Supporters have an opportunity to watch AFC Wimbledon’s young prospects in match action at the Cherry Red Records Stadium on Sunday.
An academy festival of football involves our academy taking on teams from Portsmouth and AFC Bournemouth. It all starts at 9.00 am on Sunday morning and concludes with our Under-18s taking on Premier League club Bournemouth’s rising stars (7.30 pm kick-off).
The event is free to attend, but supporters need to bring along an ST card, DT card, a previous match ticket, or AFC Wimbledon merchandise to gain entry.
Ayoub Assal (pictured) was one of three young Dons to sign a professional contract on Friday and he is likely to feature. Of course, home-grown players have been a part of Wimbledon’s push to stay in League One this season with Will Nightingale, Toby Sibbick, Anthony Hartigan, and Paul Kalambayi all playing key roles.
Academy Head of Football Mark Robinson said: “We have all of our Academy teams playing at the Stadium this Sunday. We are all very hopeful that we will be celebrating the first-team staying in League One, which will be an achievement under Wally and Hodgy that has been done with a high percentage of Academy products in the starting 11.
“It would be great if fans came down throughout the day to see the next generation of academy players. There will be a bar open throughout the day and the final game will be the U18s taking on Bournemouth. Depending upon how a couple of results go on Saturday, a victory could be enough to win the league. To get as many people in the stadium as possible, creating an atmosphere for all the games, is absolutely brilliant for the players’ development. As always, myself and other academy staff will be present throughout the day to answer any questions the fans may have.”
The full schedule is as follows:
- 9.00 am – Under-9s/10s/11s v Portsmouth
- 11.00 am – Under-12s v Portsmouth
- 1.00 pm – Under-13s v Portsmouth
- 3.00 pm – Under-14s v Portsmouth
- 5.00 pm – Under-15s/16s v Bournemouth
- 7.30 pm – Under-18s v Bournemouth
The event is free to attend, but supporters need to bring along an ST card, DT card, a previous match ticket, or AFC Wimbledon merchandise to gain entry.