Dons fate in the balance

It's been announced today that the FA commission which is going to decide whether or not to allow the proposed move to Milton Keynes will be convened on Tuesday May 14th.

On 2 August 2001, the majority shareholders at Wimbledon Football Club (WFC) announced their plans to re-locate the club to Milton Keynes. Ever since, they have been in a state of civil war with the club's supporters and players, with the Football League (FL) and with the football world as a whole. Next week, a Football Association (FA) commission will rule once again on WFC's application. This matter has implications for football from the highest level down to the grass roots.

WFC's majority shareholders bought into the club on the back of Sam Hammam's idea to re-locate the club to Dublin. When Dublin was blocked by UEFA and by the Football Association of Ireland, attention turned to Milton Keynes. The move was kept quiet through Egil Olsen's reign as manager (as the Norwegian owners did not wish for their national icon to be caught in the cross-fire), but was re-awoken in late 2000.

It is the view of Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association (WISA) that the proposed move to Milton Keynes is little more than a property deal for the majority shareholders, a move designed to recoup some of the £28m they paid to invest in a club whose value is now nowhere near that figure. The owners would benefit in Milton Keynes from a share in the ownership of a multi-purpose stadium and from the income streams from other developments on the site. Indeed, in January 2002, current Chairman Charles Koppel was quoted as saying that Milton Keynes was `a platform, a foundation to justify the investment'. Yet there is no evidence that the owners have any interest in the long-term footballing future of the club. WISA believes that Mr Koppel's strategy to secure Milton Keynes is based around pleading poverty, a plea that would not hold water if the club got promoted to the Premier League. WISA believes that this theory is supported by the fact that Mr Koppel tried, this season, to sell or loan at least seven first team players to WFC's direct promotion rivals. Furthemore, manager Terry Burton, a member of the WFC staff for 14 years, was sacked within 24 hours of speaking out in favour of a return to Merton. The majority shareholders, some of the richest men in Europe, do not wish to spend any money on WFC until they get their way. The FL have now blocked the move four times, and in January an FA arbitration panel did not approve the move.

Perhaps the FL and the FA both recognise the wider implications for football. WFC's move to Milton Keynes would set a precedent for the franchising of football, with clubs being bought and sold to which ever town can provide the highest bidder. But the collapse of ITV Digital has shown that there is no longer a market for the floating supporter, who might - or might not - turn on his TV or turn up at the turnstile. Football must recognise that it should rely ever more on the supporter paying on the turnstile, the supporter who has remained most loyal to his club and to his sport. It is only genuine football support like this which will hold the fabric of the national game together. Ironically, even Bjorn Rune Gjelsten - who along with Kjell Inge Rokke originally bought 80% of WFC Ltd - understands this: in a meeting with supporters on January 24 2001, Gjelsten stated that Milton Keynes `might as well be Oslo' and that if the club did move there `something has gone seriously wrong'.

Thus, even a proponent of the plan recognises the serious, negative consequences for WFC and for the game itself. On the positive side, the London Borough of Merton - WFC's traditional home - remains a realistic and achievable option for WFC. WFC's original site at Plough Lane remains viable. WISA commissioned an independent architect's plan of a 20,800-seat on Plough Lane. This was and remains the only study of Plough Lane undertaken by any party. WISA also commissioned an independent survey of local residents, which concluded that the 20,800-seat stadium on Plough Lane would attract up to 18,000 local residents to home games. Most importantly, Plough Lane has the full and public support of Merton Council (with the Council leadership re-elected in the recent local council elections), and has attracted the interest of several potential investors. The FL is in the process of overseeing a feasibility study of the Plough Lane site, to be conducted jointly by WFC and Merton Council.

Merton works for Wimbledon Football Club. Milton Keynes does not work for football as a whole. WISA asks you to write to the Football Association as soon as possible to make clear to the commission your views on this matter. Please contact or write to:

Adam Crozier
Chief Executive
The Football Association
25 Soho Square
London W1D 4FA

e-mail: info@thefa.com
phone: 020 7262 4542
fax: 020 7745 4546

WISA asks for all letters to be submitted to the FA by close of play on Monday 13th May.

Yours sincerely

Kris Stewart
Chair, Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association