Greyhound racegoers are trying to come to terms with what is happening at Wimbledon.
The fact that Merton Council have agreed to AFC Wimbledon ‘cuckooing’ their way onto the greyhound stadium was not a bet that any bookmaker would have taken.
In a society where someone is always to blame, its hard to know where to start.
I would certainly have Merton Council as first in the dock for taking a bung to remove covenants on the REAL Wimbledon ground, further along Plough Lane. Houses went up and the footie fans screamed foul play as the team moved to Crystal Palace and then Milton Keynes. (Imagine being cuckooed off your home ground!)
The Labour controlled council of the time have since officially apologized for their disgraceful error of judgement and have attempted to rectify it by promising a local Dog And Duck outfit called called AFC Wimbledon the ‘chance to RETURN to the borough.’ We will be hearing next that Vinnie Jones is returning to his old club Barcelona.
Its not just Labour who are to blame, Merton Council en bloc signed up to the biggest piece of appeasement since a gutless grey haired politician returned from Munich with a letter signed ‘Love, Adolf’.
Absolute capitulation and disgrace.
Then of course there was the sale of GRA to “Risk Capital’. Except it wasn’t really was it? It took years before it transpired that property developers Galliard Homes were hiding as partners in the shadows.
The fact that Galliards have let the once proud stadium become a ‘wrong sided’ disgrace is surely coincidence?
Those of us who attended the Government inspector’s meeting a couple of years ago quickly sensed where this was all going.
I think it is fair to say that the planners and site owners seemed very well acquainted. In fact, one planning officer became quite irate when I pointed it out. I am suggesting anything untoward took place of course. They would surely be too careful after that unfortunate business a few years earlier?
So now, the battle starts.
Will greyhound racing respond?
Save Wimbledon?
Who? The several dozen Wimbledon owners? The Six-Packers? The other tracks?
I can’t see many track owners demanding Wimbledon be saved and then jumping into Jeremy Kyle’s lie detector chair.
The GBGB. With what? They are struggling to pay prize money, RGT, integrity and kennel improvement grants from an income half what it was ten years ago.
There will now inevitably be objections from local residents worried about 20,000 screaming football fans crowding into the area and lowering house prices.
I can almost picture them being told – ‘don’t worry it will never happen’ (nod nod, wink wink).
The real Wimbledon, who hit the absolute goldmine of the Crazy Gang couldn’t have sustained crowds of 20,000. What chance this mid table Division two outfit?
Lets maybe go for 5,000 seats and see how it goes. You never know, there might be room for a few more flats.
Fingers crossed for the locals, or any keyboard warriors who want to take on Merton Council. Go to it guys. Have a pop at someone outside the industry for a change. Send them a really stiff email.
If the worst does come to the worst. If the council can fob off locals as easily as the Environment Agency have rolled over, and assuming Boris decides to ignore the London Plan, I have just one wish.
On the day that the bulldozers arrive, somebody whispers to the Galliard Chief Exec – instead of giving half the site to a skint football club, have you ever wondered how much money you could have made if you had shared your site with a new modern single-sided greyhound stadium?
