I dressed up as the grim reaper to protest against the proposed relocation of Wimbledon Football Club to Milton Keynes.
| In 2001 Wimbledon Football Club was sold to two Norwegian businessmen. That season Wimbledon hit a bad run in form and shortly after were relegated from the premier league. Attendances fell, and a team with no ground of their own began losing money. The new owners decided that the best way for them to get a return on their investment would be to relocate the club, 70 miles up the M1, in Milton Keynes. At the time Milton Keynes was the largest town in Western Europe without a professional football club. The Norwegian investors felt that by moving the club they could exploit a gap in the market where they believed they could increase attendances and make the club a more lucrative investment. However for the fans of Wimbledon FC moving the team away from its home in south London was not an acceptable way of saving the club. To them the proposed move signalled the death of what were once 'the crazy gang' and the beginning of a new club 'Milton Keynes'. At the first game after the news of the move was announced I went dressed as the grim reaper to make the point to the press that the fans did not support move. Coverage of the grim reapers attendance at the game was made in almost every national and local newspaper that week. Shown here are just a few of the featured articles. The winner of best pun went to the Independent (above). The strap line reads 'Ghoul of the season: the Grim Reaper dropped in at Selhurst park to join the protests by black balloon-toting Wimbledon fans against the club's proposed move' |
