Dons are battling against ‘losing £10,000 a day’ running the club

After Bury’s expulsion from the Football League last week following huge financial problems, Pete Winkelman says Dons are losing £10,000 per day to run the club.
Pete WinkelmanPete Winkelman
Pete Winkelman

Dons are expecting a big pay-day from their game against Liverpool later this month, the chairman said the money will go a long way to easing the load, but said the problem is an ever-evolving beast they have to maintain to remain above board.

“Football costs millions, and this year, we could be losing £10,000 per day,” he said. “And we have to manage that black hole.

“We’ve got an amazing gang of people working their tails off to make sure we’re not left floundering.

“If you forget that responsibility, or just worry about getting another player in, it becomes a real issue.

“Everyone in football is disappointed Bury found themselves in a position they did, and the Football League will be looking deeply at that.

“Maybe some of the rules about trading should be tougher, and transfer embargoes aren’t enough.

“It can’t be right to field players you’re not paying for.

Bury were thrown out of the EFL last weekBury were thrown out of the EFL last week
Bury were thrown out of the EFL last week

“We’ve been chucking more money at it in recent years, and you see situations like Bury and their fans, you can’t even thing how terrible that was. To suddenly not have football is terrible.

“Our circumstances were hugely different. Wimbledon didn’t have a ground. But what we’ve learned is the sustainability of what we do.

“We afford more because we put everything into what we’re doing, and we try and balance it from sustainable businesses. That’s a model that can take us so far, and my worry is how far it can take us in the future.

“It’s a model that will see us as one of the biggest spenders in the league, if not the biggest with Lincoln last year. But it doesn’t equate to success on the pitch.

Money isn’t everything, but it gives you the ability to cast your net wider, but also to get carried away. As a football industry, we need to look at those rules and maybe points deductions should happen even earlier.

“But if things go right, you can get to the Championship, and you can dream of promised land, you might open the door to more investment, but then you’re in a division of 13 billionaires. And we’d need that sort of help for it to be worth it. It’s a conundrum.”