![A black-and-white photograph of a row of twelve men standing in front a football goal. The man furthest to the left is dressed in old-fashioned, but smart work clothes; the remainder are wearing football attire. While the shorts and socks worn by these men vary, the dark shirts bearing a "W" are the same except for one, worn by the man standing in the middle of the photograph, which is white.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b2/WimbledonFC1919.jpg/380px-WimbledonFC1919.jpg)
Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club from Wimbledon, south-west London, amateur from 1889 to 1964 and professional thereafter.[1] Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club,[A] an amateur club playing in local league competitions,[2] the club shortened its name to "Wimbledon" in 1905,[3] entered the FA Amateur Cup for the first time in 1905–06 and joined the Spartan League in 1909.[4][5] After going out of business a year later,[6] Wimbledon immediately reformed and returned to local leagues in 1912,[6] where the team stayed until the 1919–20 season when the club joined the Athenian League.[5][6] Moving to the Isthmian League in 1921,[5] Wimbledon won four league championships in six years during the 1930s and reached the FA Amateur Cup Final in 1935 before losing to Bishop Auckland after a replay.[5][7] The club continued to be successful following the Second World War, again reaching the Amateur Cup Final in 1947 and finishing as runners-up in the Isthmian League in 1950 and 1952.[5][8] After claiming a fourth Isthmian League crown in 1959,[5] Wimbledon then took three successive championships from 1962 to 1964,[5] as well as the 1963 FA Amateur Cup.[9]
These achievements prompted the switch to professional football, which occurred in 1964,[1] concurrently with the extension of membership from the Southern Football League.[5] Wimbledon finished second twice out of the team's first four outings in this competition,[5] before again winning three consecutive titles from 1975 to 1977.[5] The club won election to The Football League after these successes, and thus entered the Fourth Division for the first time in 1977–78.[5] Wimbledon took only ten seasons as a Football League club to reach England's top flight, winning promotion to the First Division for the 1986–87 season;[5] Wimbledon then beat League champions Liverpool 1–0 in the 1988 FA Cup Final to achieve the feat of having won both the FA Cup and its amateur equivalent (as of 2009, only two other clubs – Old Carthusians and Royal Engineers AFC – had done this).[5] Wimbledon remained in the top division until 2000, when the side was relegated.[5] The club announced an unpopular relocation to Milton Keynes in 2001,[10] which received permission a year later,[11] causing the foundation of AFC Wimbledon by the majority of Wimbledon fans,[12] who called it "the death of [their] club".[11] The club subsequently relocated to Milton Keynes in September 2003,[13] and rebranded itself as Milton Keynes Dons in 2004.[14]
Key
[edit]Champions | Runners-up | Promoted | Relegated |
Top scorer and number of goals scored shown in bold when he was also top scorer for the division
Division shown in bold when it changes due to promotion, relegation or reorganisation
League results shown in italics for abandoned or wartime competitions
|
|
|
|
Seasons
[edit]Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup[B] |
Other competitions | Top scorer[C] | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos [15] | Name | # | |||||
1889–90[D] | None | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | [1] | — | — | |||||
1890–91 | None | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 50 | 13 | [2] | — | — | |||||
1891–92 | None | — | — | ||||||||||||
1892–93 | None | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 11 | [3] | Herald Cup | R1 | |||||
1893–94 | None | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 4 | [4] | — | — | |||||
1894–95 | S London[E] | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | [5] | L-n Junior Cup | R3 | |||||||
