me warmly, and as at every club, I asked about one of their programmes. Wimbledon’s work tackling youth homelessness with the Street Soccer Foundation is powerful, important stuff. On the Monday I started at Plough Lane again, after a rest day, chatting with Jonesey and the club staff before heading towards Palace and Bromley. I somehow ended up with a Walk91 orange Dons shirt!!

There were so many moving moments. Walking with Taylor Moore at Bristol Rovers, two years on from learning — on the day he signed — that his mother had attempted to take her life. That moment pushed him into mental health advocacy and he went on to become EFL Community Player of the Year. Interviewing Lou Macari about his homeless projects. Arriving at Port Vale and meeting Ronan Curtis, Ben Heneghan and the inspiring Carol — the club owner — who handed us homemade biscuits and gave an amazing interview. Port Vale were brilliant. So were Chesterfield. Stockport too. Proper community action.

Then the giants. Man United supporting 45,000 young people. Man City supporting 17,000, each for an average of 24 hours a year. I visited City’s extraordinary hub — a multi-zillion-pound commitment to community. I arrived fresh from an absolute drenching having walked across Saddleworth Moor in a yellow storm warning, horizontal rain smashing into me. I chatted entrepreneurship at Tottenham, where they have 150 mentors helping young people start businesses. Every club had something powerful.

One of the most emotional moments came near Colchester. My daughter turned up as a surprise and walked the whole leg with me. We met Corin from Colchester United Foundation, marking his 25th year there with a day’s walk. In a community café, a woman on the next table came over to ask about the walk. She became overwhelmed and cried. Dave, an Ipswich fan walking with us, gently asked my daughter how that made her feel. She hugged me and said how proud she was. That moment alone is something I’ll carry forever.

There were falls (near Crewe — five cars went past without checking I was OK!), storms, blisters, seized legs, sore feet. But overwhelmingly there was kindness. Interest. Lifts in morale from complete strangers. A massive team behind me — Gilly sorting accommodation, friends and family on socials, Simon Burton walking with me and providing so much support (it was his idea in the first place), Keith from the Street Soccer Foundation, Julian Agostini and the Mash team, and so many volunteers.

And the DLAG effect. Honestly, people across the country already knew our work. To everyone at DLAG: be unbelievably proud. You are admired nationally. To the club, Trust and Dons fans: thank you. I hope I did you proud.

Walk92 changed me. It reaffirmed my belief that football, when rooted in community, is one of the most powerful tools in society. Physically and mentally it was brutal. But I just pushed on. I had no choice. It all gave me clarity about what comes next…. And there is a next.

A book. A podcast. A Sport Impact Hub — a database of Football for Good programmes. A national conference for the Sport for Good sector. A second version of Walk92 (don’t panic — not 92 days from me again!). The Sports Bank growing nationally. A big football and sport versus cancer initiative. And a volunteering platform I’m incredibly excited about. I’ll need help across all of it — researchers, writers, marketeers, outreach. I can’t do it alone. Big things are coming.

2000 miles. 4.4 million steps. 92 grounds. Done. Yes, all 92 — even the quiet one with the big green shop next door. I recommend doing something mad to everyone. I’m still buzzing.

Football for Good is real. It’s powerful. And Walk92 proved to me that we’re only just getting started.

[The Epic Journey Shines Light On Football For Good story was first published in the December-January 2026 issue of the Wombles Downunder fanzine.  Details on how you can subscribe to Wombles Downunder.]

Wombles Downunder #272

By
onyadon
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0

INSPIRATION is a prevailing theme in this issue of Wombles Downunder at this special time of the year. WDSA celebrate two Wimbledon individuals who in their own unique way are inspirational.

There is much respect and admiration for Dickie Guy, which you will glean from his fabulous tell-all interview in this Christmas issue. There’s another who’s touched us with his selflessness and stoicism in an extreme physical and mental challenge.

What Xavier Wiggins achieved on his recent Walk92 is simply extraordinary.. and inspirational. 92 clubs. 92 days. 2,000 miles on foot. Xav tells his tale of an epic journey of discovery.. “I didn’t walk to all 92 league grounds to prove anything. I walked because I believe in  Football for Good — the foundations, charities, fans and volunteers who use football to change lives every single day. Walk92 was my way of shining a light on that world. And what a world it is.”

Wimbledon’s form and results have plummeted after their stellar start to the season — just two points from their last seven league games. Why so? Tim Hanson and Windlesham Don have their thoughts, but a nasty circulating winter flu bug is certainly not helping things either.

The Club has published its annual financial accounts and reached this conclusion  “Within the wider context of finances throughout English football, stadium revenue growth is unlikely ever to be enough to compete and achieve break-even in League One or Two. Both boards understand that despite the constant generosity of our fans and bond holders, competing in the EFL at Plough Lane with our current structure is not reliably sustainable. We have to find a way that works for the whole club: fans, members, staff, and Plough Lane Bond holders.”

Colum McAndrew argues the time has come to vote for 50.01% club equity but with investor safeguards in place to prevent another Franchise scenario.

Ray Armfield helped track down old Wimbledon fans’ favourite Oyvind Leonhardsen to act as the star turn at the next International Weekend. Ray gives the background to the sleuthing involved.

Steve Dowse profiles Steve Seddon and how he has won over the crowd with his no-nonsense, get-stuck-in football. It’s been a torrid season for the Wimbledon Womens’ team in a stronger Tier 3 league, but Terry McFadden explains he’s not about to write them off just yet.

For the first time in a long while Plough Lane co-tenants the London Broncos start the new season as overwhelming favourites after an massive recruitment campaign under ambitious new owners. Ian White updates us.

And there are our regular contributions from Trevor Pearce — on England’s World Cup preparations— David Kenwery’s Away with the Dons and Tim Smith’s Look North. And in Off The Post Rob Ceccarelli gives WDSA members a  formal invitation to come to the World Wide Wombles Weekend at Plough Lane on March 6–8 next year, featuring the home game against Northampton Town.

