Manager welcomes new era for Dons Ladies
AFC Wimbledon Ladies manager Chris Lyons believes that ground-sharing with Sutton United will provide a major boost as he aims to move the club forward.
It has been announced by AFC Wimbledon Ladies that its first-team will play home games at Gander Green Lane next season with Sutton United expected to have a new 3G playing surface ready in time for 2015/16 season.
With the first-team also utilising the facility for training, Chris (pictured centre above) believes his squad will have a much better chance of success.
“Our ultimate goal is to put this club back into the Women’s Premier League. To play at the next level, the infrastructure must be right, and training and playing at new facilities at Sutton United is another big statement of how determined we are. This will help even more in raising our profile, and the more forgiving surface of a 3G pitch will mean fewer training related injuries.”
The Dons ladies have made great strides during 2014/15 as they are currently fourth in the London & South East Regional Women’s Premier League and they recently won the Surrey Women’s Cup.
The ladies, who currently play their home games at Archbishop Tenison’s School Sports Ground, Motspur Park, have their first friendly planned at the venue for Sunday, 9 August, before starting their league campaign two weeks later. Work is due to start later this month to replace the Gander Green Lane turf with a state of the art 3G facility.
AFC Wimbledon’s girls teams will also utilise training facilities at Sutton United next season and play their home matches at Archbishop Tenison’s School Sports Ground.
Of course, AFC Wimbledon’s first match after its rebirth was at Sutton United on 10 July, 2002, and Ladies Chairman Dennis Lowndes is proud to extend the link.
“This is a very exciting time for the Ladies and Girls section,” said Dennis. It is a major boost to aid Chris Lyons and his team to get AFC Wimbledon Ladies ascending the Women’s football pyramid. None of this would be possible without the support of our main sponsor, Mike Richardson, and his company The Socially Responsible Investment Fund PCC plc. Mike is delighted to have a stadium with superb facilities that AFC Wimbledon Ladies can call home and he can’t wait for the 2015-2016 season to begin!”
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