The New Derby With A Bitter History

In the footballing world this weekend, their is some mouthwatering derbies. Their is the Highland derby and the Edinburgh derby in Scotland, the South London derby between Millwall and Charlton, the East Lancashire derby between Burnley and Blackburn, the Turin derby in Italy and the Madrid derby in Spain. Feisty rivalries between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, as well as Ajax and PSV Eindhoven will also be contested.

However, the derby of the weekend is unique in that it is the first of its kind. When Wimbledon FC folded in 2003 two spin off teams were formed in the shape of MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon. The teams hated each other on separation from their mother club and have never previously had a chance to battle it out. However, the FA Cup has once again worked its magic and thrown up a tie between the two, that has the whole of England talking.

Wimbledon FC were formed in 1989 and spent their early years playing non-league football.  They were elected into the Football League in 1977-78 at the expense of Workington. And for the first few years they huffed and puffed without ever really causing a fuss. That was until their retched season of 1981-82, a season that involved relegation, the loss of their chairman and manager and the tragic suicidal death of player Dave Clement. It was as if the season was the wake up call the club needed, the catalyst to become something big.

Under the management of Dave Bassett Wimbledon achieved three promotions in four years. It was a meteoric rise that caught many by surprise. And they did little to harm their reputation by making a good account of themselves in England's top flight.

However, Wimbledon's monumental moment came in the 1988 FA Cup. The final was supposed to be a foregone conclusion. League champions, Liverpool, were expected to cruise to a second domestic double in three years. But the team from south east London had a reputation of being cup 'giant killers' and were ready to write their name into English footballing history.

A goal from part Ecuadorian, part English, part Northern Irish midfielder Lawrie Sanchez, along with a penalty save from goalkeeper Dave Beassant, ensured Wimbledon had pulled off one of the biggest cup upsets of all time. Incidentally Beassant's penalty save was the first of it's kind in an FA Cup final. But that meant very little in comparison to his clubs unlikely achievement. Wimbledon had become only the second club to win the FA Cup and the FA Amateur Cup.

However, the FA Cup triumph would be the pinnacle for the unfashionable London club. They went from being a decent top flight team, to a struggling top flight team, before eventually being relegated in the year 2000.

As quick as Wimbledon had shot up the leagues and risen to fame, a similarly quick demise now lay ahead.

On field and off field problems began to mount for Wimbledon, none more so than the ever lingering stadium dispute. Ever since Wimbledon moved from Plough Lane to ground share with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, they never had a place they could call home. The move was enforced by higher powers who deemed Plough Lane to be unsuitable for the Premier League, although the switch was only supposed to be temporary.

As time went by, the motivation to find their own home was lost, probably caught up in their new dizzying highs. With administration beckoning, owner Charles Koppel proposed a move to the National Hockey Stadium 56 miles north in Milton Keynes. If the move to Selhurst Park was controversial, then the latest move was seen as nothing short of a disgrace.

The outcome saw Wimbledon make the move to Milton Keynes before entering administration. A re-branding of the club post-administration saw them renamed MK Dons. Disgruntled fans formed a 'phoenix club' as they looked on in disgust at what their ex-club had now turned into. The new club was called AFC Wimbledon.

It must be said that the two offspring clubs have endured mild success since the dissolving of the old Wimbledon. MK Dons have developed into a successful Football League side, finding relative comfort in League 1, agonisingly losing out on promotion on several occasions. They won the Football League Trophy during the 2007-08 season and have had some notable managers such as Paul Ince and Roberto Di Matteo.

AFC Wimbledon have surged through the English lower leagues in a manner that is testament to their mother club. They have achieved five promotions in nine years, going from the Combined Counties League to League 2. Amidst their promotions they also racked up an incredible run of 78 consecutive league games without defeat, spanning from February 2003 to December 2004. It is the current record for the longest unbeaten run in English football.

That pretty much brings us up to date, a division between them, and an intriguing cup tie just around the corner at the Stadium MK. The hosts have had a good season, sitting third in League 1 and have not lost in their last eight games, a run that includes six wins and nineteen goals.

Contrastingly, AFC Wimbledon are finding life hard as a Football League side. They have won just two of their last eight and have conceded fifteen goals in the process. They linger just above the relegation zone and may have one eye on a relegation six pointer with Barnet next week.

The match will be a particularly interesting one for several personnel involved. MK Dons captain Dean Lewington and goalkeeper David Martin were once Wimbledon youth players and joined seamlessly during the re-branding of the old Wimbledon. Their assistant manager Mick Hartford was once a former player for Wimbledon, as was AFC loanee Neil Sulivan, who will be hoping his parent club allow him to play in Sunday's grudge match. Both were team mates of current AFC manager Neil Ardley who was once a 'Crazy Gang' legend with 291 appearances under his belt, making the match an emotional one for himself.

If the cup tie is played to a manner that resembles the old Wimbledon, we should expect hard challenges, red cards and maybe even the odd bloodshed. The old Wimbledon were notorious 'giant killers', and therefore the writing is maybe on the wall for AFC. However, Wimbledon never stuck to the script.