Plough Lane

Last updated

The Cherry Red Records Stadium
Plough Lane
Plough Lane, 18 May 2021.jpg
Plough Lane
LocationPlough Lane, Wimbledon
Coordinates 51°25′53″N0°11′12″W / 51.43139°N 0.18667°W / 51.43139; -0.18667
Public transit National Rail logo.svg Haydons Road, Earlsfield, Wimbledon
District line roundel (no text).svg Wimbledon, District line roundel (no text).svg Wimbledon Park, Northern line roundel (no text).svg Tooting Broadway
OwnerAFC Wimbledon
OperatorAFC Wimbledon
Capacity 9,215
Construction
Broke ground2019
Opened3 November 2020 [1]
Construction cost £34 million
Architect KSS Design Group
Builder Buckingham Group
Tenants
AFC Wimbledon (2020–present)
AFC Wimbledon Women (2021–present)
London Broncos (2022–present)

Plough Lane, currently known as the Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons, [2] is a multi-purpose football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. [1] A groundshare with rugby league side London Broncos began in 2022. [3]

Contents

Stands

History

Wimbledon F.C. played its matches at the original Plough Lane stadium from 1912 until 1991. AFC Wimbledon's new stadium lies approximately 200 yards further east. After 1991 Wimbledon F.C. began a ground-share with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, with the intention of moving to a new all-seater stadium elsewhere at a later date due to the original Plough Lane stadium being considered unsuitable for conversion into a modern all-seater stadium. Numerous locations within and beyond the borders of Merton were considered for a possible new stadium, but none of these came to fruition, and in 2003 the original Wimbledon club controversially relocated 70 miles north to Milton Keynes and rebranded as Milton Keynes Dons.

In 2002 a phoenix club, AFC Wimbledon, was formed by the club's supporters after the Football Association gave Wimbledon F.C. permission to move to Milton Keynes. For the initial eighteen years of its existence, AFC Wimbledon played at Kingsmeadow Stadium, in the neighbouring London borough of Kingston.

Since its inception, AFC Wimbledon had stated that one of its primary aims was to return to Merton, with a new stadium close to what it regards as its "spiritual home" of the original Plough Lane. This aim formed the basis of a project to create a new purpose-built stadium on the site of the Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, located approximately 200 yards from the original Plough Lane football stadium, where the original Wimbledon side played for 80 years.

Plans to develop the greyhound stadium site as either a multi-purpose stadium or as a football stadium were publicised frequently by the club and the media prior to 2013. In 2013 AFC Wimbledon announced that discussions were underway with Merton Council over a joint bid for the greyhound stadium and the surrounding land, in cooperation with developer Galliard Homes, to build a new football stadium, 600 residential properties and a range of community facilities. [4]

Development

Construction proceeded with the permanent west stand initially, with main entry from the south off Plough Lane. This is a four-storey structure with general admission access from the first floor, and hospitality above. This structure seats 4,267 spectators; semi-permanent stands on the other three sides brings initial capacity to 9,215. [5] [6] Among the semi-permanent seating, the most vocal home fans will be in the south, which will include a safe standing area; a family area along the east; and away fans will be in the north stand, which is isolated with its own entry. [7] A secondary entrance for home fans in the south and east stands is located on the easterly pedestrian-only street, Greyhound Parade.

The plans for the football stadium were approved unanimously by Merton Council on 10 December 2015. [8] [9] Clearance of the site in preparation for the new football stadium and housing was begun on 16 March 2018. [10] The stadium's opening was initially planned for summer 2019, but did not take place until 3 November 2020. [11] The land's freehold was transferred to an AFC Wimbledon subsidiary on 24 December 2018, among other transactions that also formally transferred ownership of Kingsmeadow to Chelsea. [12]

