AFC Wimbledon fans and former players have said a return to Plough Lane would be a dream come true ahead of Merton Council’s decision on whether to approve plans to bring the Dons home.
Tonight’s meeting of the council’s planning committee is likely to be full of fans eager to see their AFC Wimbledon return to Plough Lane, which they called home for nearly 80 years.
What Wimbledon FC's new 20,000-seater stadium in Merton might look like
Ahead of tonight’s decision, we spoke to Wimbledon legends, fans, historians and commentators about what a return to Plough Lane would mean to them.
From December 2: AFC Wimbledon: Is Dons' exile over at last?
From today: "Womble shaped butterflies" Your thoughts ahead of tonight's D-Day for the Dons
From today: AFC Wimbledon stadium will be 'the end of greyhound racing', but the sport will fight Plough Lane plans
Follow our live blog: #DDayforDons All the news on the AFC Wimbledon Plough Lane decision
John Scales spent the bulk of his playing career with Wimbledon and remembers the Plough Lane years well.
Earlier this year Scales, who also played for Premier League big boys Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, backed the Bring The Dons Home campaign and said a move home to Plough Lane would be monumental.
He said: "I know the area very well - I still live locally and go to the games.
"It’s a very special club and I hope it gets back to where it should be.
"You’ve got your Manchester Uniteds and Real Madrids but this is as special as anything in football.
"The club gave me so much - they made me the player I was - and it was such a special time place to be a Wimbledon player."
The last few steps as players run out of the tunnel onto the old Plough Lane ground (David Forsyth)
Niall Couper is the author of This is Our Time: The AFC Wimbledon Story, a history of the club’s rise from the ashes of Wimbledon FC to their first season in the Football League.
He fondly remembers watching Wimbledon matches at Plough Lane with his grandparents and brother, selling programmes and acting as a mascot for a 2-1 loss to Hull City in the old Fourth Division 1983 - the Dons’ only home defeat of the 1982/83 season.
He said: "It’s absolutely massive for us. It would mean so much for me to go to the ground.
"I loved that whole community spirit - being in Wimbledon.
"It will be a massive tearjerker if we do go back. I will be welling up massively.
"We are this wonderful community club with fans who have probably never been to Plough Lane."
The view from the terraces at Plough Lane (David Forsyth)
Simon Wheeler, 37, chairman of the AFC Wimbledon Independent Supporters’ Group, has been a Dons fan for more than 20 years but was 12 when they left Plough Lane.
Mr Wheeler said: "It’s incredibly exciting - the supporters have been very diligent throughout this whole process and it would be great to get back to Wimbledon.
"When they moved out of Plough Lane I was 12. So it will be a very special homecoming after a long exile for fans like me.
"We’ll be getting Wimbledon back to its rightful place - its true home."
Mr Wheeler also believes Wimbledon returning to Merton would help regenerate the area and give it an economic boost.
He said: "It’s not just about Saturday afternoons but also the great community work the club does being back in the Wimbledon, in the heart of Merton.
"There are AFC Wimbledon coaches going into local schools every day, coaching, and giving kids the opportunities that playing sport delivers. It’s something the club funds and delivers.
"There will be a lot of secondary benefits to bringing the club back. There will be a lot of regeneration and socio-economic boosts.
"It’ll just be great for the whole community."
Plough Lane from the skies (David Forsyth)
Rob Cornell, an interviewer and commentator at AFC Wimbledon Player, also believed the benefits of a return to Plough Lane would go beyond football.
He said: "If a new stadium were to come about, it would be great for so many of my Crazy Gang heroes as a kid to come back and meet up regularly again.
"It could do so much for the community and the next generation of Dons fans.
"You had a loyal band of supporters as AFC Wimbledon do now - many still around then who help set up the club again and are keeping it running so well now.
"It’s a real community club that still exists and can grow again."
Wimbledon FC Directors and Executive Lounge at Plough Lane (David Forsyth)
Geoff Hawley, a commentator at Radio WDON, believes a move back to Plough Lane would be a dream come true for fans.
He said: "I’ve been a fan for 40-odd years - my first game was Tonbridge away in ’74.
"It’s going to be a dream come true if we get back to Wimbledon.
"You really have to pinch yourself sometimes.
"There’s a very special buzz around the place at the moment. It’s a very exciting time to be an AFC fan.
"It’s almost mission accomplished since we started this whole thing from scratch again.
"We just want to be a fan-owned, viable club back where we should be: Wimbledon."
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