Plough Lane – design description

In 2013 AFC Wimbledon teamed up with Galliard Homes, a major residential development company expected to provide much of the capital to fund the new stadium. In return, Wimbledon’s new home brings a community value to the 600 apartments that would surround it in three separate buildings. Together the two created a proposal for the 5.1 hectare site’s redevelopment.

Importantly, Wimbledon would only get one permanent stand within the first phase – the main one in the west. Together with skyboxes and other commercial facilities the stadium would enable revenue increase, while three temporary stands should bring capacity up to 9,000 for starters.

Later, should demand grow steadily, expansion would be possible within the same blueprint, also including floodlight masts from the first phase. With an entire bowl of single-tiered seating the stadium’s capacity might reach 20,000.

Final decision on preferred redevelopment bid was to be taken in spring 2015. However, numerous challenges during the process caused serious delays. Despite Wimbledon having won the right to occupy the site with their stadium, delays caused groundbreaking to slip from 2015 to 2019.

Following enabling works in early 2019, delivery of the first phase is expected in mid-2020. In this phase only the 4-floor main grandstand will be built as a permanent structure, strengthened with 400 piles inserted into the ground. Remaining three sides would first be delivered as temporary structures, to be replaced by larger permanent sections later.