AFC Wimbledon may have got just one point in League One so far, but they’ve just had the best result in their history.
Of course I’m not talking about the 0-0 draw at Northampton – although that’s certainly not to be sniffed at against a team that has gone 28 games unbeaten, easily the longest ongoing run in the country.
Instead, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s decision to hand the decision on whether to allow the decision on planning consent back to Merton Council has effectively confirmed the Dons are going home.
Many congratulations are due to those who have fought so passionately for that result.
AFC Wimbledon may have got just one point in League One so far, but they’ve just had the best result in their history.
But you cannot hide away from the fact this spells the end of greyhound racing at Plough Lane after 88 years, not to mention stock car racing which has taken place on the site since 1962.
For both sports, it doesn’t just spell the end on the borders of SW17 and SW19, but indeed anywhere with a London postcode.
Speaking as someone who has enjoyed many good, if unprofitable nights at Wimbledon, it’s hard not to feel some regret, even if the phrase “run-down” doesn’t do justice to the neglect of the existing stadium.
It simply doesn’t belong in the 21st century.
The fact that following the demise of Wembley, White City and Walthamstow that Wimbledon Stadium was deemed the premier greyhound stadium in the country, supposedly the best venue for the Greyhound Derby, was emblematic of a sport dying on its feet.
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For all the shouting, led by Irish businessman Paschal Taggart about the possibility of a state-of-the-art greyhound stadium, the most telling words came from Merton Council leader (and self-proclaimed Fulham fan) Councillor Stephen Alambritis.
“We would have looked at any other application in the same way, but we didn’t receive any,” he said.
Rather than shouting the odds, and, however galling they may find it, those who purport to have greyhound racing’s best interests at heart would now be far better seeking AFC Wimbledon’s advice on how to save their sport.
They are living proof that this need not be the end.
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