Make A WiSH .. And It Came True

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”.

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.

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

• 

  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)

• 

  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.]