It’s all in WDSA’s latest Wombles Downunder newsletter edition No.272, the longest-running (by far) and respected fanzine devoted to Wimbledon, now in its 40th continuous year. Come on, make the call, come and join us as many others have, all around the world, you won’t be disappointed!!

Wombles Downunder has been chronicling Wimbledon FC since October 1985 …..

“WE were there when Fash was terrorising defences in the old Division 2; we were around when Dave Beasant lifted the FA Cup at Wembley; we witnessed the heart-rending day when the Dons went down from the Premier League, and left Neal Ardley on his haunches sobbing; we raged at the injustice of the hijack to Milton Keynes; we flippin’ burst with pride when AFC Wimbledon rose like a phoenix and we cheered when ‘it took only nine years’ to reach the Football League.” 

For just one AUS dollar you get six continuous issues of the acclaimed ‘Wombles Downunder’ newsletter.

We proudly produce a bevy of testimonials after reading Wombles Downunder …

Dickie Guy … Many thanks for sending me the famous Wombles Downunder fanzine. I’m very impressed I must say. Much much larger than I ever expected and very knowledgeable about our club. Great to see we have fans spread around the world.

Samuel West … I’ve never been asked to talk about my love for @AFCWimbledon in print before. So when the famous Wombles Downunder fanzine asked me, I was delighted. As well as me, in the latest issue (worth a subscription alone) there’s lots about the Great Comeback from the Great Flood.

Mikey Haswell … I enjoy talking to fans and sharing perspectives, and I came across Wombles Downunder on X. It felt like a great way to hear another viewpoint and read thoughtful pieces about the club and those connected to it. I’m looking forward to reading more issues. 

Peter Slater, fanzine researcher .. “I’d have to say that Wombles Downunder should get some kind of award for most resilient fanzine, the ups and downs of the club are well documented so bravo for continuing through all that but even before that printing, stapling and posting (POSTING!!) fanzine from the other side of the planet to willing subscribers was quite a feat.”

Tim Hanson …. Wombles Downunder, in my view, is the most comprehensive collection of news and views on the Dons’ that you will see anywhere: not bad when it’s all brought together from the other side of the world. I’m proud to have been able to contribute to the newsletter for about 19 years now.

Xavier Wiggins … This is consistently great reading. Incredible that it is all done from the other side of the world. Keep it going!! Please subscribe if you love your Dons news.

Marc Jones … The WDSA “newsletter” is a rather humble moniker. It’s always been far more than that. A collection of opinions seldom found huddled together anywhere else. Its custodian and editor continues to serve the supporters furthest away as if the whole bunch of them live just opposite Plough Lane. Having fans so dedicated in all corners of the globe continues to give those of us actually just up the road a real sense of how special this club is. Long may this dedication and delightful gathering of opinions reign.

Ray Armfield …. Huge congratulations to @OnyaDon and @WDownunder for the production of Wombles Downunder. Such incredible and sustained dedication across the miles to producing readable and on-point material about all things Wimbledon. I often find out nuggets of information and exclusives contained therein that I didn’t previously know from sources in the UK.

Alf Galustian … I’m in Argentina doing clinics. I read the Wombles Downunder magazine. I think you are doing a great job for all the past, present and future followers of a club with a great history.

Graham Stacey … The Wombles Downunder Newsletter is a veritable treasure trove of information, analysis and opinion on all things Wimbledon. With big name contributors writing alongside fans old and new, and more stats than you can shake one of those bendy sticks at, it’s time (and an Aussie dollar/British pound) superbly spent for any Dons fan.

Terry Brown …. Many thanks Rob who allowed me the opportunity of reminiscing the most exciting and successful five years of my managerial career. Having read through his previous interviews with Allen Batsford, Harry Bassett and Dave Anderson it was a pleasure to be in such illustrious company… Really pleased with your special interview.

Tim Smith (BBC North) …  I really enjoyed reading that! It’s comprehensive, informed, opinionated – all the things a fanzine should be. I’m so impressed by Wombles Downunder.  It may be edited 9000 miles away, but it’s very well informed and a lot of what it predicts comes to pass. Much is being written about AFC Wimbledon at the moment, but I learn a great deal from our longest running fanzine and enjoy it even more.

Mick Smith … Excellent read bang up to date and very informative fanzine. More people should benefit from this type of publication.

Nigel Higgs … I always enjoy reading the WDSA newsletter and I am grateful to Rob for the opportunity to fill in some of the gaps in our history and to recall some great times in my interview.

Mike Taliadoros (Radio WDON) …. The newsletter is one of the most essential and informative reads available, not just for our Down Under fans,  but for Dons supporters all round the globe.

Mick Dore … Despite my input this is always an excellent read. Any Wimbledon fan give it a go, it’s brilliant.

Ian White .. The aspect of the publication I admire most is the open-minded approach to identifying content. It was such an approach a couple of years ago that saw me submit my first piece on London Broncos’ travails, a club now firmly linked with the Dons and long may that continue. I am immensely grateful to Rob for his support and encouragement.

Peter Thistle … Thanks very much for sending the WDSA Newsletter, which I enjoyed very much.  I am wondering now just why I have not subscribed before!  The articles are very well written, giving balanced views in a mature and sensible fashion.

Steve Dowse …  I’m in awe of what you put together from so far away and I look forward to every issue. Forty years makes Wombles Downunder the longest-running WFC/AFCW publication by a very long way. It’s also the best. Here’s to many more years.

Dave Anderson …. What a terrific read !! Covers the club from back to front. It’s a must if you’re a Don.

Erik Samuelson… I’ve always been impressed by the quality and the range of topics from Dons fans around the world.  WDSA brings them all together and produces a very high quality newsletter (and website). Long may it continue. My only grumble is that during our interviews he always manages to get me to say a bit more than I meant to, while respecting genuine confidences.

