One of Britain's greatest ever Olympians has renewed his link to the club with an exciting new partnership, years after he donned our colours.
Double decathlon gold medalist Daley Thompson went on to become a fitness coach for Wimbledon and even played for the reserve team. Now Daley is back on Plough Lane with Hybrid Fitness, with a new centre opening on site next month.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to watch some, if not a lot, of the games, as I suspect that I’m going to be here for a few Saturdays anyway,” said Daley. “I’ll be taking classes at the Hybrid Centre.
“The gym at Plough Lane is going to be our flagship. I like to think that we’ve been given an incredible space here and I hope that we can make the most of it and get a few people a bit fitter.”
“Playing in the reserves all those years ago at the original Plough Lane was fantastic! They used to let me change in the first team dressing room and all that kind of stuff. It was a really good time to be at Wimbledon.
“The difference between the old stadium though and this place – we’re talking chalk and cheese! I think this place is fantastic.
“The new stadium at Plough Lane is so much better than the old one. When you consider that it’s a community stadium, I think that it’s absolutely brilliant. I suspect you’re getting seven or eight thousand a game here and it’s a great atmosphere.
“It’s a new venture that I’ve started with Hybrid and they are putting gyms all over the country. Hopefully, because AFC Wimbledon is a community club, it can become part of the centre of attention and people will pop in and out and enjoy the experience.
“It is a key time for the gym industry, particularly after everything we went through with Covid and lockdowns. There are a lot of new openings out there. I believe that people are taking a lot more interest in their physical and mental health and I like to think that we’re going to appeal to them. Hopefully we’re going to be busy.”
Daley has been back to AFC Wimbledon before, when he visited the Kingsmeadow site leading up to our triumphant promotion play-off to League One seven years ago. He’s kept a keen eye on the development of the club since.
“What you’ve got here now is an anchor in the Wimbledon community,” said Daley. “You’ve got this incredible stadium. You’ve got some good players and, hopefully, in the next year or two, the team will start kicking on again.
“You’ve come up through the ranks and now settled at this level. It’s now a case of whether you guys can get a few really good players in and keep them. When you’re in the lower leagues, money is really important. Sometimes you have to sell to keep going.
“If you can find a way to also keep a few of the really good kids that you’ve got coming through the Academy, then I think you’ve got a great chance of moving up.”
Main photo: Ian Stephen (Pro Sports Images).