Friendlies | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||
1895–96 | Clapham[F] | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | [6] | S.W. Cup | R2 | |||||||
Herald[G] | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||
Friendlies | 9 | 5 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||||
1896–97 | Clapham | — | — | ||||||||||||
Herald | |||||||||||||||
1897–98 | Clapham | — | — | ||||||||||||
1898–99 | Clapham | — | — | ||||||||||||
1899–1900 | Clapham | — | — | ||||||||||||
1900–01 | Clapham | — | — | ||||||||||||
1901–02 | Clapham | — | — | ||||||||||||
1902–03 | S Sub'n[H] | — | — | ||||||||||||
Clapham | |||||||||||||||
1903–04 | S Sub'n | — | — | ||||||||||||
Clapham | |||||||||||||||
1904–05 | S Suburban | — | — | ||||||||||||
Clapham | |||||||||||||||
1905–06[I] | S Sub'n | FA Amateur Cup | R2 | ||||||||||||
Mid-Surrey[J] | |||||||||||||||
1906–07 | S Sub'n | FA Amateur Cup | QR2 | ||||||||||||
1907–08 | S Sub'n | FA Amateur Cup | QR1 | ||||||||||||
1908–09 | W Sub'n[K] | QR1 | FA Amateur Cup | QR1 | |||||||||||
1909–10 | Spartan A[L] | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 31 | 8 | 6th | QR1 | FA Amateur Cup | R2 | |||
S Sub'n[M] | |||||||||||||||
1910–11[N] | None | — | — | ||||||||||||
1911–12[O] | None | — | — | ||||||||||||
1912–13[P] | S Sub'n[Q] | QR2 | — | — | |||||||||||
1913–14 | S Sub'n | Pre | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | |||||||||||
1914–15 | S Sub'n[R] | ExtPre | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | |||||||||||
Metro[R] | |||||||||||||||
The Football League, FA Cup and FA Amateur Cup were suspended between 1915 and 1919 due to the First World War. | |||||||||||||||
1918–19 | Utd Snr[S] | no information available | n/a | — | — | ||||||||||
1919–20 | Athenian[T] | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 44 | 43 | 21 | 7th | QR4 | FA Amateur Cup | R5 | |||
1920–21 | Athenian | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 61 | 56 | 44 | 2nd | QR2 | FA Amateur Cup | QF | |||
1921–22 | Isthmian[U] | 26 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 52 | 56 | 18 | 13th | QR4 | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | |||
1922–23 | Isthmian | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 49 | 50 | 22 | 11th | QR4 | FA Amateur Cup | R5 | H. Mann† | 26 | |
1923–24 | Isthmian | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 43 | 62 | 20 | 10th | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | Stanley Darvill | 17 | ||
1924–25 | Isthmian | 26 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 50 | 54 | 22 | 11th | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | Doc Dowden | 16 | ||
1925–26 | Isthmian | 26 | 9 | 1 | 16 | 61 | 77 | 19 | 12th | QR3 | FA Amateur Cup | QR2 | R. Brown | 21 | |
1926–27 | Isthmian | 26 | 15 | 3 | 8 | 72 | 45 | 33 | 3rd | QR2 | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | Doc Dowden† | 32 | |
1927–28 | Isthmian | 26 | 12 | 3 | 11 | 57 | 48 | 27 | 6th | QR4 | FA Amateur Cup | R3 | Doc Dowden† | 34 | |
1928–29 | Isthmian | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 66 | 54 | 28 | 4th | QR2 | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | Doc Dowden† | 42 | |
1929–30 | Isthmian | 26 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 64 | 66 | 24 | 6th | R1 | FA Amateur Cup | SF | Doc Dowden† | 48 | |
1930–31 | Isthmian | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 69 | 37 | 42 | 1st | R1 | FA Amateur Cup | R3 | Doc Dowden | 30 | |
1931–32 | Isthmian | 26 | 17 | 2 | 7 | 60 | 35 | 36 | 1st | R1 | FA Amateur Cup | QF | Doc Dowden | 11 | |
1932–33 | Isthmian | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 55 | 67 | 21 | 13th | QR4 | FA Amateur Cup | R2 | Doc Dowden | 19 | |
1933–34 | Isthmian | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 63 | 35 | 33 | 3rd | QR4 | FA Amateur Cup | R3 | |||
1934–35 | Isthmian | 26 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 63 | 30 | 35 | 1st | R2 | FA Amateur Cup | RU[V] | |||
