Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony opens up on the possibility of buying AFC Wimbledon in the future

MacAnthony was close to buying the Dons in 2006 before he ended up buying Posh from Barry Fry for £1.

At the time, Wimbledon were playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division, having been formed just four years earlier after the original club’s relocation to Milton Keynes.

A 29-year-old MacAnthony met with representatives from The Dons Trust, which still owns the club today, but his approach was rejected with the club determined to remain fan-owned.

With Wimbledon now sitting in 17th place in League Two, having been relegated last season, there is debate within the club about whether they should stick to their fan-owned roots or whether it is time to look towards private ownership.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast last week, MacAnthony spoke of how his desire to own the club remains and how it would be on his shortlist of potential clubs to buy when he returns to football after leaving Posh.

MacAnthony has discussed leaving Posh to spend more time with his family several times in recent months and he reiterated his desire to do so at the end of the season most recently on his Hard Truth podcast in September.

He has since said his words on Wimbledon were part of a ‘hypothetical conversation.’

MacAnthony said: “I will alway have an affinity with the club (Wimbledon) as I tried to buy them once.

“I will be back in football. The day I leave Peterborough, I will come back into football and if somebody wanted to join up with me to do a Wimbledon project, then it would definitely be in my top five. Hypothetically it would be a yes, they would be on my list as a ‘sleeping giant gem.’

“I think a Wimbledon in the top ten of the Championship, doing what Luton are doing, would be unbelievable commercially. What we could do there, I just think there is so much potential. It comes down to the fans though and do they want me?

“The owners at the time got me to meet Erik Samuelson, who was in charge of the trust representing all of the fans. They sold me on the whole phoenix from the ashes story, I love the romanticism of taking them to the Championship. That was my dream.

“I met with Erik and I sat down and here’s this 29-year-old property guy, diamond watch on and it was probably his worst nightmare. He didn’t like wealthy football club owners after what happened with Milton Keynes.

“He was very honest with me and said ‘all I want is a football club I can take my kids and my grandkids to every Saturday, I don’t care if we win or lose. I just want a football club exists.’”

“He then looked at me and spoke with a tone of ‘I don’t want your type owning my football club.’ I would have loved to have been involved, it was never about property, as I’ve shown in my 17 years at Peterborough, I just love football.”

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