An AFC Wimbledon fan who has raised more than £50,000 for his club after the stadium was hit by flooding said the support has been “flabbergasting”.
Graham Stacey, 50, from Hook in Hampshire, set up the fundraiser – which has surpassed its target of £50,000 – after the Cherry Red Records Stadium was hit with flooding and appeared to have a sinkhole in the pitch after some areas of the country saw more than a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours on Monday.
The £50,000 mark was crossed on Tuesday after a donor named “Newcastle United” gave £15,000, which Just Giving confirmed was from the Premier League club.
AFC Wimbledon were due to play Newcastle in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, but it was called off and rescheduled for October 1 at St James’ Park.
Mr Stacey told the PA news agency Newcastle’s support has been “incredible” but joked Wimbledon still intend to beat them next week.
“They’ve been nothing but supportive. Obviously, we had a big game lined up against them at home tonight that’s now been switched to St James’ Park, which is a fantastic event,” he said.
“For the two sides to play at one of the biggest grounds in the country with one of the best supports in the country is going to be a thrill. Even better when we beat them.
“I should apologise because they’ve been so generous, and if we do (win) I’d almost feel bad… but it’s incredibly generous of them.”
The Wimbledon fan initially set a fundraising target of £10,000, but that was surpassed in a few hours and increased to £50,000.
“I’ve just been asking people on WhatsApp where we go from here, because the money will be needed,” he explained.
The club is supported by American author John Green who “donated £200 and was one of the earlier donors”.
“I spoke to him on Twitter and he shared our link for our crowdfunding. He put some money in himself, which is very generous,” he said.
“We had lots of donations from America, so I’m sure he’s probably behind a lot of that.”
Videos of the apparent sinkhole in the club’s stadium circulated online, which Mr Stacey initially thought was generated by artificial intelligence (AI) as the scale of the flooding was not something he had seen before.
“To be honest, when I saw the first video, I thought it was AI. I thought someone had superimposed a golf course onto our pitch because it was so outlandish – how could that happen?” he said.
“It’s very dramatic looking but it was devastating because of the extent of it. I’ve not seen anything like that, certainly not on a football pitch and not in this country before.”
He said he has been touched by messages of support from Wimbledon fans and rival clubs who have donated to his fundraiser, and described his club as “fan-owned” without support from a “sugar daddy”.
“We’re not a rich club. We aim to be sustainable, but we have no rich sugar daddy. We are fan-owned. What we put in, we get out,” he said.
“It’s been incredible. Never more so than times like this you think football’s a real community when it comes together like this and it puts rivalries aside.
“It’s been delightful and flabbergasting in some ways because the messages are almost as rewarding as the donations.”
Mr Stacey, who was a board member of The Dons Trust – a group of supporters who oversee the club – between 2019 and 2022, said the fundraiser will go towards repairing the stadium and pitch as well as keeping the club’s museum protected.
Mr Stacey said the flooding has been “a bad time in just about every regard” as the club was close to going top of League Two.
He thanked Wimbledon fans and the wider football community for their “amazing spirit”.
To learn more about Mr Stacey’s fundraiser, you can visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/graham-stacey.