1935–36 | Isthmian | 26 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 82 | 29 | 40 | 1st | QR4 | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | |||
1936–37 | Isthmian | 26 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 52 | 53 | 25 | 7th | QR4 | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | |||
1937–38 | Isthmian | 26 | 10 | 3 | 13 | 62 | 49 | 23 | 9th | QR4 | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | |||
1938–39 | Isthmian | 26 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 88 | 56 | 31 | 5th | QR1 | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | |||
1939–40[W] | Isthmian | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | n/a | — | — | |||
The Isthmian League and FA Cup were suspended between 1939 and 1945 due to the Second World War. | |||||||||||||||
1945–46 | Isthmian | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 52 | 72 | 20 | 10th | QR1 | FA Amateur Cup | R3 | |||
1946–47 | Isthmian | 26 | 10 | 5 | 11 | 68 | 64 | 25 | 8th | QR2 | FA Amateur Cup | RU[X] | Pat Edelston | 31 | |
1947–48 | Isthmian | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 66 | 40 | 32 | 5th | R1 | FA Amateur Cup | R2 | Ron Head | 19 | |
1948–49 | Isthmian | 26 | 15 | 4 | 7 | 64 | 41 | 34 | 3rd | QR4 | FA Amateur Cup | R2 | Harry Stannard | 33 | |
1949–50 | Isthmian | 26 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 72 | 51 | 38 | 2nd | QR1 | FA Amateur Cup | R3 | Harry Stannard | 25 | |
1950–51 | Isthmian | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 58 | 39 | 31 | 4th | QR1 | FA Amateur Cup | QF | Freddie Gauntlett Harry Stannard |
29 | |
1951–52 | Isthmian | 26 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 65 | 44 | 35 | 2nd | Pre | FA Amateur Cup | QF | Harry Stannard | 31 | |
1952–53 | Isthmian | 28 | 14 | 5 | 9 | 68 | 37 | 33 | 4th | R1 | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | Harry Stannard | 31 | |
1953–54 | Isthmian | 28 | 7 | 8 | 13 | 43 | 59 | 22 | 14th | QR1 | FA Amateur Cup | R2 | Freddie Gauntlett Harry Stannard |
12 | |
1954–55 | Isthmian | 28 | 10 | 2 | 16 | 48 | 62 | 22 | 12th | QR1 | FA Amateur Cup | QF | Jeff Darey | 18 | |
1955–56 | Isthmian | 28 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 51 | 62 | 26 | 11th | QR1 | FA Amateur Cup | R2 | Joe Wallis | 23 | |
1956–57 | Isthmian | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 47 | 66 | 25 | 13th | Pre | FA Amateur Cup | R2 | Joe Wallis | 26 | |
1957–58 | Isthmian | 30 | 15 | 2 | 13 | 64 | 66 | 32 | 7th | Pre | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | Brian Martin | 19 | |
1958–59 | Isthmian | 30 | 22 | 3 | 5 | 91 | 38 | 47 | 1st | Pre | FA Amateur Cup | R1 | Eddie Reynolds | 37 | |
1959–60 | Isthmian | 30 | 18 | 3 | 9 | 66 | 36 | 39 | 3rd | QR2 | FA Amateur Cup | R2 | Eddie Reynolds | 39 | |
1960–61 | Isthmian | 30 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 72 | 43 | 42 | 3rd | QR2 | FA Amateur Cup | QF | Eddie Reynolds | 47 | |
1961–62 | Isthmian | 30 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 68 | 24 | 44 | 1st | QR2 | FA Amateur Cup | QF | Eddie Reynolds† | 50 | |
1962–63 | Isthmian | 30 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 84 | 33 | 46 | 1st | R2 | FA Amateur Cup | W[Y] | Eddie Reynolds† | 53 | |
1963–64 | Isthmian | 38 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 87 | 44 | 60 | 1st | R2 | FA Amateur Cup | R3 | Eddie Reynolds | 35 | |
1964–65[Z] | South 1[AA] | 42 | 24 | 13 | 5 | 108 | 52 | 61 | 2nd | QR4 | — | — | Eddie Reynolds‡ | 53 | |
1965–66 | South P | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 80 | 47 | 50 | 5th | R2 | — | — | Ian Cooke | 29 | |
1966–67 | South P | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 88 | 60 | 49 | 4th | R1 | — | — | Ian Cooke | 37 | |
1967–68 | South P | 42 | 24 | 7 | 11 | 85 | 47 | 55 | 2nd | R2 | — | — | Ian Cooke | 32 | |
1968–69 | South P | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 66 | 48 | 54 | 3rd | QR4 | — | — | Eddie Bailham | 24 | |
1969–70 | South P | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 64 | 52 | 50 | 5th | R1 | FA Trophy | R1 | Ian Cooke | 29 | |
