Even if Wimbledon FC went bust, Milton Keynes should have started in the Basement leagues and got themselves up the leagues the right way
Aldershot, Newport and now Afc Wimbledon did it so why not MK ??
Wimbledon FC were on the verge of liquidation and you have to remember that they only got the move to MK on appeal.Winkleman,who made his dough selling ice to the Eskimos,managed to convince a 3 man panel it was the right thing to do.Should they have been allowed to go bust? and be cast off into the wilderness? what would have happened to the players,staff etc.Winkleman rescued a dying club and got the green light to move to MK.Rightly or wrongly he did it.He only did what Noad£s and his midget Lebanese pal Hamman wanted to do in 1981/2.Not forgetting that there was serious talk of Dublin.
The real villains of the demise of WFC are Hamman and his bro who all along hoodwinked the supporters by claiming Plough Lane to be his and not the clubs.Trying to build a Safeways and then blocks of flats instead of a new football stadium fit for the Taylor Report and Premier League football.Instead he took them to Mr Noad£$ House of Horrors at Selhurst paying 50% of maintenance,rent and handing over a % of gate reciepts.He then flogged the dying horse to the Norwegians for 25 mill and stuffed all the dough in his bin and sent the dough to Beirut via Rudgwick Holdings Ltd where it probably still is ,hidden in a broom cupboard.Nice bit of business where he shafted those he said were his mates,the same people who started AFCW.He went to Cardiff,racked up 30 mill in debts and Noad£$ came to BFC and left us in the sh*t when he had enough and got bored.A pattern here emerges.
Kris Stewart started AFCW regardless of where WFC were going,bust or MK or staying in South London,and fair play to him he has done a good job with a good team around him.In 2002/3 AFCW were at Kingsmeadow in the CC Lge whilst WFC were at Selhurst playing DIV 2/Championship football in front of one man and his dog while AFCW were filling up non league grounds week in week out.
Could you support a new club and desert your old one? it hadnt moved yet and the appeal was way off?
Meanwhile the Koppel clan were trying to keep WFC afloat and can you imagine the uproar if they had pulled the plug and cleared off to Oslo? They're chance to bugger off came when Pete Winkle-man,it is a double barrel name now you know,came into town with a fistful of Euros and made the Koppel clan an offer they didnt want to refuse.A crap club desserted by its fan base,previous owner/s and struggling with the lowest attendances the 2nd tier of the Football League had ever witnessed.It all made sense.If what he done is wrong then thats an opinion thats your choice.WFC was always going to be hung out to dry somewhere and i commend Pete Winkle in having the foresight to rescue a dying club and ressurecting it to the club it is now.Like i say rightly or wrongly,but there is 2 sides to this tale.
Aldershot never had the luck of being rescued and it died only to,as they put it,Rise like a Phoenix from the Ashes.Their supporters were ***** in non league too btw.
Newport County were Conference when they went under and were exiled to Gloucestershire to ply their trade as the Welsh FA didnt like them too much.Once again they were not an attractive proposition so they had no choice,thats the secret,buy a club before it folds.
Will mention Maidstone who are finding it harder to move upwards,but they are a decent club run by people who care.They dream of a home of their own back where they belong and would love to use their old name,but that club still owe the tax man a few bob so that may not happen.Also when Maidstone United went bust,Dartford inherited the debts as they groundshared at the time.So if WFC did go under and they played at the home of CPFC,would they have inherited WFC shortcomings?
For the record,i am BFC 100% and do not care too much for these clubs mentioned unless i say so,its just there is always 2 sides to any story.
