0% Villa - AFC Wimbledon...

[Pete3206]

They have worked hard for it over the last decade and deserve the success. Well done AFC Wimbledon.

[cheltenhamlion]

I don't like Wimbledon but I dislike Luton an awful lot more. Bollocks to them. ******.

[Mister E]

I lived in Wimbledon during the crazy-gang era and thoroughly enjoyed their notoriety! Unashamedly!

[TopDeck113]

Serious question: why do people hate AFC Wimbledon?

From where I sit, the original Wimbledon lived the ultimate non-League dream, and then fell foul to a succession of NIMBYs, carpetbaggers and, ultimately, the most disgraceful decision ever made about from where a football club should be allowed to ply its trade.  For the supporters to dust themselves down and start all over again is of enormous credit to their passion and resilience.

I'm pleased for them - and when the day comes that they eventually overtake the MK Dons in the League pyramid, it should be a day when all right-thinking football supporters rejoice.

[damon loves JT]

Serious question: why do people hate AFC Wimbledon?

DC's perspective will be slightly different from mine. But they are terribly upopular among supporters of long-standing south London non-league sides. They have a sense of entitlement that is quite breathtaking, and assume that they are everyone's second-favourite club.

I guess part of it is envy too, but by non-league standards they have been a spectacular money-making machine and if you cast yourself as a plucky underdog, it grinds the gears of clubs getting by with far less.

[cheltenhamlion]

Anyone who helps out FC United can go swing for another point.

[darren woolley]

I'm glad AFC Wimbledon have made it into the football league I think they deserve it after what they had to do to get there. 

[damon loves JT]

I'm glad AFC Wimbledon have made it into the football league I think they deserve it after what they had to do to get there. 

you have a point there darren

[Smithy]

I have a soft spot for AFC Wimbledon, but mainly because a mate played for them for a couple of years, rather than any particular views I hold on what happened with MK Dons. 

That said, my knowledge of non-league is practically non-existent, and it appears that those who really follow those tiers aren't particularly fond of them.  Are they like the Man U of non-league?

Is the guy who took Wimbledon to Milton Keynes still in charge?

[Risso]

For all the hate for MK Dons, there are now two league teams where there could in all likelihood have been none.

[garyshawsknee]

Good luck to them,its good to see a team like them back,but as i'm gutted for Luton,not just as its my hometown,if you forget the Evans era,when he ruined the club,they've had a terrible run of things with the points deduction a few years ago,years of broken promises concerning a new ground.

 And they still get a higher average than most league 2 and some league 1 teams.

[Ad@m]

For all the hate for MK Dons, there are now two league teams where there could in all likelihood have been none.

And yes, in practice you could argue it has turned out for the best.  But it's the principle that someone can buy a club and complete remove all of the fans' rights by moving it almost 60 miles up the road.  I just try to put myself in their shoes and imagine how angry I would be if someone bought the Villa and decided to move the club to Stoke, or Nottingham, etc.  It's absolutely disgusting.  Football clubs are more than businesses - you can't just relocate them because it makes commercial sense.

So in my mind, fair play to them for starting again and getting to where they've got.  And when the time comes for them to play MK Dons I hope they absolutely thrash them as revenge for having their club stolen a decade ago.

[Chris Smith]

My thoughts are with Nick Owen.

[Risso]

I used to work with a Wimbledon fan, and when they were talking about playing in Dublin he was talking about how great weekends away would be.  Nobody in their own borough did anything to help Wimbledon survive either.

[TopDeck113]

For all the hate for MK Dons, there are now two league teams where there could in all likelihood have been none.

I don't think it would have worked liked that.  If Wimbledon FC had gone bust as opposed to being relocated against its supporters wishes, at the end of season the League would have either reduced by one the number of clubs being relegated or increased by one the number of clubs coming up from the Conference. Either way, they'd still be 92 clubs in the Premier and Football Leagues.