The Dons Trust AFC Wimbledon Club OwnersBoards back Mark Robinson

The boards of AFCW PLC and the Dons Trust share fans and members’ concerns about the club’s poor run of form, have been considering all options to address this and wish to respond to those concerns with full transparency.
The boards have met several times over the past few weeks and have decided to back the current coaching set-up to remain in situ and continue to steer the club.
The Dons Trust AFC Wimbledon Club Owners
The boards believe, with the right support and structure around him, Mark Robinson is the right man to remain as our Head Coach. Crucially, the players and staff have absolute belief in his ability to turn things around. The board has challenged itself as to whether more could have been done to support Mark and his team and has concluded that is the case.
Whilst the stadium build has resulted in an uncompetitive playing budget, the board believes that more support could have been provided in the area of the football panel. In response to this the board have signed off more senior resource for the football panel to ensure full alignment and to add further expertise to our efforts to identify the best players on an ongoing basis.
However, we also believe that there have been positives – we have already seen good progress in player development, including representative honours for our improving young players. We also believe that Mark is and remains very open to input on all areas of his and his management team’s roles and decision-making, and we are looking to support him as best as possible.
Secondly, we will be presenting a fuller financial update separately shortly. But thanks to the efforts of the finance committee, club staff and board members, as well as the generosity of our fans and investors in the Plough Lane Bond 2, we will approach plans for the 2022-23 season in our strongest ever financial position. We are therefore fully committed to providing an increase in playing budget – made possible through the debt refinancing and the new revenue streams achievable post-Covid at a fully functioning Plough Lane with stronger commercial activity and non-matchday use of the stadium facilities.
  Finally, we would like to place on record our belief that changing the Head Coach brings no guarantee of success and could carry higher risks than working to turn our on-pitch fortunes around alongside someone who has earned the respect of everyone at the club over the last 18 years.
In the short term, we find ourselves with eight games left to climb the table and see off the threat of relegation. It is very much in our hands. We have been here before over the last five years and we know how important it is to stick together. We have seen how many fans continue to travel with us in numbers to support the team as vociferously and proudly as ever. And even when results have been disappointing, it is with pride we all come together at our new stadium back on Plough Lane – a stadium built thanks to the combined efforts of us all. We would therefore ask everyone to continue to unite behind the team, the players and the staff on matchdays with that same passion, support and belief.
We know that opinions differ and we know that some members may not agree with this. But we also believe that we have always pulled together best as a club and fanbase in the hardest times. Come on you Dons!