By Rob Cornell
Get yourself down to The Cherry Red Records Stadium on Wednesday night to cheer on the Lionesses as they kick-off their Women's European Championship campaign against old enemies Scotland.
A live screening is being staged at the club by AFC Wimbledon Foundation. It's free, the bar will be open, and there will be free giveaways to those who get here early!
"We'll be opening up the middle bar at the ground," said Sports Development Officer Emma O'Connor." The bars will open at 6.30pm and kick-off is at 7.45pm. Hopefully, we'll be celebrating three points for England!"
"On a first come, first serve basis we have free Lionesses water bottles and head bands, courtesy of Surrey FA, to give away. First come, first serve – come and grab your freebies!"
To see a full interview with AFC Wimbledon Foundation Sports Development Officers Emma O'Connor and Georgia Heasman, click on the link below to our official club YouTube channel.
It's hoped the success generated by Mark Sampson's side on the pitch will also increase further interest with our growing ladies section at the club and further participation among young fans due to our Foundation activities.
First-team players from AFC Wimbledon Ladies are also planning to attend the special event, including striker Georgia Heasman.
"It could be tricky with the likes of Germany in there too, but I believe in England," said Georgia. "A few of my team-mates will be coming down. We like to invite them to all of the events we've going on and especially to such a good opportunity like this.
"You don't get a room full of women or anyone to watch a female football tournament so they'll be up for coming along and I'm sure it'll be a great evening."
"It does have that rivalry," said Emma." "If you asked the Lionesses what's your thoughts on Scotland – they want to win! That's athletes – you want to beat your local rivals. It's three points in the group stages."
"I'm going 5-0 to England," said Emma confidently. "I'm saying 3-1 to England," added Georgia.
Emma has an avid interest in supporting the Lionesses and she will be travelling out to watch them next week: "I'm going out to Holland next week to support the Lionesses as I have tickets for England versus Portugal, so I'm focused on three points. I want them to be in the final and win it, but obviously there's strong competition from other teams such as France, Spain and Germany."
At a local level, AFC Wimbledon Foundation are introducing a new initiative to promote participation for girls.
"During the summer holidays we run a summer holiday camp," explained Georgia. "This year, it's pretty exciting because in the fifth week – the week beginning August 21 – we're running a Girls only week and it's specifically for girls between the ages of 5 and 14."
"It's at Wimbledon Park, in a safe environment with Georgia and me and it's a first for us," added Emma.
For more details about this, visit the AFC Wimbledon Foundation website.