Bobby Gould … I have printed off the three pages of your Dons’ newsletter containing my interview and thoroughly enjoyed the read.  Hope your loyal readers enjoyed it as much as I did.

Derek French … Thanks for inviting me to tell some of the tales from my days at the Dons. Hope your readers enjoy it. It’s an excellent newsletter indeed, informative and interesting.

Kevin Gage …. You said I might be surprised by your ‘newsletter’……I certainly was!   A newsletter implies a sheet of A4, the type of thing I used to bring home from school! How times change! It’s a great read.

Ian Cooke …. Thirty years!! REALLY? I have always enjoyed the read and your correspondents are very similar in their views/outlooks to most of the fans I speak to.

Peter Leng …. Thanks for the newsletter: an excellent read as ever. It’s always such an interesting and engaging set of articles, and great to read others’ views and opinions on tactics, players and so much more. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jason Steger … Lots of info; good stuff. You do a great job. It’s good value.

Paul Jeater ….. Thirty years is a remarkable achievement, for any football publication, let alone one based in a different continent from that in which the Club that its focus is located. What makes WDSA newsletter so special is that it recognised the need to go ‘online’ ahead of the race and that it also complements rather than competes with other AFC Wimbledon fanzines.

Rob Cornell (Radio WDON)  ….. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being interviewed for the WDSA newsletter. It’s an excellent, well researched and well established magazine for Wimbledon and AFC Wimbledon supporters everywhere!

Richard Fairbairn (Aberdeen, Scotland) ….. Great fanzine, nicely written and it gives me some insights that it’s just hard to pick being a remote supporter.

Margaret Hung … An excellent edition. A very enjoyable read. Thank you.

Howard Fry .. Love reading your wondrous fanzine….

Stephen Crabtree (The Historical Don) … If you want in-depth, up-to-date, critical comment on every aspect of AFC Wimbledon then the Wombles Downunder newsletter is for you. Each issue Rob gets together a range of writers to examine the parts of the club other publications do not reach. Always well informed, at 200 not out it will no doubt be at the crease for many years to come.

Rob Bushaway (Derbyshire) … I have often commented that the news provided by the fanzine was much more informative than the national press. It’s been brilliant and fair to say it still is.

Andy Powell (Devon Womble) … I stepped inside Plough Lane to watch my first Wimbledon match sometime late in 1972/1973 (against Nuneaton Borough if memory serves me right), but beyond the fragments of sage wisdom in the local pub about our performances, and a constantly biased press; it was always hard to know much about what was really going on inside the boardroom, inside the dressing room, or occasionally, on the pitch (!) Now, almost 40 years later all I have to do is subscribe a token amount of dosh and I get Wombles Downunder newsletters loaded with the sort of stuff I suspect few club supporters get yet most crave. Where are you hiding the webcams Rob?  Probably the best £10 I’ve spent in years.

Paul Harman … Thanks for a great magazine. With the advent of technology, the Wombles Downunder newsletter is still required reading. I print each edition and spend the next couple of days reading the magazine.

Tony Shipman …. I’ve been meaning to subscribe to your newsletter for some months but didn’t pull my finger out until now.  Six bucks is a great deal and I will read it with interest.

So if you’ve been meaning to take out a subscription this is an excellent time to discover the many delights of Wombles Downunder. Here’s your chance, you’ve read what the many others say so don’t miss out on a consistently high-quality long-form read … so what are you waiting for?

To get your email PDF subscription to the comprehensive and widely-read Wombles Downunder fanzine and its many pages of quality reading simply follow this link and you will soon become a devotee as are many others around the world — UK, Europe, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, United States and Australasia.  Now in its 40th year and still very much a thoroughly good read ….. and so much MORE than just a newsletter!!

Make A WiSH .. And It Came True

By
onyadon
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0

John Lynch and the 1963 FA Amateur Cup display at the Museum.

OUT of a personal collection of Wimbledon FC memorabilia grew Wimbledon In Sporting History (WiSH). Its founder JOHN LYNCH tells the story of how it  developed into “The UK’s Best Sporting Heritage Organisation in 2025.”

I first went to watch Wimbledon FC in March 1963 and here I am now in my seventh decade as a Womble.

I’ve always been a collector of Wimbledon’s heritage and whenever something appeared, if I could afford, it’d be on its way to me, personally amassing a collection valued at circa £150,000 and over the years I became aware of other collectors, often bidding against each other and pushing the price up much to the benefit of the seller and auctioneer.

In our long rollercoaster ride of a journey items that should have always been held by the club somehow found their way into a market place, directly benefitting the third parties that had them, for whatever reason!?

I always wanted my collection to go home and I set about talking to the other main collectors to see if we could find a safe way to bring our heritage together under one roof for the first time, for every Wimbledon supporter to treasure and appreciate.

WiSH was borne out of this collective desire, a charity dedicated solely to safeguarding, collecting, displaying and archiving the club history, dare I say “in the wider interests of all”.

Dickie Guy peruses the exhibits at the excellent Club Museum.

We first approached the Club and the Dons Trust Board in November 2018 asking for a room at the new stadium with the intent of creating the club’s first museum.

Incidentally, of the 92 EFL clubs only 18 have museums, mostly at premiership level, so we knew we had to find the Wimbledon way of mixing it with the big boys.

Seven years later and we’ve been awarded “The UK’s Best Sporting Heritage Organisation in 2025” beating off not just the Premiership but all the other sports history organisations across the country.

The much-admired Club Museum.

In those seven years we’ve created a museum (twice due to flooding), currently hold an estimated £1.5 million in artefacts, remaining entirely volunteer-run without expenses.

There are so many to thank but rather than list a long list of names I’d like to pay tribute to two of them who have sadly passed away Mick Pugh and Kelly Jones, who now have two of our rooms named after them.

