19617 RGS ONA Issue 106.qxp_Layout 1 03/10/2019 17:55 Page 18
PLOUGHING ON BY ERIK SAMUELSON (59-67)
Erik Samuelson reflects on his unexpected journey from being an RGS Direct Grant boy, through accountancy and eventually to the heart of founding AFC Wimbledon, and leading the club’s phenomenal ascent.
Above: Erik pictured with the EFL League 2 Play-off trophy prior to AFC Wimbledon’s match-winning performance, 2016.
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orn in Sunderland, the long daily commute to RGS eventually became a welcome habit. I supported Sunderland faithfully, but when I relocated, our elder son returned from Junior School and announced that he wanted to support Wimbledon FC (WFC), our local Premier League club, that was fine by me. Within months we saw WFC beat Liverpool in one of the great FA Cup upsets of all time. Soon we were going to every game. My wife Eileen loves football too, so it was a great shared family activity. One day we played Sunderland and my boys asked why I wasn’t cheering ‘The Lads’. I’d committed a football heresy and switched clubs. Fast forward a few years and the WFC ground in Plough Lane couldn’t meet the all-seater requirements the report that followed the Hillsborough disaster proposed, so we were playing at Crystal Palace. Plans surfaced to move the club to Dublin and believing these plans to be a done deal, two Norwegian businessmen bought WFC. But the idea fell apart and they were left with a loss-making club with no stadium.
