Welcome to the penultimate 9yrspodcast Friday update before the start of the season. We will be up very early next week with a preview of our game at Luton, alongside all the other news that occurs between now and then. We might even have a signing to announce … maybe. As always, comments are welcome below, and if there is anything we have missed, please email 9yrs@may14.co.uk with the subject header, ‘Friday Update’.
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Our final pre-season friendly takes place tomorrow (26 July) away at Southend United. Kick-off at Roots Hall is at 1.00pm. Last week, National League Southend lost 2-0 to our opening day opponents, Luton Town. Tickets for the game are available on the gate for £15 adults, £10 concessions, and £5 under-16s, but can also be bought in advance from the Southend ticketing platform. Collections and sales are available from the BTMK Box Office at the main entrance to the stadium.
Last week, we lost both our pre-season games without scoring a goal. On Saturday, we lost 2-0 at Sutton United of the National League; on Tuesday night, Championship side Millwall ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at Plough Lane. Defender Lee Brown, 34, who stepped away from football at the end of the 2023-24 season, featured against Millwall as a trailist. The other trialist who featured in both games was Brodi Hughes, a 20-year-old full-back formerly at Chelsea. Our lineups in full for both games were as follows:
- vs Sutton United (3-5-2): McDonnell; Harbottle (Ogundere 70), Hutchinson (Nkeng 75), Johnson (Young 75); Sasu (Hughes 70), Smith (Horan 75), Reeves (McCoy-Splatt 75), Hippolyte (Maycock 75), Seddon (Foyo 75); Browne (Kelly 75), Stevens (Bugiel 70). Subs NU: Bishop, Sidwell.
- vs Millwall (3-5-2): Bishop; Ogundere (Nkeng 75), Johnson (Hutchinson 65), Seddon (Harbottle 75); Sasu (Jennings 75), McCoy-Splatt (Hippolyte 75), Reeves (Smith 65), Maycock (Sidwell 75), Hughes (Brown 75); Kelly (Stevens 80), Bugiel (Foyo 45). Subs NU: McDonnell, Horan.
Johnnie Jackson admitted his frustration in the transfer market so far this summer. In an interview following the Millwall game, Jackson said: “We’re light in some areas, and we need some extra quality in certain areas, because we’re going up a league and everything is going to ramp up. I’m a little frustrated that we haven’t got more in the building sooner, but it’s not down to any lack of effort on our part.”
Joe Lewis is nursing a shin injury. The centre-half hasn’t featured in our last three pre-season games, but Johnnie Jackson has confirmed that Joe’s injury is not serious, but does need to be looked after. It is uncertain whether he will feature at Luton next week.
Leo Young has gone on loan to Havant & Waterlooville. The defender, 19, will spend a month with the Isthmian League South side. They start their season on Saturday 9 August at home to Taunton Town.
An additional 150 tickets for our League One fixture at Luton Town go on sale on Monday (28 July). The restricted view seats go on sale to season-ticket and debenture holders, and members, from 1.00pm online at this link. Our first tranche of tickets – which we believe to be around 1,200 – sold out within half an hour of going on sale this past Monday.
A season-launch event takes place at Plough Lane this Tuesday (29 July). The event starts at 5.00pm with a replay of the play-off final from May, before Aaron Paul speaks to a panel of guests, including Johnnie Jackson and Craig Cope, from 7.00pm. Anyone planning on attending is asked to register their interest to assist the club’s planning.
The first-team squad will meet fans in Morden Park on Wednesday (30 July). The event, hosted in conjunction with Merton Council, will run from 5.30 until 7.30pm. More information about the session can be found here.
Paul Strank Roofing are the new sponsors of the South Stand at Plough Lane. Strank have been long-term sponsors of the club: they used to sponsor the main stand at Kingsmeadow, and last season their name adorned the North Stand at Plough Lane.
The latest edition of the official AFC Wimbledon podcast is out now. It has been out for a little while, in truth. Aaron Paul spoke to Johnnie Jackson and other members of the squad during the pre-season camp in Marbella. You can find the episode here.