On This Day – 17th June
Workington Town finally lost their Football League status on this day back in 1977 after two successive seasons of finishing bottom of the Fourth Division. They were replaced by Wimbledon, who had just won the Southern League Championship for the third successive season.
Wimbledon was better known at the time for the tennis championship instead of their football club. An FA Cup run in the 1974/75 season had helped the club gain some attention, especially as they beat First Division side Burnley and took champions Leeds United to a replay.
The Dons finished 13th in their first season in the Football League and then before winning the Fourth Division championship the following season.
and a rapid rise through the divisions followed. They incredibly reached the First Division just nine years later in 1986.
Within two years they were FA Cup winners, beating League champions Liverpool 1-0 in the 1988 FA Cup Final.
The Wimbledon fairytale came to an end at the start of the new millennium as they were relegated from the Premiership in the 1999/00 season.
The shock news that the club would be relocating to Milton Keynes was announced in August 2001 and the moved happened at the end of the following season.
A new club called AFC Wimbledon was created and run by fans who didn’t want to be a part of the relocation. This club worked its way up the non-league pyramid before reaching the Football League in 2011.
The original club was renamed Milton Keynes Dons at the end of the 2003/04 season and now have their own stadium.
Meanwhile, Workington have stayed in non-league football and are currently in the Northern Premier League.
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