AFC Wimbledon

Also written as Wimbledon.

The club

AFC Wimbledon were founded on 30 May 2002 by supporters of Wimbledon F.C. after the Football Association approved that club's relocation to Milton Keynes. They play at Plough Lane in Merton, south London, a ground they moved into in November 2020 and which holds 9,215. They are known as the Dons and the Wombles, and play in royal blue and yellow. The club is owned by the Dons Trust, a supporters' trust. AFC Wimbledon and Milton Keynes Dons are legally distinct clubs: the relocated club became Milton Keynes Dons in 2004, while AFC Wimbledon were formed as a new entity in 2002. AFC Wimbledon's own honours list, as published, contains no major national trophy; the honours won by Wimbledon F.C. before 2002 are not listed among them.

Recent seasons

Wimbledon finished 20th in League One in 2020/21 and were relegated the following season, finishing 23rd in 2021/22. They were 21st in League Two in 2022/23 and tenth in 2023/24. In 2024/25 they went up through the play-offs, beating Walsall 1-0 in the final at Wembley on 26 May 2025 in front of 50,947, Myles Hippolyte scoring in first-half stoppage time. Back in League One in 2025/26 they finished 19th with 53 points from 46 games, 15 wins, 8 draws and 23 defeats, 51 goals scored and 72 conceded. Marcus Browne was top scorer with 12 league goals and 14 in all competitions. They went out of the FA Cup in the first round and the EFL Cup in the second, but reached the EFL Trophy quarter-finals for the third time.

Honours and landmarks

The club's rise from the Combined Counties League to the Football League in nine seasons is the landmark. They won the Combined Counties League in 2003/04, Isthmian League Division One in 2004/05, the Isthmian play-offs in 2008, Conference South in 2008/09 and the Conference play-offs in 2011, becoming the first club formed in the 21st century to reach the Football League. They have won the League Two play-offs twice, in 2016 and 2025. Between 26 February 2003 and 27 November 2004 they went 78 league matches unbeaten, the longest such run recorded in all of English senior men's football. Other cup honours are local: the London Senior Cup in 2013/14, the Surrey Senior Cup in 2004/05, the Combined Counties Premier Challenge Cup in 2003/04, the Lanes Cup in 2007/08 and 2011/12, and the Isle of Man Tournament in 2009/10. Best FA Cup run is the fifth round in 2018/19; best EFL Cup run the third round, in 2021/22 and 2024/25. Record attendance is 8,686 against Port Vale at Plough Lane on 11 October 2025; the Kingsmeadow record was 4,870 in May 2016. Kevin Cooper scored 104 goals in 99 appearances between 2002 and 2004. Sam Hatton made 241 appearances in all competitions from 2007 to 2012, and Barry Fuller 233 in the Football League era. The record fee received is believed to exceed £1 million, from Ipswich Town for Ali Al-Hamadi; the record fee paid, to Charlton Athletic for Josh Davison, is undisclosed but above £25,000.

Notable scorelines

Record win: 9-0 against Slough Town in the Isthmian League Premier Division on 31 March 2007. The published record defeat is 0-4 against Southend United in League Two on 20 November 2012, though that list appears not to have been updated: Wimbledon lost 5-0 at home to Peterborough United in 2025/26, their heaviest result of that season. Other 2025/26 results worth having are a 2-0 win at Blackpool and a 3-1 win at Leyton Orient, both against clubs they meet again this season.

Head-to-head notes

Milton Keynes Dons are in League One with Wimbledon again in 2026/27. Wikipedia's account, which carries a citation-needed flag dating from May 2025, records four cup meetings, all played at Milton Keynes, of which Wimbledon won one and one went to penalties, and nine league meetings, of which Wimbledon won one, drew three and lost five. The two clubs first shared a division in 2016/17, when each won once. No all-time head-to-head record could be established for any other 2026/27 League One opponent; AFC Wimbledon do not publish opponent-by-opponent records, and the usual third-party source blocks automated access. The club's other stated rivalries are with Crawley Town and Sutton United.

Right now (2026/27)

Johnnie Jackson is the manager, appointed ahead of the 2022/23 season, with Jake Reeves as captain. Zack Nelson joined on a free from Luton Town on 1 July 2026, with Steven Sessegnon from Wigan Athletic and Dan Sweeney from Stevenage arriving the same day. Winger James Tilley signed from Wycombe Wanderers for an undisclosed fee on 14 July, and Ollie Harrison joined on loan from Chelsea on 31 July. Going the other way, Jaheim Scafe moved to Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee and Amaari Sealey to Crystal Palace, both on 17 July, and Osman Foyo joined Rhode Island FC on 23 July.

Pre-season brought a 3-2 home win over Coventry City on 12 July, a 3-2 defeat at Brentford on 15 July, a 2-1 win at Sutton United on 18 July, a goalless draw with Norwich City on 22 July, a 2-0 win over Charlton Athletic on 25 July and a 1-0 defeat at Wealdstone on 28 July. The competitive season begins with an EFL Cup first-round tie against Newport County at Plough Lane on 8 August 2026. The first league fixture is away at Huddersfield Town on 15 August 2026.

Sources

Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.