 

WiSH in a nutshell

  • 3 Films
  • 1 Play (another being developed)
  • 1 Book
  • Museum
  • Community Heritage Trails

  • Salute to the Wimbledon Speedway on display in the Plough Lane forecourt – Ronnie Moore (all recycled).

    Four installations in the stadium precinct covering football, speedway, greyhounds and the one and only Wombles bench, all firsts made from recycled materials

  • Support and attend all main community events
  • Memorial Bench on Wimbledon Common
  • Stadium Tours
  • WOPA, one of the biggest old players associations in the country
  • Heritage Boards
  • Light boxes and totem story boards that celebrate the many club unique USPS and achievements, that’s why we call it “The Greatest Story in Sports”
  • A virtual offering that will eventually be fully accessible to all around the world
  • Full digitilisation of all club heritage (A five year project and ongoing)

  • Another WiSH initiative.. the Worldwide Wombles Weekend.

    World Wide Wombles annual gathering, 55 countries over five continents.

  • Multiple partnerships, locally, nationally and globally..
  • The first and only replica of the FA Amateur Cup

All brought to you by 40 volunteers split into different teams with their own targets and objectives but whenever required we come together to make WiSH what it is today.

We don’t buy history, we make it, then display it. 

To the Club, DTB, DLAG, Foundation and everyone else that has supported us on our journey we thank you all, we couldn’t have done it without you.

 

John P Lynch

Managing Director – Wimbledon in Sporting History

 

[The WiSH story was first published in the October-November 2025 issue of the Wombles Downunder fanzine.  Details on how you can subscribe to Wombles Downunder.]

WDSA .. It Only Took 40 Years!

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onyadon
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LONG-TIME members and contributors reflect back on forty years of WDSA and its enduring publication Wombles Downunder. So many memories — bitter and sweet — all faithfully chronicled and which has produced the resilient mouthpiece of the Wimbledon Downunder Supporters’ Association.

After I’d visited Plough Lane in 1985, the great man Eric Willcocks put me in touch with Rob Smith and in October that year, WDSA newsletter #1 arrived in my mail box.  Long before the internet, email and mobile phones, Rob produced a small but important lifeline on the goings on of our dynamic club by cobbling bits of information from all sources. The growth of Wimbledon FC and AFCW has been completely different to any other club and Rob has been on hand to capture this in a lively, fresh and topical way.  Erik Samuelson said it best that he has a well-honed professional art of finding out stories.  One such example was the Boris Becker recollections from prison in the excellent Gary Elkins interview. I’ve met some fantastic people and had great experiences following the Dons through WDSA.  I sometimes assume the role of the Wombles Downunder unofficial “Cultural Ambassador” now (perhaps due to a demeanour resembling Sir Les Patterson) and it’s a responsibility that I undertake with gusto. Well played Rob on forty years. — DAVID KENWERY.

 

Flicking through a few old copies of Dons Outlook and one or two Wimbledon fanzines that followed, I realised that for years names like Rob Smith, Dave Kenwery and others were following the fortunes of Wimbledon and later AFC Wimbledon in the pre-internet and touch-of-a-button social media age and how difficult it must have been to stay in touch. Proud to call them both good mates now and yet the WDSA (and its invaluable newsletter) has not only endured but flourished, to the extent that I often find out nuggets of information and exclusives contained therein that I didn’t previously know from sources here. So those early days of typing, printing and posting them don’t do justice to the thousands of hours of hard ‘yakka’ put in by Rob in particular over the years to establish Wimbledon Downunder Supporters Association should be celebrated long and loud! — RAY ARMFIELD.

 

It was back in 2002 that a certain journalist reached about me writing a piece for bunch of antipodean Wimbledon fans. Who knew there were enough Dons fans there to warrant publishing a periodical every two months. Here I am 23 years later still contributing and hoping my contributions make interesting reading. One of the strengths of WDSA is the variety of topics it covers. It’s been a joy to see it develop to include regular pieces on the academy and women’s teams, and it’s not afraid to tackle difficult topics involving the Dons Trust and PLC boards. The journalist who contacted me back then is now considered a friend who I meet  for a beer or two whenever our paths cross. His modesty at keeping WDSA going all these years belies the effort involved. He’ll say it is down to the contributors, but we know the truth of the matter. Congratulations to Rob and everyone involved. Here’s to the next 40. — COLUM McANDREW

 

Congratulations to Rob on the 40th anniversary of WDSA. Such longevity, achieved through incredible commitment, is an amazing achievement, especially considering all the changes in Wimbledon’s fortunes over that period. Wombles Downunder, in my view, is the most comprehensive collection of news and views on the Dons’ that you will see anywhere: not bad when it’s all brought together from the other side of the world. I’m proud to have been able to contribute to the newsletter for, I think, about 19 years now – which I’ve just realised is scarily almost half of WDSA’s existence. I’ve loved doing it and it’s really encouraged me to branch into putting out other Dons’ content. It’s great that Rob’s been able to get to Plough Lane and some away games over the last couple of years and to enjoy a winning Dons’ team – a deserved reward for all the graft over the years. — TIM HANSON.

 

Congratulations Rob on a magnificent achievement! 40 years is such a long time that Wombles Downunder is even well known here in Yorkshire, having been part of a high profile exhibition on the history of football fanzines in Leeds this summer. My first Wimbledon game was back in 1976 so I’m now in my 50th year following the Dons. It’s difficult to remember being a supporter without Wombles Downunder. I’m a newbie contributor, having only written for you for four years. I love doing so, and my wife does too, as I can now air my thoughts in print rather than giving her the benefit of my opinions on my latest trip to Bradford, Barrow, Bolton… (insert glamorous northern venue here). Really well done Rob. Here’s to the next 40. — TIM SMITH.