Finances

The club thus purchased and cleared the site of the former Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium in anticipation of construction. In 2019 it was announced that a minimum of £2 million in crowdfunding would be needed to construct a scaled-down version of the original design with a single permanent stand and an initial capacity of 9,000; as of August 2019, the £2 million mark had been raised through Seedrs. [13] In November 2019 it emerged that financing of a final £11m needed to complete the ground as envisioned was not forthcoming; the club's fan ownership initially considered scaling down the project, or accepting outside investment into the club by relinquishing ownership to meet the shortfall. [14] However, alternative financing was quickly raised by club supporters by way of a bond issue which raised over £5 million. In May 2020, the final remaining financing needed to sign all construction contracts was confirmed following key investment from local businessman Nick Robertson. [15]

Panoramic view of the stadium from the south corner of the east stand, looking across to the west stand Plough Lane panorama.jpg
Panoramic view of the stadium from the south corner of the east stand, looking across to the west stand

Opening

AFC Wimbledon played their first match at the ground on 3 November 2020 against Doncaster Rovers – a 2–2 draw, [16] with the first-ever goal at the new stadium scored by Wimbledon's Joe Pigott in the 18th minute of that match. [17] No fans were able to attend, however, owing to national COVID-19 restrictions in effect at the time.

Plough Lane in rugby league configuration, as the London Broncos players are warming up Plough Lane.jpg
Plough Lane in rugby league configuration, as the London Broncos players are warming up

In December 2020, the Dons Trust announced that they were discussing a potential groundshare agreement with Rugby League side London Broncos. [18] A vote by the Trust membership in March 2021 resulted in 91.7% of those voting in favour. [19] It was subject to revised planning permission which had been opposed by a group of residents [20] but these issues were resolved before the 2022 season.

On 25 March 2021, an NHS COVID-19 vaccination centre opened in the stadium's event space; some of the first to be vaccinated were club supporters. [21]

The first game at the stadium with fans being able to attend was on 18 May 2021 when 2,000 people watched the Dons play Liverpool's under-23 side in a friendly match specifically intended to test the public safety standards of the new stadium. [22] The first match to take place at the ground with a capacity crowd was AFC Wimbledon's 3–3 draw against Bolton Wanderers on 14 August 2021. [23]

Recent history

On 16 September 2021, the club agreed a further three-year deal with their Kingsmeadow stadium sponsor Cherry Red Records and thus Plough Lane was renamed the Cherry Red Records Stadium.

On 21 October 2021, AFC Wimbledon Women played their first game at the stadium winning 7-1 in the Women's FA Cup against Walton Casuals in front of a record crowd.

On 30 January 2022, the London Broncos played their first match at Plough Lane against the Widnes Vikings.

On 5 March 2022, Plough Lane hosted the FA Women's Continental League Cup Final between Chelsea Women and Manchester City Women.

The largest attendance at Plough Lane of 8,623 was recorded on 27 April 2024 for a league game against Walsall. The previous record and the highest for a cup game was 8,595 on 6 January 2024 for an FA Cup third round match against Ipswich Town.

In September 2024, after the River Wandle burst its banks, [24] AFC Wimbledon's EFL Cup third round tie against Newcastle United had to be rescheduled from 24 September to 1 October 2024, and moved to Newcastle's St James' Park, due to flood damage to the Plough Lane pitch. [25] Newcastle United donated £15,000 to the social media funding appeal to fix the damaged stadium. [26] In the rearranged fixture, Wimbledon also received a big percentage of the gate receipts of the capacity crowd. [27] Following the match, Wimbledon made an offer of a summer friendly at Plough Lane to Newcastle United. [27] Two other home fixtures (against Accrington Stanley and Crewe Alexandra) also had to be rearranged. [24] [28]

Sponsorship

The stadium as a whole has been sponsored by Cherry Red Records since 16 September 2021; the company had previously been stadium sponsors at Kingsmeadow. [2]

Current sponsors for the various parts of the stadium are:

Expansion

The ground has planning permission to be expanded to 20,000 spectators. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Borough of Merton</span> London borough in United Kingdom

The London Borough of Merton is a London borough in London, England. The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District, all formerly within Surrey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AFC Wimbledon</span> Association football club in London, England

AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team compete in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milton Keynes Dons F.C.</span> Football club in Milton Keynes, England

Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in 2004, following Wimbledon F.C.'s controversial relocation to Milton Keynes from south London, when it adopted its present name, badge and home colours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingstonian F.C.</span> Association football club in London, England

Kingstonian Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south west London which currently plays in the Isthmian League South Central Division.

