AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! AFC Wimbledon is GOING TO WEMBLEY! But first, backstory time!

7 years ago, I was getting into soccer aka football. Where was I? oh, yes. I was getting into English football and the system they have across the pond, learning about promotion (that is going to come up later, I swear).

I am also a huge John Green fan. The Fault in Our Stars is and will always be one of my favourite (oops, my word prediction software turned British on me) books of all time. He is an author who also loves AFC Wimbledon and is directly responsible for my love for this particular fan-owned club.

Promotion and relegation

When I started watching AFC Wimbledon, they were in League One which is the third tier of the football pyramid (there are 9 tiers). We weren’t very good when I started watching and actually lost more games for four years (including the first season in the fourth tier) than we won the past two seasons. Escaped relegation (worst word in all football) twice in League One before finally dropping down to League Two. And for some reason, I just kept loving them more and more!

Each year, a number of teams get promoted or relegated. Top three in League Two automatically get promoted (yes, we didn’t get automatically promoted this year but I was hopeful up until about a month ago). The next four teams in the table face off in a playoff and the final is at Wembley Stadium next week. That’s what I’ve been watching the past couple of weeks. Wimbledon won the first match and they won again last week – so they are going to Wembley and if they win my favourite Team will be promoted back to League One!

Why do I love the Dons so much that I woke up at 6:30 in the morning to watch them win the semi-final? Well, technically I woke up at 5:00… I am a fan of the Davids going up against Goliaths, but it is more than that. It is the community of the club, their history, determination and yes, it’s owned by the fans! I really dream that someday I’ll be able to go see my favourite team play in League One!

Come on you Dons! #COYD #AFCW