1970–71 | South P | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 72 | 54 | 48 | 8th | R1 | FA Trophy | R3 | Ian Cooke | 37 | |
1971–72 | South P | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 75 | 64 | 45 | 10th | QR4 | FA Trophy | R1 | Ian Cooke | 21 | |
1972–73 | South P | 42 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 50 | 50 | 42 | 12th | QR3 | FA Trophy | R3 | Ian Cooke | 20 | |
1973–74 | South P | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 50 | 56 | 41 | 12th | R1 | FA Trophy | R1 | Ian Cooke | 24 | |
1974–75 | South P | 42 | 25 | 7 | 10 | 63 | 33 | 57 | 1st | R4 | FA Trophy | QF | Roger Connell | 31 | |
1975–76 | South P | 42 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 74 | 29 | 62 | 1st | R2 | FA Trophy | R2 | Roger Connell | 20 | |
1976–77 | South P | 42 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 64 | 22 | 63 | 1st | R3 | FA Trophy | R3 | Roger Connell Billy Holmes |
21 | |
1977–78 | Div 4[AB] | 46 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 66 | 67 | 44 | 13th | R1 | R2 | — | — | Roger Connell | 15 |
1978–79 | Div 4 | 46 | 25 | 11 | 10 | 78 | 46 | 61 | 3rd | R3 | R2 | — | — | Alan Cork | 25 |
1979–80 | Div 3 | 46 | 10 | 14 | 22 | 52 | 81 | 34 | 24th | R2 | R4 | — | — | John Leslie | 17 |
1980–81 | Div 4 | 46 | 23 | 9 | 14 | 64 | 46 | 55 | 4th | R4 | R2 | — | — | Alan Cork | 26 |
1981–82 | Div 3 | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 61 | 75 | 53 | 21st | R2 | R1 | — | — | Francis Joseph | 13 |
1982–83 | Div 4 | 46 | 29 | 11 | 6 | 96 | 45 | 98 | 1st | R1 | R1 | — | — | John Leslie | 25 |
1983–84 | Div 3 | 46 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 97 | 76 | 87 | 2nd | R2 | R4 | Associate Members' Cup | R1S | Alan Cork | 33 |
1984–85 | Div 2 | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 71 | 75 | 58 | 12th | R5 | R1 | — | — | Stewart Evans | 16 |
1985–86 | Div 2 | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 58 | 37 | 76 | 3rd | R3 | R3 | — | — | Alan Cork | 15 |
1986–87 | Div 1 | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 57 | 50 | 66 | 6th | QF | R2 | Full Members Cup | R2 | John Fashanu | 14 |
1987–88 | Div 1 | 40 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 58 | 47 | 57 | 7th | W[AC] | R4 | Full Members Cup | R3 | John Fashanu | 20 |
1988–89 | Div 1 | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 50 | 46 | 51 | 12th | QF | R4 | FA Charity Shield | RU[AD] | John Fashanu | 16 |
Full Members Cup | QF | ||||||||||||||
Mercantile Credit Centenary Trophy | QF | ||||||||||||||
1989–90 | Div 1 | 38 | 13 | 16 | 9 | 47 | 40 | 55 | 8th | R3 | R4 | Full Members Cup | R3S | John Fashanu | 13 |
1990–91 | Div 1 | 38 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 53 | 46 | 56 | 7th | R4 | R2 | Full Members Cup | R2S | John Fashanu | 20 |
1991–92 | Div 1 | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 53 | 53 | 53 | 13th | R3 | R2 | Full Members Cup | R2S | John Fashanu | 20 |
1992–93 | Prem[AE] | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 56 | 55 | 54 | 12th | R5 | R3 | — | — | Dean Holdsworth | 19 |
1993–94 | Prem | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 56 | 53 | 65 | 6th | R5 | QF | — | — | Dean Holdsworth | 24 |
1994–95 | Prem | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 48 | 65 | 56 | 9th | R5 | R3 | — | — | Efan Ekoku | 9 |
1995–96 | Prem | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 55 | 70 | 41 | 14th | QF | R2 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | Grp | Efan Ekoku Dean Holdsworth |
16 |
1996–97 | Prem | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 49 | 64 | 56 | 8th | SF | SF | — | — | Marcus Gayle | 13 |
1997–98 | Prem | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 34 | 46 | 44 | 15th | R5 | R3 | — | — | Jason Euell | 8 |
1998–99 | Prem | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 40 | 63 | 42 | 16th | R4 | SF | — | — | Marcus Gayle | 11 |
1999–2000 | Prem | 38 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 46 | 74 | 33 | 18th | R4 | QF | — | — | Carl Cort | 15 |