The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, at the time of the report, 95 Liverpool fans had died. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final report was published in January 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wimbledon F.C.</span> Former English football club

Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. Nicknamed "the Dons" and latterly also "the Wombles", they won eight Isthmian League titles, the FA Amateur Cup in 1963 and three successive Southern League championships between 1975 and 1977, and were then elected to the Football League. The team rose quickly from obscurity during the 1980s and were promoted to the then top-flight First Division in 1986, just four seasons after being in the Fourth Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Broncos</span> English professional rugby league club

The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league.

Samir Georges Nassib Hammam is a Lebanese businessman, well known for his high-profile involvement in British football clubs, and who most recently relinquished the life presidency of Cardiff City in March 2022 following a legal dispute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames</span> Football stadium in Kingston upon Thames, UK

Kingsmeadow is a football stadium in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames, London, which is used for home matches by Chelsea Women and Chelsea Development Squad. It was formerly the home of Kingstonian and AFC Wimbledon and has a capacity of 4,850 with 2,265 seats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plough Lane (1912–1998)</span> Former football stadium

Plough Lane was a football stadium in Wimbledon, south west London, England. For nearly eighty years it was the home ground of Wimbledon Football Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gigg Lane</span> Football stadium in Bury, Lancashire

Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gigg Lane was in continuous use by Bury until August 2019 when the club was expelled from the English Football League. The ground did not host competitive men's football between 4 May 2019, when Bury hosted Port Vale, and 29 July 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stadium MK</span> Football stadium in Milton Keynes, England

Stadium MK is a football stadium in the Denbigh district of Bletchley in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Designed by Populous and opened in 2007, it is the home ground of EFL League Two side Milton Keynes Dons and FA Women's National League South side Milton Keynes Dons Women. In 2022, the stadium hosted several matches during the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.

Richard John Guy is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Wimbledon during the 1960s and 1970s. Today, Guy is the President of AFC Wimbledon, the supporter-owned club which represents Wimbledon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wimbledon Stadium</span> Former greyhound racing track in London, England

Wimbledon Stadium, also known as Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium, was a greyhound racing track located in Wimbledon in southwest London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South London derby</span> Local football rivalries

The South London derby is the name given to a football derby contested by any two of Bromley, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Millwall, and AFC Wimbledon, the five professional Football Association clubs that play in the Football League in South London, England. A sixth club, Sutton United, is also located in South London but currently do not compete in the Football League. It is sometimes more specifically called the South East London derby when played between Charlton and Millwall. The close geographical proximity of all the teams contributes significantly to the rivalries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes</span> Relocation of sport club

Wimbledon Football Club relocated to Milton Keynes in September 2003, 16 months after receiving permission to do so from the Football Association on the basis of a two-to-one decision in favour by an FA-appointed independent commission. The move took the team from south London, where it had been based since its foundation in 1889, to Milton Keynes, a new town in Buckinghamshire, about 56 miles (90 km) to the northwest of the club's traditional home district Wimbledon. Hugely controversial, the move's authorisation prompted disaffected Wimbledon supporters to form AFC Wimbledon, a new club, on 30 May 2002. The relocated team played home matches in Milton Keynes under the Wimbledon name from September 2003 until June 2004, when following the end of the 2003–04 season it renamed itself Milton Keynes Dons F.C..

Relocation of professional sports teams in the United Kingdom is a practice that involves a sports team moving from one metropolitan area to another, although occasionally moves between municipalities in the same conurbation are also included. For relocations in other part of the world see Relocation of professional sports teams.

