An invite for Dave Anderson to join our WDON commentary team for a game at the end of this season was curtailed, but that hasn’t stopped us from catching up with our former manager!
WDON commentator Rob Cornell had an extensive chat with the man who played an important part in the club’s rise through non league, Dave having memorably guided Wimbledon to the Ryman League Division One title and Surrey Senior Cup double back in 2005.
In an entertaining Zoom chat that included plenty of the Northern Irishman’s sharp wit, Dave talked about walking six miles a day during lockdown, but balancing that out by having six bottles of Peroni every day! Thanks to his daughter Lucy, Dave also unveiled his latest lockdown haircut!
Asked for the stand-out memories of his three-year stint as Wimbledon manager, Dave immediately recalled the special atmosphere for the home game versus Fleet Town – a match when the Dons equalled the British senior record for unbeaten consecutive matches.
“The big one that sticks out is the night we beat Fleet to equal the record," said Dave. "My memory is shocking for this stuff, but that’s right up there. When you are doing your job right you are not always aware of the stadium and the crowd because you are in a zone that takes you somewhere else. Don’t get me wrong when there’s a great atmosphere it’s subconsciously there, but I remember that night because the fans were singing ‘Anderson’s blue and yellow army’. I distinctly remember it starting before kick-off and they were still singing it as I walked off at half-time!
“I will never forget it. I love an exaggeration to make a story good, but this is no exaggeration, this happened. It was a big game and I had to sort of focus away from it. As much as my ego loved it, I was thinking ‘Are they still singing it?’ It was as if they were saying ‘we know this is a special night, no matter what you do tonight, we are with you’. I remember that night massively.”
Of course, Wimbledon would go onto set a new record of 78 successive games unbeaten, which still stands to this day.
In his extensive interview, Dave also talks about missing out on signing Jon Main before Terry Brown brought him to Wimbledon, his excitement for watching us play at Plough Lane, and putting together his interesting interviews with non league managers called ‘The Gaffer Tapes’.
A teaser of the interview is below, plus the full chat with Dave, which is well worth 24 minutes of your time this weekend!