Welcome to the first 9yrspodcast Tuesday update of the season. This weekly update will continue throughout the campaign. Primarily, this update serves as a place to aggregate all the important news from around the club, but it will also enable us to offer previews for midweek games, as well as link to some reaction to weekend matches. As always, comments are welcome below, and if there is anything we have missed, please email 9yrs@may14.co.uk with the subject header, ‘Tuesday Update’.
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Our League Cup First Round tie at Gillingham kicks off at 7.45pm tonight. The game at Priestfield will be available to watch on the Sky Sports Plus service, but tickets can be bought online – via the Gillingham ticketing web site – or on the gate (£16 adults). Gillingham have picked up four points from their first two League Two fixtures this season: they won 1-0 at home against Walsall on Saturday, thanks to a Bradley Dack goal, having drawn 1-1 away at Accrington Stanley last week. Gareth Ainsworth has yet to taste defeat as Gills’ boss since taking on the role in March (W4, D7), a run that includes a 1-0 win against us at Priestfield on Easter Monday last season, and has said that he will pick a strong side for tonight’s game, with captain Armani Little and in-demand forward Joe Gbode expected to feature. Omar Bugiel should feature for the Dons, but Joe Lewis is a doubt. The Kent side were knocked out of the League Cup in the First Round last season (3-1 away at Swansea), but did beat us at this stage of the competition in 2022 (2-0 at Plough Lane). Our overall record against Gillingham stands at W16, D11, L11; we are winless in our last five visits to Priestfield, losing on the last three occasions.
The Dons picked up their first points of the League One season on Saturday. The 2-0 defeat of Lincoln City ended a winless run of 28 games in the third tier, stretching back to 7 December 2021. The Imps had defender Adam Jackson sent-off after 23 minutes; goals from Matty Stevens (penalty, 41′) and Nathan Asiimwe (77′) on his home debut secured a comfortable win against the visitors’ ten men. Johnnie Jackson said he was happy with a ‘decent performance’; Lincoln manager Michael Skubala said the red card ‘changed the complexion of the game’. Matty Stevens dedicated his goal to his cousin, who passed away recently, and whose funeral took place the day before the game. Highlights of the game can be found on YouTube.
Our next League One fixture takes place on Saturday (16 August) away at Reading. Kick-off at The Madejski Stadium is at 3.00pm. Reading have lost both League One fixtures so far (2-0 at Lincoln, and at home to Huddersfield Town), and they travel to Championship side Portsmouth in the League Cup this evening. We then host Cardiff City at Plough Lane next Tuesday, 19 August, at 7.45pm. Ticket information for both games can be found here.
Kai Jennings and Leo Young have gone out on loan. Jennings has gone to Farnborough FC, of the National League South, until January; Young joins Havant & Waterlooville, of the Southern Premier League, for a month.
The Dons Trust have approved the sale of 3.7% of AFCW PLC to a consortium led by John Green. The resolution was passed at a Special General Meeting at Plough Lane last night (11 August). The sale of shares is expected to proceed for an initial investment of roughly £1.04m. During the meeting, it was also announced that bond repayments currently stand at £7.8m; insurance on the stadium has increased by roughly 30 per cent following the pitch damage last year; and Trust membership now stands at 7,824. The entire meeting can be viewed on YouTube.
David Growns has resigned as Chair of AFC Wimbledon Women. David has been in post for 10 years. A former Dons Trust Board member and secretary, David has overseen the rise of the Women’s team from a Step 5 to a Step 3 side, and thanked players past and present for giving him “so many hours of enjoyment”.
The Women’s team begin their competitive season this Sunday. They host Real Bedford Ladies in the opening fixture of the Women’s Premier League: kick-off at Imperial Fields is at 2.00pm.
The Arska Prediction League has begun! The APL has been running for over 25 years now. Registration and entry remain free! You can join in at any time. Make your predictions by following this link.
Our very own Stuart Deacons has published two blog articles this week. Stu discusses the future of the women’s game, and the club’s financial picture. Both articles will be embedded into this web site shortly, but for now they are available at https://stu9yearspodcastviewoffootball.blogspot.com/.