 

Adelaide has been a ‘hot bed’ of WDSA supporters.. here gathered at a meet up

Wow …… WDSA 40 years old. I think I joined up a few issues in when the Dons were about to gear up for that monumental FA cup winning season. Shortly after I met my now great friend and fellow WDSAer, Liam Nolan, in a bar in Adelaide (my home town) after he rang me after chatting to Rob Smith on whether there were any Dons fans in Adelaide. That’s the magic of WDSA, Liam and I instantly hit it off and became friends for life. I later got to know Rob very well with many catch ups in Adelaide during the test matches when he was still working and also David Kenwery and many others. It is another great part of the Wimbledon family and great story. And it has been all down to one man. Robert Smith…… I remember having dinner one time in Adelaide just after AFC Wimbledon was born, (Rob had made the call to keep going with WDSA despite all the dramas) and asked me in desperation whether he was crazy continuing a fanzine for a Combined Counties League team from Australia. According to Rob I said he should but in any case Rob would never have given in. And look what we have today. Thanks Rob for everything you have done to keep this group and its fantastic professional publication going over the years.— PAUL RUSSELL.

 

I find it incredible that it is over 15 years since Rob first asked me to write an article for the WDSA newsletter.  Being more of a ‘numbers guy’ my writing style was awful back then and is probably only marginally better now – just facts with a few opinions thrown in!  But Rob kept asking, so my wafflings must have been of interest to some.  I soon impetuously asked whether I could initiate a ‘spoof’ awards ceremony related to the annual Pundit’s Poll.  Rob agreed and the “Ivors” will celebrate their 15th anniversary this season! The newsletter is always an interesting read, with some great opinion pieces at its heart.  Regular articles on the charitable works, the ladies’ team and the London Broncos probably didn’t feature much in 1985, but it shows how much the club has changed in 40 years (apart from the obvious, of course).  Here’s to the half century, Rob! — JOHN MARTIN (Windlesham Don).

 

I first became aware of the WDSA many years ago, when Rob wrote articles for the ‘Dons Outlook’ and ‘Grapevine’ fanzines. Once the Wombles Downunder magazine became available to download, I became an avid reader. The mag is always enjoyable (despite my ramblings) and well-informed. My personal highlights have been the many in-depth interviews over the years, but also the more recent forensic deep-dives into the Dons’ finances. For Rob to have been able to put the magazine together for so long has been quite some feat. It’s been good to meet up with him on several occasions over the years; he’s a lovely fella and always good for a chat. Forty years makes Wombles Downunder the longest-running WFC/AFCW publication by a very long way. It’s also the best. Here’s to many more years with Rob at the helm. — STEVE DOWSE.

 

I can’t now remember when Rob first got in touch to ask me to give him a few hundred words on the latest in the world of the Wombles – I think it was post-AFC but I couldn’t swear to it. I think he’d seen a post on the old guestbook and realised I could spell okay, and so got in touch. Anyway, it’s been an absolute pleasure to be talk about all things Dons, and a good outlet when my family make very clear that they have no contribution to make, or interest in, whether we should go with Bugiel or Browne up front! So it’s been an absolute pleasure to talk about subjects like the Dons Trust’s role in the sudden departure of Terry Eames; the demise of the original Marc Jones-run guestbook; the fall out from the Jermaine Darlington debacle; and also plenty of non-AFCW content like the England football and cricket teams and Gary Lineker’s latest social media mishap. Even in these media-soaked times, it can be difficult to get content on the Dons that tells us exactly how the new centre-back is doing, or why we keep giving leads away, so I’m as much of a reader as a contributor. So I’m sure I say on behalf of everyone who is reading, a massive thank you to Rob for giving us the gift of the newsletter; it’s read around the world and may it continue to be so for another 40 years! — TREVOR PEARCE.

 

Happy 40th Birthday, and a huge thanks to you Rob, for making the effort to unite Wimbledon fans through a lengthy period with many highs and lows for our club! There was no internet in 1985, of course, but despite the plethora of online content these days, it is only at WDSA that we can read articles from real fans, reporting club activities and results from the terrace’s viewpoint. Your newsletter has always contained updates on the key issues of the day and was invaluable in providing insight into the early days of AFC Wimbledon’s formation and progress through the football league’s basement. I suspect your only regret was not being able to unfurl the WDSA banner at opening day of the new ground. I doubt we will see fresh interest in Wimbledon in Australia until another promotion is achieved, but I’m sure you will be there to cover it. — GARY WALKER.

 

WDSA’s strength is its uniqueness, made by fans, for fans, covering a fan-owned club reborn. Reaching forty years is significant for any publication, especially an independent in the social media age, whereby sports “content” is engineered to be disposable. It is reassuring to think there will always be places like WDSA that serve as a home for diverse and analytical long form writing that informs, entertains and inspires. The aspect of the publication I admire most is the open-minded approach to identifying content. It was such an approach from Rob a couple of years ago that saw me submit my first piece on London Broncos’ travails, a club now firmly linked with the Dons and long may that continue. I am immensely grateful to Rob for his support and encouragement, congratulations to him and all those involved with WDSA over the decades for reaching such an impressive milestone. — IAN WHITE.

I remember contacting Rob through British Soccer Weekly in October 1996. The magazine was an Australian publication on English football that was released every Wednesday during the season. There was  a classified section with the contact details of football clubs for Aussie fans. Amongst the Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Utd clubs, there was Rob’s contact details for Wimbledon supporters. I had just listened to Wimbledon thrash Chelsea on the radio, watched the Premier League highlights of the game and had an obsession to know more about Wimbledon. Rob sent me the latest edition of Wombles Downunder and I’ve been a proud page sponsor of WDSA for 29 years. I don’t think I would have supported the club as much as I do without WDSA. Living 17,000 kilometres from London WDSA is such a close and intimate connection to the club. Best memory is now. Flying high in League One and looking forward to the next edition where every WDSA contributor is pleasantly surprised at our progress, despite our grim forecasts at the start of season. Here’s to another 40 years. — PAUL HARMAN.

