AFC Wimbledon share video replace on sinkhole flood injury to pitch

AFC Wimbledon posted a video update regarding the state of the pitch at Plough Lane on Wednesday afternoon.

Heavy rain on Sunday night led to a huge sinkhole on the playing area, transforming the football field into something that looked more like a golf course full of bunkers.

Wimbledon had been due to host Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday but that fixture will now take place on Tuesday, October 1 and moved to the Premier League side’s St. James’ Park stadium 280 miles away.

Newcastle donated £15,000 to help fix the damage and overall fundraising has since passed the £100,000 mark.

Wimbledon confirmed on Wednesday that the club’s home game against Accrington Stanley had been called off, after attempts to find an alternative venue had proved fruitless.

Heavy rain on Sunday night led to a huge sinkhole at AFC Wimbledon’s Plough Lane stadium

As well as damaging the pitch, the club shop and museum was affected by the flooding

Wimbledon’s home game against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup was moved 280 miles north, before Saturday’s League Two clash with Accrington Stanley was postponed

A short statement read: ‘Despite significant efforts at AFC Wimbledon in the last 48 hours, it has not been possible to secure a viable alternative ground for Saturday.

‘With huge regret, the EFL have therefore postponed the match versus Accrington Stanley.

‘Tickets will remain valid for the rearranged date, with more details to follow in due course.’

Around an hour later, the club posted a video via social media and issued another statement titled: ‘Update on pitch damage and donations’.

The video began by showing the state of the pitch before work began to fix it.

It then showed a large digger removing chunks of earth. 

The second club statement read: ‘Since the most recent update issued on Monday night, we wanted to provide some further information and images to supporters.

‘More than 100,000 litres of water was removed from the grounds late on Monday night via tankers. Since then, several independent experts have been on site to inspect the pitch at surface level. Meanwhile, club staff and volunteers have begun the clean-up operation at ground level including the shop, museum, offices and tunnel area.

Wimbledon shared a video on Wednesday showing a digger removing soil from the stadium

Plough Lane is currently in no fit state to host football games but work is underway to fix that

‘[First-team manager] Johnnie Jackson and his coaching staff visited the stadium yesterday to inspect the damage and speak with staff on site. Since 6am this morning, diggers have begun the excavation of the pitch area.

‘All stadium staff have returned to work, ahead of the reopening of the stadium planned for Friday, with our comedy fundraising evening proceeding as planned – tickets are available to buy from our online shop if you’d like to join and support us. 

‘We have been overwhelmed by generous financial contributions from Wimbledon supporters, and supporters of a number of other clubs, to the Justgiving page established by supporter Graham Stacey. 

‘Donations now stand at £100,000 from more than 2,000 donors – including a significant donation from Newcastle United. 

‘From everyone at the Club, thank you to each and every person and organisation who has done so. We are eternally grateful. Come on you Dons!’