October 22: Wimbledon holds a special place in the history of English football. The south-west London suburb, famous for the Wimbledon tennis championships, has had a relationship with professional football and has had a relationship with professional football.
AFC Wimbledon, the fan club that was born out of the departure of Wimbledon FC, which was sold and moved to Milton Keynes and eventually changed its name to MK Dons.
Like its predecessor, the club went from the amateur leagues to the professional pyramid and finally to their own ground in 2020, the Cherry Red Records Stadium, near the site of their old stadium at Plow Lane.
The club is now set to take an £87m minority investment from a consortium led by former England defender Ryan Bertrand.
Bertrand, who played for Chelsea, Southampton, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, is the football face of Sloane Street Capital (SSC), owned by British tech expert Omar Mir.
The proposal before the Dons Trust is that SSC would invest £16m on completion for a 34% minority stake in newco AFCW PLC, the company that runs the club.
The remaining £71m would be spread over five seasons and used to fund men’s and women’s football and infrastructure. At the end of the five years, SSC would own 90% of the club, but the Dons Trust would own 50.01% of AFC Wimbledon’s voting shares, keeping the club controlled by the fans.
Bertrand would work as a senior football advisor, and within the budgets agreed by the AFCW PLC board.
“We’re not here to change what this club is. We’re here to help it go further on and off the pitch, for the men’s team, the women’s team and the academy,” said Bertrand.
“It would be an honor to join the Wimbledon family and help write the next chapter, and we look forward to meeting members and answering their questions over the coming weeks.”
The Dons Trust would have veto control over the freehold of the Cherry Red Record Stadium, as well as over the club’s name, badge, colours, ground and constitution.
SSC is an investor and not a philanthropist, so a sale to recoup the £87m can be expected at some point. The Dons Trust would refuse to buy the SSC shares and has the right to block a sale to anyone it deems to be an unsuitable investor.
The club is currently losing just over £7m a year, prompting the trust to look outside of its members for new money, but on the condition that fans’ ownership and control of key decisions were protected. The board spoke to 20 potential investors before choosing to propose SSC to members.
They now have until November 17 to decide on the proposals.
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