Look out they’re coming ..and they’re the future!
United in spirit and ethos yet often disprespectfully labelled “Rebels”, FC United and AFC Wimbledon represent the voice and power of the fans. More importantly they’re run by them.
Watched by a 3000+ crowd at Gigg Lane Bury on Saturday, FC United
beat Barrow 1-0 in the FA Cup .They now face Rochdale away in the 1st Round. AFC Wimbledon now head the Blue Square Conference and regularly attract similar crowds of 3000+. They face Ebbsfleet in the 1st Round.
Rebels’ progress: The FC United story
2005 Formed by fans opposed to the Glazer family’s takeover of Manchester United
2006 Promoted as champions from the North West Counties League Second Division
2007 Promoted as champions from the North West Counties League First Division
2008 Promoted as play-off winners from Unibond League First Division North to what has become this season the Evo-Stik League’s Premier Division
Sep 2010 Launch “Community Share” investment scheme to raise £1.5m towards a new stadium in Newton Heath
Oct 2010 Reach FA Cup first round
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The story of AFC Wimbledon
As the curtain came down at the end of the 2009/10 season, the players of AFC Wimbledon celebrated adding another successful chapter to their club’s short history. By securing eighth position in their first season in the top flight of non-League football, the Dons finished as the county’s highest-placed part-time team. More importantly, they took another step towards regaining what their supporters believe is their rightful place in the Football League – the place that was taken from them so controversially.
After decades of success, the old Wimbledon FC was allowed by a supine FA Commission to relocate to a Buckinghamshire new town. The Dons fans were outraged and determined not to let a proud 104-year history die. Within just six weeks during the hot summer of 2002, AFC Wimbledon – a club the sport’s governing body had declared would be “not in the wider interests of football” – was born.
The new Dons’ opening match in the Combined Counties League attracted 2,449 fans to Sandhurst Town’s basic Bottom Meadow ground, where bales of hay were brought in to form improvised terracing. After finishing third at the end of that first campaign, the Dons secured a league and cup double in 2004. The next season they won the Ryman League First Division South before twice failing in the Premier Division playoffs over the following 24 months.
The upward momentum was restored with the arrival of experienced manager Terry Brown in 2007. In his first year the new boss helped the team scramble out of the Ryman League via the playoffs, and followed that up by leading his side to the Conference South title at the first attempt. The Blue Square Premier proved a tougher nut to crack, and despite being in fourth place at the turn of the year the club finished outside the playoff places last April.
The rise of AFC Wimbledon has brought inevitable comparisons with their illustrious predecessor’s climb from the Southern League to the old First Division during the 1970s and 80s. That success culminated in victory over Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup Final, prompting BBC commentator John Motson to deliver the immortal line, “The Crazy Gang have beaten the Culture Club.” That unique spirit lives on in the large numbers of fans who give up their time to run the present club.
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