The story attached to the formation of both AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons is one of the most intriguing when it comes to the lower leagues of England. It has been a tale that has caused some rather intriguing rivalries to unfold over the last fifteen years or so and also one that is based around formation and destruction of clubs.
The chronicle begins with the demise of the old Wimbledon club, now infamous for the antics of the Crazy Gang back in the eighties and the nineties that featured the likes of Vinnie Jones and Dennis Wise. This particular iteration of the club would be a First Division staple and end up winning an FA Cup in 1988, having defeated Liverpool in a game legendary commentator John Motson described as the “crazy game defeating the culture club.” Under manager Dave Bassett, that Wimbledon side won four successive promotions in quick fashion from the Fourth Division right up to the First Division without necessarily adapting the way they played.
However, things would soon change when the new millennium was ushered in. In 1997, businessman Pete Winkelman proposed a retail development in Milton Keynes that included a stadium fit for the Football League. It was offered to Luton, Crystal Palace, Barnet as well as both QPR and Wimbledon. Wimbledon appointed a new chairman, as well as announcing the move to Milton Keynes in August 2001. In protest, a lot of the original Wimbledon fanbase switched over to the newly formed and fan-owned AFC Wimbledon who would start life right the way down the English football pyramid.
The original Wimbledon, following their move into administration in 2003, had money injected into the club's coffers by Pete Winkelman whose Inter MK Group then bought the club in 2004 and with it changed the name, badge and kit colours. Intriguingly, for the first few years of MK Dons' existence, they claimed that the history of the original Wimbledon was theirs, before renouncing it in 2007.
Conversely, the fan-founded AFC Wimbledon started life in the ninth tier of English football and has since been promoted six times in thirteen seasons, making them the first club formed in the 21st century to make it into the Football League. Rather interestingly, it's now AFC Wimbledon who hold the longest unbeaten run of league games in English football, having played 78 games without defeat between February 2003 and December 2004, besting off the Arsenal record set in the same season of 49 games by quite some margin.
It is worth at this point taking a look at how both AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons are getting on in League One, where both teams currently ply their trade. There almost seems to be some poetic justice for AFC Wimbledon fans given that their now rival club hasn't benefitted a lot from Winkelman's investment whilst the fan-backed team are playing in their highest ever division. However, it isn't all plain sailing for AFC Wimbledon, as they are 8/11 in the football betting to be relegated, which puts them right in the middle of that fight. Conversely, MK Dons have outside odds of 50/1 to get promoted up to the Championship, so they look set for mid-table obscurity.
The tale of AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons is certainly one of the quirkiest within English football and one that has produced one of the fiercest lower-division rivalries in many years. There's of course every hope from fans of both clubs that they may return to the big time soon enough, although with the way both of their seasons have gone thus far, that might not be likely for another few years.