The rivalry between AFC Wimbledon and Milton Keynes Dons arose from the formation of both clubs due to the relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes. For many years the two clubs played at different levels of English football, with the first competitive fixture between them taking place on 2 December 2012 - a second round FA Cup meeting in which the two clubs were drawn against one another, resulting in Milton Keynes defeating Wimbledon 2–1.

Relocation of association football teams in the United Kingdom is a practice which involves an association football team moving from one metropolitan area to another, although occasionally moves between municipalities in the same conurbation are also included. For relocations in other sports see Relocation of sports teams in the United Kingdom; for relocations in other parts of the world see Relocation of professional sports teams.

References

  1. 1 2 Palmer, Joe (29 September 2020). "An update from our Chief Executive". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  2. 1 2 "New stadium sponsors announced". afcwimbledon.co.uk. AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  3. ↑ Media, Broncos (16 July 2021). "Exciting groundshare partnership with AFC Wimbledon approved". London Broncos RL. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  4. ↑ Samuelson, Erik (19 September 2013). "New stadium a step closer". AFC Wimbledon . Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Stadium update (June 2019): Part 2 – stadium design". YouTube. AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  6. ↑ "Home Sweet Home". AFC Wimbledon. 8 July 2019. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  7. ↑ "DON'T MISS OUR HISTORIC RETURN TO PLOUGH LANE" (PDF). wearewimbledon.com. AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "Go-ahead for new stadium". AFC Wimbledon. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Wimbledon's Plough Lane return approved by planners". BBC News . 10 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Demolition work starts to clear the way for new stadium". AFC Wimbledon. 16 March 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Hurst, Samantha (6 August 2019). "AFC Wimbledon Is Now Seeking £2 Million on Seedrs to Help Finance Return to a New Stadium on Plough Lane". Crowdfund Insider. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  12. ↑ "Plough Lane – land transfer complete". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  13. ↑ Collings, Simon (12 June 2019). "AFC Wimbledon hope to crowdfund £7m towards new Plough Lane stadium". Evening Standard. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
  14. ↑ "Plough Lane: AFC Wimbledon say they need further £11m to complete new stadium". BBC Sport. 26 November 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  15. ↑ "Stadium Announcement". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  16. ↑ "AFC Wimbledon 2–2 Doncaster Rovers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  17. ↑ Rosser, Jack (3 November 2020). "AFC Wimbledon denied in first Plough Lane game - as it happened!". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  18. ↑ "Following preliminary discussions with @LondonBroncosRL we have emailed a survey and Q&A..." The Dons Trust. Twitter. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  19. ↑ "Outcome of SGM resolution re London Broncos" (PDF). The Dons Trust. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
  20. ↑ "Should Rugby be Allowed at AFC Wimbledon's Ground?". The Wimbledon Society. 16 May 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
  21. ↑ "NHS Covid-19 vaccination centre opens at Plough Lane". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  22. ↑ Doyle, Tom (19 May 2021). "'My wish has been granted' - AFC Wimbledon fans return to Plough Lane". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
  23. ↑ "AFC Wimbledon 3-3 Bolton Wanderers". BBC Sport.
  24. 1 2 Peddy, Chris (24 September 2024). "Wimbledon pump 100,000 litres of water from ground". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  25. ↑ "Newcastle United v AFC Wimbledon". BBC Sport. 24 September 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
  26. ↑ Scurr, Dominic (24 September 2024). "Newcastle United make significant donation to help AFC Wimbledon amid ground trouble". shieldsgazette.co.uk.
  27. 1 2 Ryder, Lee (2 October 2024). "Newcastle United offered Wimbledon friendly as two clubs discuss future relationship". chroniclelive.co.uk.
  28. ↑ "Wimbledon v Accrington postponed after flooding". BBC Sport. 25 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  29. ↑ "AFC Wimbledon Stadium Development". MSP Capital. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.