The real losers in the BSP Play off final

8/6/2019 The real losers in the BSP Play off final

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There can only be one winner Alex Brodie of therollingball.tumblr.com brings us the views of a neutral at the richest

game in Non League football – the playoff final.

AFC Wimbledon and Luton Town shared more than just a hope of promotion when they

met in the Blue Square Bet Premier (BSBP) play-off final in May. Both clubs wanted to right

wrongs. Both wanted to show the footballing authorities that their spirits could not bebroken – not by points deductions, not by a franchise.

Luton believe they were unfairlydropped into non-League football by the

infamous points deductions doled out byThe FA and The Football League in the

summer of 2008. This created in the

fanbase a sense of injustice that was

shared by many neutral fans throughout

the country. The humiliation of having tostart the 2008-09 season on minus 30

points at the bottom of the Football

League has not – and will not – be

forgotten.

Luton were not relegated for being a poor team, but for being a poorly run club. Without

the points deductions, The Hatters would have finished 15th in League Two that season.

The previous owners are now long gone, but the current owners and long-suffering

supporters are feeling the effects. The bitterness is still there. They feel punished for the

misdemeanours committed by people no longer attached to the club.

Furthermore, Kenilworth Road averaged almost 3,000 more spectators than any other

home ground in the 2010-11 BSBP season. There have been several instances in the past

two seasons when Luton supporters have been in the majority at away grounds. Four BSBPclubs had average attendances of less than 1,000 last season. Luton averaged 6,242.

These figures have created a sense at the club of being an enormous fish in a rather tinypond. Add this to the bitterness outlined above and the Luton supporters’ anger and

desperation can be understood. These deep feelings were in evidence at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Usually, such circumstances would result in a club receiving the support of neutrals in amatch such as this. And had Luton been up against any ordinary club, then this probably

would have been the case. But AFC Wimbledon are no ordinary club.

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There have been murmurs in the non-League game that AFC Wimbledon are a little toohappy with themselves for being a supporter-run club with a cause to fight. Some point to

their takeover of Kingstonian’s Kingsmeadow ground. Some other fans feel the club act as

if above others. As if everyone should support them and feel in awe of their great rise

through the football pyramid.

Whatever side of the fence one sits, it cannot be denied that Wimbledon were swindled by

The FA. Whichever side prospered at the City of Manchester Stadium, a set of supporters

were about to see their club readmitted to an institution that had shown little regard for

their well-being in the past. An intense atmosphere was expected. Unfortunately, it’s not

only the highest level of football governance that can incur the wrath of fans through its

actions.

In the weeks leading up to the final, supporters of both clubs had raised objections to the

ticket prices for the final. The cheapest seat came in at more than £40 (with booking charge

and postage added). This, along with both clubs from the South playing in Manchester,

resulted in poor ticket sales. All parties lost out, including the BSBP.

Luton took 45,000 to Wembley for the Johnstone’s Paint

Trophy Final in 2009. Their allocation for the City of Manchester Stadium was half that number, and only

12,000 bought tickets. Wimbledon, with an average homeattendance of 3,390, brought 6,000. Both sides brought

double their average home attendances, but it could havebeen so much more.

A total attendance of 18,195 in a 47,405 capacity stadium could not help but slightly cool

the excitement. And furthermore, there were the nerves.

Luton seemed to have more to lose. There was certainly a sense of this having to be their

time. A third season in non-League football could see a drop in attendances. Players might

leave. They had already lost star midfielder Andy Drury to Ipswich in January. How long

would their other leading players stay put if the club could offer only another season in

non-League?

Gary Brabin, Luton’s third manager since dropping out of the Football League, had reached

the play-off final before, with Cambridge. He lost. It wasn’t just The Hatters with something

to prove. Their manager, too, was desperate to show he could make the step up.

For Luton fans, it was not to be an enjoyable afternoon. Never did it look like their team had

settled or looked like scoring. Even in the opening 30 minutes, when Luton were on top,

Wimbledon were happy to sit back and soak up the pressure. Nothing strikes fear into

football fans like the opposition looking comfortable, as if waiting to pounce. There was a




lot riding on the match, certainly, but even so there was no time to relax. No time to enjoy

the view from your £44 seat.

Ninety minutes came and went in a blur of tension and sweaty palms. Throughout, Luton

fans sung about rising through the Football League. Tempting football fate is risky.

Jason Walker hit the inside of the post in the dying minutes of normal time. It was in front

of the Luton end. Many celebrated for a few seconds before the deadening truth hit home.

Among the Luton support, thoughts remained surprisingly positive in extra-time. “They’re

there for the taking.” “Look at them, they’re playing for pens.” Both statements might have

been true, but it didn’t stop Wimbledon having the better chances during the extra half hour. They missed them all, mind. Maybe they’d be as wasteful from 12 yards.

There’s no point in relaying the feelings of watching your

team lose on penalties. This was different to watchingEngland lose on penalties — again. This was Luton. WhenEngland lose, the majority of the footballing-supporting

population mourns — it’s a national event and everyone

suffers. When Luton lose, to AFC Wimbledon, no one elsecares. The 12,000 supporters were forced to take the same

trains home as their conquerors. “I was there” only workswhen you win. When you lose, in a half-empty stadium, to a club formed a decade ago,

there’s little to cling to.

The pub that Luton fans, and some Dons fans, had drunk in before the match was closed

after the game and rumours circulated that supporter violence was the reason. There wassome attempted baiting by the victors on the train home, but no one took offence.

Luton could take a scrap of comfort from the fact they lost to a club whose fans have

arguably suffered more than them at the hands of the football authorities in recent years. If

they had to lose, it could not have been to a more deserving club.

The Football League doesn’t deserve a club like Wimbledon, but their fans certainly

deserve to be there.

You can read more of Alex’s work on his website therollingball.tumblr.com


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The real losers in the BSP Play off final