Congratulations to Rob and his regular contributors for providing the premier insight into our club. I can’t actually remember when I signed up to WDSA; all I know is that while spending several years living and working in South Carolina, USA,  the arrival of the Wombles Downunder magazine in my inbox felt like a homecoming. When I finally returned to the UK, top of the ‘to do’ list was to pay my first visit to Plough Lane. (Fleetwood Town, August Bank Holiday 2024 — a satisfying 1-0 victory if I recall correctly.) The icing on the cake that day was meeting several WDSA pundits, and not least, our editor-in-chief, who proved to be a most amenable guide. My grateful thanks therefore to everyone involved in the production of the fanzine and the connection it provides to all AFC Wimbledon supporters. Long may WDSA continue! — ANDY POWELL.

 

 

 

 

 

All By Chance Origins for WDSA

By
onyadon
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0

Where it all began .. the very first (basic) issue of Wombles Downunder in October 1985

The genesis of the Wimbledon Downunder Supporters’ Association (WDSA) was all down to a flat to let advertisement in the London Evening News.

When I first arrived in London at the outset of 1977 to work in Fleet Street for my employers Australian Associated Press, the only Wimbledon I knew was of the tennis variety. I am a sports writer by profession, and I’ll hold my hands up and freely admit, I did not know about the existence of Wimbledon FC. But fate took a hand.

I had to find some digs, but where? I was flicking through the Evening News and came across a flat for let in Wimbledon, a two-bedroom upper maisonette in a quiet street across the road from school grounds.

Months later Wimbledon FC were elected into the Football League. And here comes another twist. It was not far to amble down and take in a few games at humble understated gritty Plough Lane.

The football was of the basic variety, the Dons were struggling for points and they were slip-sliding towards a quick return from whence they came. Yet I was getting addicted to this unpretentious local Fourth Division outfit.

South Stand Plough Lane circa 1977

I can recall sitting in the creaky blue-painted wooden South Stand enjoying the up and at ‘em style of Stevie Galliers and the imperial Dave Donaldson at centre-back, so neat and tidy with his back-passes to Dickie Guy. Bearded striker Roger Connell was a bit of a folk hero and Johnny Leslie could be equally both infuriating and exhilarating with his dribbling runs. And, of course, the Durnsford Road end loved Dave ‘Harry’ Bassett’s take-no-prisoners.

I wasn’t really up with things inside the club and relied on The Wimbledon News for the skerricks of information and it was sad but inevitable when the admirable Allen Batsford made way for his ambitious assistant Dario Gradi in the first week of January 1978.

My work beckoned me ‘oop North for the Australian Kangaroos’ rugby league tour not long into next season, but I went to some Dons games around Leeds, where I was based for months. I recall zipping up to York to see the Dons thump four past City at Bootham Crescent and weeks later I drove down with a journo colleague to Oakwell and a crackling  match with Barnsley.

Plough Lane … home of Wimbledon FC until 1991

I didn’t catch up with Wimbledon again until Boxing Day and an incident-packed match with Portsmouth before almost 8,000 fans at Plough Lane. Some Pompey fans got into the Durnsford Road end and it was a seething mass behind the goal, even forcing the retaining wall to buckle and collapse. Portsmouth won 4-2, even though the Dons had led 2-1 at halftime through a brace from Ray Knowles.

I was fully emotionally switched on by now but the clock was ticking for me. My working brief in England was coming to an end and I was due to return home. I didn’t get to see the Dons play in Division Three, and it was perhaps just as well. It was a dreadful season; they weren’t prepared for the step up, finished rock bottom and tumbled back to the Fourth Division.

And in another quirky coincidence on our way to Heathrow we were passed by the Wimbledon team coach with the players coming back from training. In my mind I took that as a metaphorical farewell wave from the Club to which I had become so attached.

As they say absence makes the heart grow fonder and I took an even keener interest in the progress of the Dons when I got back to Australia. In those pre-internet/email days news on an English lower league team on the other side of the world was nigh on impossible, so I subscribed to the Dons match day programmes and made contact with the inestimable Eric ‘Mr Wimbledon’ Willcocks. It was an association that was to have long-standing consequences to this very day.

WDSA Inspiration.. Eric Willcocks

Every few weeks a Dons home programme (with a scribbled brief note from Eric) would lob into my letter box and I would quickly scour its contents, imagining how games would have been played out and which players would be doing what. I did get to see the Dons live again in the 1982-83 and 1986-87 seasons when I returned to the UK to report on further Kangaroo tours.

Eric played a seminal role in the formation of  WDSA in 1985. And in another coincidence Eric got me in touch with another Aussie, David Kenwery, who had dropped in to Plough Lane to catch a couple of games. Between us it would be the genesis of a growing group of supporters that flourishes to this day.

WDSA co-founders Rob Smith and Dave Kenwery at Bradford on the day of the Great Escape 2019

I’ve been back several times since to track the phenomenal rise of AFC Wimbledon.

WDSA has drawn together dozens and dozens of expats and their families – even Aussies like me — over the years with the common denominator  following Wimbledon and AFC Wimbledon. Such is the widespread nature of WDSA’s membership gatherings are limited around this wide brown land.

David Kenwery recounts a special memory for the fledging WDSA crew. “The FA Cup final remains my best memory of WDSA and of following WFC in Australia. The host of the Australian television broadcast of the FA Cup Final contacted Rob and interviewed him at length about the WFC story prior to the final.

“WDSA received at least three plugs from him during the broadcast, and in particular for the party held at the Russell’s house that rollicking night in Adelaide. The TV host was dropping references to “Crazy Gang”, “Lurch” and “Fash” like he was a seasoned Dons fan!

