Like a lovable Frankenstein's monster, AFC Wimbledon have made it into the Football League less than a decade after being pieced together by abandoned yet ardent supporters of the club that was stolen away from them.
The Guardian explains:
The enchanting rise of AFC Wimbledon goes on. The club formed by supporters after the original crazy gang was stolen away from them nine years ago and relocated to Milton Keynes are into the Football League after beating Luton 4-3 on penalties in the Blue Square Premier play-off final at Eastlands.
It is now five promotions in eight years for the club but none will feel as sweet as this. The club started life in the Combined Counties League in 2002 and now find themselves just one more promotion away from playing in the same division as the likes of Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday and, oh so interestingly, MK Dons. What an encounter that would be.
It might sound hokey and cliche to call it a fairytale, but it kind of is. This is a team that was originally scrambled together with an open tryout in the summer of 2002 and they have a chairman who earns just one "guinea" a year ("it sounded posher than a pound," he says). And now they've rocketed through the bottom five tiers of English football to earn professional status in League Two.
I mean, there has to be a movie about this already in production, right? One that climaxes with a victory in a grudge match against MK Dons next season after a surprise halftime team talk from the old 1988 FA Cup winning Crazy Gang's Vinnie Jones. This is happening, isn't it?
Photo: Getty Images
Julie Berry Lori Heuring Nicole Scherzinger Jill Arrington Tami Donaldson
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