DONS TO SHELL OUT TO AID K’S SWITCH

KINGSTONIAN’S days playing at Kingsmeadow now seem numbered as AFC Wimbledon edge ever closer to an emotional return to Plough Lane – but the K’s will get a huge helping hand to build a stadium of their own.

New London Mayor Sadiq Khan now looks certain to reverse predecessor Boris Johnson’s decision to ‘call in’ the League One Dons’ plans to return to Merton – yards away from where the original Wimbledon played until 1991.

Although great news for the Football League club, the switch has provoked questions about the K’s future with the Ryman Premier outfit set to be homeless at the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

Wimbledon have already agreed a deal with Premier League neighbours Chelsea to purchase Kingsmeadow and they will house the Blues’ academy and women’s side – but there is seemingly no room for Kingstonian in any contract negotiations as the 2015 champions do not want a sitting tennant.

The Non-League club have been proactive, already identifying a site in nearby Chessington. Chairman Mark Anderson believes it can be the making of the club and they can “rediscover their identity” by taking control of their own destiny.

The NLP understand K’s will be aided by a sizeable gift from the Dons – thought to be in the region of £1m.

The decision is also a blow to K’s neighbours Staines Town, who will now miss out on the cash bonus given to them by Chelsea for the use of Wheafsheaf Park for the ladies for Women’s Super League matches.

Talking for the first time about the impact on K’s, Wimbledon chief executive Erik Samuelson said:“The way I look at this, and it’s a sincerely held view, is that any club without a ground will not survive.

“That’s why I advocated buying Kingsmeadow when we did.

“Kingstonian don’t have a ground. If we could afford to give them this place, then they couldn’t afford to run it.

“Their best chance of getting their own ground is if we give them a substantial sum of money, which we are doing. I think it’s a real potential winwin situation.

“The worst thing that can happen is that they receive enough money from us to pay for a groundshare for decades, that’s hardly a death sentence. They couldn’t stay at Kingsmeadow and survive.

“We have had a fair bit of criticism, mainly from people who don’t understand what an opportunity this is for them.

“But their owners do – and their relationship with us continues to be strong.

“We are under no obligation to hand over such a large sum, but it’s the morally correct thing to do.”