How Wombles Downunder reported the aftermath of the 1988 FA Cup Final triumph

“Rob also got in the Sydney Morning Herald. I will always remember that FA Cup party. I remember Jack Russell – who was at the 1963 FA Amateur Cup final at Wembley before emigrating to Australia – smiling like he enjoyed the entire match while the rest of us were nervous wrecks. And the final result was surreal. An unbelievable result fitting an incredible day.”

Our web-site (www.wdsa.com.au) pushes out the message to others around the world and we have put out around 270+ continuous issues of our acclaimed newsletter Wombles Downunder, read and valued by a veritable Wimbledon who’s who.

In October this year WDSA celebrated its 40th anniversary. We’ve got subscribers from the UK, Europe, Asia and the Americas as well as throughout Australia and New Zealand.

This year Pete Slater and his research for a football fanzine exhibition at Leeds Central Library revealed that Wombles Downunder is the fourth oldest of the still active football fanzines and he rated it as the most resilient. 

Football fanzine exhibition at Leeds Central Library

“Wombles Downunder clearly fits the independent criteria we apply (no club funding, guidance and run by volunteers) and it’s a classic zine, a mixture of interviews, history, humour, protest and general grumbling!” Slater wrote.

“Then there is longevity, Wombles Downunder is (back then) 39 years old and though it’s far from the oldest fanzine it’s in the top 10 — fourth oldest in terms of still active zines and roughly speaking (we’re still finding zines) you were about the 38th to start.

“I’d also have to say that Wombles Downunder should get some kind of award for most resilient fanzine, the ups and downs of the club are well documented so bravo for continuing through all that but even before that printing, stapling and posting (POSTING!!) fanzine from the other side of the planet to willing subscribers was quite a feat.”

Long-time contributor Colum McAndrew says: “WDSA has been there through it all, giving a warts and all view for those fans unable to get to games because of their location. In the days before the internet and social media, it was one of the few places fans in far-off places could get information on their club. Even now with a wide array of media channels, it is a go-to place for many: including fans like me who manage to get to most games.” 

We take great pride in presenting a wide cross-section of views from long-time valued contributors and interviews with club luminaries which make Wombles Downunder an endearing, essential and enjoyable read. As former Don Kevin Gage emailed one time:  “You said I might be surprised by your ‘newsletter’…… I certainly was!   It’s a great read.”

A centre-piece of Wombles Downunder are the interviews conducted over the years (mainly via email)  .. Dave Bassett (a particular favourite), Bobby Gould, Allen Batsford, Terry Brown, Dave Anderson, Carlton Fairweather, Alan Cork, Mark Robinson, Alf Galustian, Trevor Williams, Mick Smith, Gary Elkins, Ashlee Hincks, Sam Hammam, Samuel West among others.

As I wrote in our blurb promoting the Wombles Downunder fanzine …  “WE were there when Fash was terrorising defences in the old Division 2; we were around when Dave Beasant lifted the FA Cup at Wembley; we witnessed the heart-rending day when the Dons went down from the Premier League, and left Neal Ardley on his haunches sobbing; we raged at the injustice of the hijack to Milton Keynes; we flippin’ burst with pride when AFC Wimbledon rose like a phoenix and we cheered when ‘it took only nine years’ to reach the Football League.”

AFC Wimbledon consumes a major part of my life, and all because of a quirk of fate all those years ago. — ROB SMITH.

If you wish to take out a subscription to Wombles Downunder go to https://www.wdsa.com.au/become-a-member/

WDSA Pundits Poll 2025-26

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onyadon
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WDSA’s contributors, long-time Dons’ fans, celebrities and legends deliver their predictions for this season’s League One (top six, where the Dons will finish and their star player)…

 

 

Neufville our WDSA Player of the Season

By
onyadon
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0

JOSH NEUFVILLE capped his breakout season with a promotion victory at Wembley, in what proved his last game for the club.

Neufville, the winner of WDSA’s Player of the Season award, ended his two years at Plough Lane to take up a three-year deal with fellow League One rivals Bradford City.

Neufville was successfully transitioned to the right wing-back role under the coaching of Johnnie Jackson and staff and became hot property once his contract expired with the Dons.

“I’ve grown as a player and a person at the club. I’ve got used to what the manager wants from me, and I’ve improved as time as passed,” Neufville said during last season.

His stats from last season make for illuminating reading:  he played for a total of 4,335 minutes working out at 88 minutes per appearance. He scored five goals and made five assists.

He excited the fans with his speed down the flanks combined with his excellent first touch. He scored some stunners too — the winning goal he scored against Notts County in the home playoff leg will be long remembered.  He deftly brought down the ball with his left foot before intuitively lobbing the goalkeeper with his right into the far corner of the net.

“We tried it last week, with the ball from Joe [Lewis] to me over the defenders, but it didn’t come off. It did today. I think some people were debating that I was crossing it or all that malarkey! It was intended.”

So it came as no great surprise but with some dismay when it was announced Neufville had left to join the Bantams.

“It was going to take a special project and a special club to move me away from Wimbledon,” he said.

No doubt the length of the contract and financial deal helped sway him. Yet no doubt Wimbledon will always hold a special place for Neufville, who announced himself to the football world in his dazzling season with the Dons.

Neufville was a clear-cut winner of the WDSA POTS. He polled 10 maximum votes in his 56-point tally to beat defender Joe Lewis by 16 votes.

Loan goalkeeper Owen Goodman was third. Leading season goalscorer Matty Stevens finished fourth ahead of James Tilley—who has also left the club but for Wycombe Wanderers.

