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On This Day in 1998 … Two goals from Jason Euell earned a 2-1 Premier League victory over Sheffield Wednesday at Selhurst Park. Paulo Di Canio replied for the visitors in front of a crowd of 13,163. The goals can be seen here.
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We host Cardiff City in League One this evening. Kick-off at Plough Lane is 7.45pm and the game is also available to watch on the Sky Sports Plus service. Cardiff, relegated from The Championship last season, have picked up seven points from their opening three fixtures, beating Peterborough United (2-1) and Rotherham United (3-0) at home, and drawing at Port Vale (0-0). They also beat Swindon Town in the First Round of the League Cup (2-1), and will host Cheltenham Town in the Second Round. Welsh international midfielder Rubin Colwill, who has scored three times already this season, is expected to start, as are goalkeeper Nathan Trott and in-form midfielder David Turnbull. Manager Brian Barry-Murphy took charge in the summer; his last first-team managerial appointment was at Rochdale, whom we met three times whilst he was in charge (W2, D1). It is the first time we have hosted Cardiff since a League Cup Second Round, Second Leg tie in 1999 (W 3-1), although we did meet in the League Cup First Round at the Cardiff City Stadium in 2015 (L 1-0). Our overall record against the Bluebirds stands at W3, D1, L1; City are winless in their last five away games, and Barry-Murphy says they must improve on their last away performance at Vale Park. There are nine other League One fixtures taking place this evening.
Johnnie Jackson described Saturday’s win at Reading as ‘absolutely outstanding’. The 2-1 victory was achieved with goals from Matty Stevens (32′) and Marcus Browne (70′), with Lewis Wing netting a spectacular consolation for the hosts (86′). Jackson said the free-kick routine that led to Browne’s goal was something the squad had worked on in training, although Browne himself said it was improvised. Reading manager Noel Hunt believed his side had dominated the game, but were undone by individual mistakes. It is the first time we have won consecutive games in the third tier since September 2021 (3-1 vs Oxford United; 4-3 vs Morecambe). Highlights of the game can be found on YouTube.
We will return to Reading in the Second Round of the League Cup. Kick-off at The Madejski Stadium is at 7.00pm. We have been allocated space in the South Stand, but with Reading only opening the John Madjeski stand for home fans, we might be moved to the other side from where we were on Saturday. Tickets appear to be priced at £12 adults, but they are not yet on sale to away fans.
Riley Horan and Ed Leach have gone out on loan. Horan has joined Walton & Hersham of the Southern League South until January; he enjoyed a good loan spell at Stompond Lane last season. Leach will spend a month at Whitehawk, of the Isthmian League South.
Tammy Parlour MBE has been appointed Interim Chair of the Women’s Board. Parlour is the CEO and co-founder of the Women’s Sport Trust, and said it is ‘an honour’ to take on the role at AFC Wimbledon. Parlour takes over from David Growns, who resigned last week.
The Women’s team lost 2-1 at home to Real Bedford FC on Sunday. It was their opening fixture of their FA Women’s Premier League campaign. Having fallen behind on the half-hour mark, the Dons equalised on the stroke of half-time through Daisy McLachlan, but the visitors grabbed victory with a winner in the 90th minute. The girls play Chelsea Under-21s at Tooting & Mitcham on Wednesday (20th August) in the group stage of the National League Cup; they then travel to Oxford United in the league on Sunday (24th August) at 2.00pm. Oxford, who beat Cardiff City 1-0 in their first game of the season, play at Oxford City’s Court Place Farm stadium.
The window for nominations for the 2025 Dons Trust Board election is now open. The window closes at 11.59pm on Sunday 7 September. This year, five spaces on the board need to be filled. More information can be found on the Trust web site. Last week, James Ledward and David Rey were appointed to the board as casual vacancies: their terms will end in December unless they seek re-election.
Wally Downes is the new manager of Lions Gibraltar. The Lions play in the Gibraltar Football League, the country’s top division, and started their season with a 1-1 draw at FC Hound Dogs – yes, really – on Saturday.
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.
The latest edition of the 9yrspodcast was released on Friday. Nick was joined by brother Chris to review our league win against Lincoln City, and progression in the League Cup at Gillingham. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube via this link.