Doncaster Rovers welcome AFC Wimbledon to the Keepmoat Stadium this evening.
It will be the first time that AFC Wimbledon have visited Doncaster since they formed in 2002 following the demise of the old Wimbledon after the Football League allowed the club to be moved 60 miles north and be rebranded as MK Dons in 2003.
AFC Wimbledon started in the ninth tier of English football and it took just nine years for the club to claim a place in the Football League as they won the Conference Play-Off Final 4-3 on penalties against Luton Town.
Four years later, AFC Wimbledon earned their place in League One as they won another Play-Off Final, this time beating Plymouth Argyle 2-0 and taking the place of Doncaster Rovers, who were relegated to League Two.
Doncaster Rovers enjoyed an instant return to League One and AFC Wimbledon and Doncaster Rovers met at Kingsmeadow for the first time in August.
AFC Wimbledon enjoyed a 2-0 win in the first meeting with two goals in the space of three second-half minutes securing the three points for the home side with Kiwesi Appiah and Andy Barcham on target.
Against the original Wimbledon, the two sides met on eight occasions over a five-year period following their promotion to the Football League in 1977. Wimbledon enjoyed the slightly better record winning four, Doncaster won three and there was one draw.
Both clubs enjoyed promotion from the Fourth Division in 1981with Doncaster finishing third and Wimbledon fourth. The clash at Plough Lane in April 1981 saw Doncaster manager Billy Bremner make one of only three appearances he made for the club in the 1-0 Wimbledon win.
Wimbledon enjoyed an even better meteoric rise than the current AFC Wimbledon, as they went from the old Fourth Division to the top-flight in nine-years and just eleven years after entering the Football League, they claimed the FA Cup when they defied the odds to beat Liverpool 1-0 at Wembley Stadium.
Wimbledon kept their place in the top-flight until 2000 and what happened to them just two-years later, fans of all clubs up and down the country found hard to take, as the fans of the South London club were told they were to be uprooted 60 miles north to Milton Keynes.
As a football fan, it is still disgusting to believe the Football League would allow this to happen to a club. AFC Wimbledon have gone from strength to strength and most opposition fans have enjoyed the rise of the new club.
Welcome to the Keepmoat Stadium this evening AFC Wimbledon.
Full History
Wimbledon
1977/78 Wimbledon v Doncaster Rovers D 3-3 Division Four
1977/78 Doncaster Rovers v Wimbledon L 0-2 Division Four
1978/79 Wimbledon v Doncaster Rovers L 3-2 Division Four
1978/79 Doncaster Rovers v Wimbledon W 1-0 Division Four
1980/81 Doncaster Rovers v Wimbledon W 2-1 Division Four
1980/81 Wimbledon v Doncaster Rovers L 1-0 Division Four
1981/82 Wimbledon v Doncaster Rovers W 0-1 Division Three
1981/82 Doncaster Rovers v Wimbledon L 1-3 Division Three
AFC Wimbledon
2017/18 AFC Wimbledon v Doncaster Rovers L 0-2 League One