WDSA Player of the Season 2024-25 voting:

 56— JOSH NEUFVILLE

40 —  Joe Lewis

12 — Owen Goodman

8 — Matty Stevens

7 — James Tilley

5 — Myles Hippolyte

2 — Alistair Smith, Riley Harbottle, Jake Reeves

1 — Ryan Johnson, Isaac Ogundere

 

PAST WINNERS: 1986-87 JOHN FASHANU; 1987-88 JOHN FASHANU; 1988-89 DENNIS WISE; 1989-90 HANS SEGERS; 1990-91 JOHN FASHANU; 1991-92 ROBBIE EARLE; 1992-93 JOHN SCALES; 1993-94 DEAN HOLDSWORTH; 1994-95 WARREN BARTON; 1995-96 OYVIND LEONHARDSEN; 1996-97 CHRIS PERRY; 1997-98 MICHAEL HUGHES; 1998-99 JASON EUELL; 1999-2000 NEIL SULLIVAN; 2000-01 KELVIN DAVIS; 2001-02 KENNY CUNNINGHAM; 2002-03 KEVIN COOPER (AFCW); 2003-04 MATT EVERARD; 2004-05 RICHARD BUTLER; 2005-06 ANDY LITTLE; 2006-07 ANTONY HOWARD; 2007-08 JASON GOODLIFFE; 2008-09 BEN JUDGE; 2009-10 DANNY KEDWELL; 2010-11 SEB BROWN; 2011-12 JACK MIDSON; 2012-13 JACK MIDSON; 2013-14 BARRY FULLER; 2014-15 JAMES SHEA.; 2015-16 PAUL ROBINSON; 2016-17 TOM ELLIOT; 2017-18 DEJI OSHILAJA; 2018-19 WILL NIGHTINGALE; 2019-20 MARCUS FORSS; 2020-21 JOE PIGOTT; 2021-22 JACK RUDONI;  2022-23 ALI al-HAMADI; 2023-24 OMAR BUGIEL.

 

 

 

 

 

The ‘resilient’ Wombles Downunder fanzine

By
onyadon
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0

LAST YEAR [2024] Leeds Central Library put out a call asking for volunteers for a project on Football Fanzine Culture called Voice of the Fans. Manna from heaven for me, retired, time to burn, what more could you ask for?

Our first meeting at the Leeds Central Library was an eye-opener, the librarians laid out what they had and the problem they faced. Firstly, they had a lot of stuff and secondly, they didn’t fully realise what they had.

Step forward some slightly ageing volunteers who droned on for an hour about what fanzines meant to football fans and why it was such an important part of the 1980s and 1990s… Protest, humour, the fan’s voice, a dramatic change in culture, all of these and more on the pages of scruffy, some might say amateur-looking magazines and pamphlets disguised as fanzines.

We quickly structured the project into themes and set to work. My role was to look at historical context and the voice of the fan before fanzines, a role which (un)fortunately involved the incredible microfilm archives in the library (incredible because THERE ARE MILES AND MILES OF IT!) Leeds Central Library has copies of newspapers going back well into the 1800s, every single page, every single day.

Unfamiliar with microfilm? You clearly haven’t lived. A reel of film which has the imprint of a month or two of EVERY page of a newspaper, usually in negative form. So, you scroll, manually on some machines, with no indexing or search feature, you just have to scroll, stop, scan.. over and over.

We focused on dates that might have interesting information, Leeds City, the Herbert Chapman years, the fall of City, formation of Leeds United and post-War football, fan letters in the following decades up to the time football fanzines really arrived in the 1980s. This still took months but revealed some incredible aspects of the history of football at the time.

It quickly got to the point where we already had way too much for the small part of the exhibition historical context would take. So, one day as we were talking about the sheer number of fanzines there used to be in Leeds and Bradford and Yorkshire and nationwide, I started to think.. and then I started to search.

Months later the answers would turn out to be:

17 (with 1 joint Leeds/Arbroath joint fanzine),

12 (9 for Bradford City, 3 for Park Avenue!)

111 (Not including Middlesbrough but including Scarborough and District League Division Three side Thornton Le Dale … 1,691 so far!

We have created a monster, a list of all the football fanzines that existed in the British Isles with a couple beyond that for good measure. Like any good list it’s more than that, it details all sorts of obscure facts about the fanzines and so blogs were mentioned.

Wimbledon fanzine Wombles Downunder came to my attention thanks to the internet, it popped up quite quickly and it stands out for several reasons.

Wombles Downunder clearly fits the independent criteria we apply (no club funding, guidance and run by volunteers) and it’s a classic zine, a mixture of interviews, history, humour, protest and general grumbling!

There are several fanzines that are remote from their subject, Ørneblikket is a Norwegian Crystal Palace fanzine for example but Oslo to London is a mere 1,078 compared to the 10,559 miles distance from Sydney to Wimbledon so Wombles Downunder is without doubt the furthest away any fanzine is from its subject.

Then there is longevity, Wombles Downunder is 39 years old and though it’s far from the oldest fanzine it’s in the top 10 — fourth oldest in terms of still active zines and roughly speaking (we’re still finding zines) you were about the 38th to start.

I’d also have to say that Wombles Downunder should get some kind of award for most resilient fanzine, the ups and downs of the club are well documented so bravo for continuing through all that but even before that printing, stapling and posting (POSTING!!) fanzine from the other side of the planet to willing subscribers was quite a feat.

Though some people think that fanzines have to be printed I’m not amongst them, as long as a fanzine WAS in print form it’s in. There are plenty of zines today that are online or offer pdf as an option.

If football fanzines hadn’t exploded in numbers in the late 1980s the landscape we look at, the grounds were attend and the fandom we exist in would have been very different.

There is so much more to be revealed in the exhibition at Leeds central library from May 9 to  August 10 this year [2025] covering this incredible era in football and publishing.

It is very much not Leeds-focused but a celebration of fanzines, protest and the voice of the fan across the British Isles.

Watch out for news of events, come along and join us in the library and we hope you’ll enjoy the blogs which will appear here:

https://footballfanzineculture.blog/

 

If you wish to take out a subscription to Wombles Downunder go to https://www.wdsa.com.au/become-a-member/

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