Dublin Dons? The failed attempt to bring a Premier League club to Ireland

What the report says

BBC Sport Football reports on a little-known 1990s attempt by an Irish group to buy Wimbledon and relocate the Premier League club to Dublin. The idea emerged when Wimbledon, then a top-flight side, were struggling to secure a permanent home in London and were ground-sharing at Selhurst Park. The article says Dublin businessman Tommy Higgins, working in ticketing, saw an opportunity after reading about the club’s stadium dispute and linked up with fellow Irish figures including Maurice Cassidy, broadcaster Eamon Dunphy and U2 manager Paul McGuinness.

According to the report, the plan gained momentum in the summer of 1996, when the consortium attended Wimbledon’s match against Manchester United at Selhurst Park. BBC Sport says they were preparing a bid of £6m for 74% of the club. Former Wimbledon player Kenny Cunningham and ex-supporter Ivor Heller are among those quoted reflecting on the proposal, which was widely viewed as unrealistic at the time. The article notes that some within the club believed the idea was serious, while many fans opposed it strongly.

The piece also places the episode in the wider context of the Premier League’s growth in the mid-1990s, when the league was drawing more international stars and bigger crowds. BBC Sport says the Football Association of Ireland was concerned that a Premier League club in Dublin could damage the domestic game. The article presents the proposal as a striking example of how commercially ambitious football ideas were beginning to emerge long before the modern era of global ownership and overseas club ventures.