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The first-ever meeting of the two clubs, in this season’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy competition, will take place with AFC Wimbledon still in the process of establishing themselves in the Football League and few genuine football supporters will begrudge them their place.

Back in the summer of 2004, with Bees fans still revelling in the euphoria of the ‘Great Escape’ from relegation, a pre-season friendly match was arranged with The Dons, supposedly at the instigation of manager Martin Allen who had publicly declared his dislike of the “team-that-cannot-be-mentioned-from-that-new-town-in-Buckinghamshire”!

There was a certain irony that the fixture, against one of the newest clubs in the country, was part of the celebration marking Brentford’s own centenary of home games at Griffin Park and the moving message from AFC Wimbledon’s Chairman Kris Stewart, which was published prior to the game, could not have failed to strike at the heart of every football fan.

“The last time I was here, at Griffin Park, was on Friday 3rd August 2001, right after Wimbledon fans had all received a letter from our club chairman informing us that he wanted to kill off our club by moving to Milton Keynes. That was our first night of protest. We spent a whole year protesting as well as gathering support among fans of other clubs and in the wider community, proving that a first-class stadium could be built on the Plough Lane site, launching our Supporters Trust, etc – I won’t go on, you know the score. You’ve been there.

But, in the end, when we had the whole of football on our side, and Charles Koppell (Wimbledon Chairman) and David Mellor on the other, we lost.

So, we had to do what was ‘not in the wider interests of football’ and start again. With a lot of hard work and a huge amount of help from friends around the game – and mention must be made here of BIAS and Bees United – we have worked our way into the Isthmian League Division One for the coming season.

So, thank you to Brentford fans for all the help and thanks to Brentford FC for doing us the honour of inviting us to play this game – our first trip as AFC Wimbledon to a Football League ground.”   

The visitors, managed by Dave Anderson, included a number of players with Brentford connections in their line-up; Roger Joseph, who at almost 39 was the oldest in their ranks and attempting a playing comeback, ex-Bees Gareth Graham and Mark Williams and the less-well-remembered goalkeeper Danny Naisbitt, who had provided cover for Southampton-bound Paul Smith a year earlier.

The game was played for the Supporters Direct Trophy and dubbed the Fans United Friendly but it was a 16-year old on the pitch who stole the show. Second-year scholar Ryan Peters made a dream start to his Brentford career, scoring an exquisite goal just minutes after coming on as a second half substitute. The young striker exchanged passes with fellow rookie Alex Rhodes before slotting the ball brilliantly beyond the ‘keeper to mark a memorable debut.

The game had started with Brentford hitting an early goal after just six minutes when a corner was nodded into the net from six yards by Dean Burton and although the new Dons fought valiantly, the Bees tough, new-look midfield of Chris Hargreaves, Stewart Talbot and Eddie Hutchinson never released their firm grip on the game.

The evening had started in great spirits with the pre-match announcement that John Salako had signed a one-year contract and at half-time, representatives from both clubs took to the field to speak about the off-field challenges facing both clubs. The night ended with the presentation of the trophy to Stewart Talbot whilst ABeeC councillor Luke Kirton provided the final chilling reminder of what might have been…

“While we were fortunate enough to avoid moving to Woking, the Dons fans were not quite so lucky. AFC have inspired us all that there is always hope.”

Mark Croxford