Walton Casuals match is added to pre-season
We can confirm that Neal Ardley has added another game to Wimbledon’s pre-season friendly schedule with a short trip to Walton Casuals on Saturday, 20 July (12 noon kick-off).
This means that Wimbledon will have two games on the same day with a 3.00 pm kick-off at Sutton United having already been pencilled in for that date.
Explaining the reasons for an additional fixture, Neal Ardley said: “When we first drafted the pre-season schedule we were hoping to play the Monza game at the beginning of July and that would have allowed us a midweek game on 23 July.
After giving it a lot of thought, the simplest solution was to play two games in one day. We will therefore be taking a team to Walton, who kindly agreed to accommodate us on the same day that we play Sutton United.” “However, things worked out differently and we will be at our training camp during that week, which will leave us a game short from what we ideally wanted.
The game against Sutton, who narrowly missed out on the Conference South play-offs last season, will bring back memories of AFC Wimbledon’s first ever game eleven years ago and it will be a good test for the Dons at Gander Green Lane.
Older Dons supporters will also have fond memories of clashes against Walton Casuals during AFC Wimbledon’s first two seasons. The highlight of six matches between the two clubs was Wimbledon’s 5-4 home victory on 19 November, 2003 when Matt Everard scored two injury-time goals to cap a memorable fightback after the Dons were 3-0 down after half an hour.
Our photograph above shows Kevin Cooper receiving the congratulations of Neil Robson after his hat-trick in a 5-0 win at Walton Casuals a season earlier.
Walton Casuals now play in Ryman League Division One South and admission prices for the match at the Waterside Stadium are as follows: Adults £5, Over 65s £3, Under -17s £1.
Wimbledon’s remaining pre-season fixtures (home matches in bold) are published below:
Saturday, 13 July - FC United of Manchester (3.00 pm kick-off)
Wednesday, 17 July – Charlton Athletic (7.45 pm kick-off)
Saturday, 20 July – Walton Casuals (12 noon kick-off)
Saturday, 20 July – Sutton United (3.00 pm kick-off)
Saturday, 27 July – AC Monza Brianza 1912 (6.30 pm kick-off local time)