2000–01 | Div 1 | 46 | 17 | 18 | 11 | 71 | 50 | 69 | 8th | R5 | R4 | — | — | Jason Euell | 20 |
2001–02 | Div 1 | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 63 | 57 | 67 | 9th | R3 | R1 | — | — | David Connolly | 18 |
At the end of the 2001–02 season, the club was granted permission to relocate to Milton Keynes.[11] Soon after, most supporters split from the side to form AFC Wimbledon.[12] For a statistical history of this club, see List of AFC Wimbledon seasons. | |||||||||||||||
2002–03 | Div 1 | 46 | 18 | 11 | 17 | 76 | 73 | 65 | 10th | R4 | R3 | — | — | David Connolly Neil Shipperley |
24 |
2003–04[AF] | Div 1 | 46 | 8 | 5 | 33 | 41 | 89 | 29 | 24th | R4 | R1 | — | — | Patrick Agyemang | 7 |
Wimbledon Football Club was rebranded as "Milton Keynes Dons" before the start of the 2004–05 season.[14] Milton Keynes Dons renounced its claim to the history of Wimbledon F.C. in 2007.[16] For a statistical history of this club, see List of Milton Keynes Dons F.C. seasons. |
Footnotes
[edit]
|
|
References
[edit]- General
- Background sourced to: Hambly, Dave. "History of Wimbledon FC". Historical Dons. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- Spartan League, Athenian League, Isthmian League, Southern Football League, The Football League, FA Cup, Football League Cup, Full Members Cup, Associate Members' Cup, FA Trophy and UEFA Intertoto Cup statistics sourced to: Rundle, Richard. "Football Club History Database – Wimbledon". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- FA Amateur Cup statistics sourced to: Samuel, Richard (2003). The Complete F.A. Amateur Cup Results Book. Soccer Books Limited. ISBN 1-86223-066-8.
- Top goalscorers (1922–1933 and 1946–1977) sourced to: Jones, Marc. "AFCW Statistics". FOTO. Archived from the original on 23 April 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- Top goalscorers (1977–1996) sourced to: Joyce, Michael. "Welcome to the new since1888.co.uk!". Michael Joyce. Archived from the original on 25 September 2009. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- Top goalscorers (1996–2004) sourced to: "Soccerbase". Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- Specific
- ^ a b c Hambly, Dave. "1960 to 1969". Historical Dons. Archived from the original on 11 March 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Hambly, Dave. "1889 to 1899". Historical Dons. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f Hambly, Dave. "1900 to 1909". Historical Dons. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ Samuel (2003). p. 15.
{{cite book}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rundle. "Football Club History Database – Wimbledon".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hambly, Dave. "1910 to 1919". Historical Dons. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ a b Samuel (2003). p. 42.
{{cite book}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ a b Samuel (2003). p. 48.
{{cite book}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ a b Samuel (2003). p. 68.
{{cite book}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ "League warns Dons over move". BBC. 10 August 2001. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ a b c "Dons get Milton Keynes green light". BBC. 28 May 2002. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ a b Heller, Ivor (1 September 2002). "Wombles are on their way". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ a b Pryce, Robert (29 September 2003). "Wimbledon's happy ending is pure Hollywood". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ a b "Wimbledon become MK Dons FC". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. 21 June 2004. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ Memories of the Dons, Historical Dons. Retrieved Nov 2012.
- ^ "History and Honours of Wimbledon FC returned to Merton". Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association. 2 August 2007. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2009.
- ^ Ross, James. "England – List of FA Charity/Community Shield Matches". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 November 2009.