Neal Ardley: Return to Plough lane is 'huge' for AFC Wimbledon
Friday 15 December 2017 11:27, UK
AFC Wimbledon boss Neal Ardley says it's fantastic news for the club to be returning to Plough Lane, after being given the go-ahead to build a new stadium there earlier this week.
Speaking on EFL Matters on Thursday night, Ardley said: "It's huge. 16 or 17 years ago this club reformed and built their way up, it was the big thing to get back into the league but they've got to the point now where everyone wants to go back home. They're a Merton club and they want to be back in Merton.
"[A huge] amount of work has gone on behind the scenes, we've had so many obstacles put in the way but they've kept going and shown an unbelievable resilience to get to this point.
"You know what it's like if you want to build an extension on your house! You have to go through loads of red tape.
"This was a massive thing and it had a lot of setbacks, there were a lot of times where our CEO Erik Samuelson had to stay really positive and overcome so many different things to get here.
"The old Plough Lane where I used to train and play is flats now and there are different blocks named after old players, which is quite unique.
"But just behind there is the old Greyhound Stadium that became a bit of an eyesore, the area needed to be regenerated and I think it's going to bring bundles to the community. It will be a great thing."
