We understand that recent events surrounding the Dons Trust board elections, including resignations and candidate withdrawals, have caused concern, disappointment and confusion among some members.
The Dons Trust board share those feelings. This has been a challenging period for everyone involved.
We are committed to rebuilding trust, improving transparency and strengthening our democratic processes.
This update aims to set out what has happened, why certain decisions were made, and what steps we are taking to ensure our elections and governance processes remain fair, robust and trusted by all members.
It’s also worth remembering that the Club is doing well on and off the pitch. We have record attendances and remain one of the largest community-owned businesses in the country, with the Trust’s membership the largest of any fan-owned club in the UK.
What happened with the election?
Dons Trust board elections are run by the Elections Steering Group (‘the ESG’) – a volunteer group of Dons Trust members and an independent scrutineer.
Following the 2024 elections, and as it has done every year, the ESG submitted its annual report with recommendations to improve future processes. You can read the full report here: Elections Report 2024 Public.docx
(See text at the end of the article for an outline of who the ESG’s current members are and what their role is).
The report traditionally includes recommendations for improvements in processes, rules and policies for the next election.
This year, those recommendations included:
- Bringing the timings of the elections forward to allow successful candidates time to pass the EFL’s Owners and Director’s Test before their term starts
- Making it clear to candidates that they will need to pass the EFL’s Owners and Director’s Test
- Introducing a rule that candidates could be barred from standing by the ESG based on past conduct as per the Club and Trust’s volunteer code of conduct
- That the board should consider paying a third-party organisation to run Dons Trust elections.
At the February board meeting – on 26th February 2025 – chaired by Sean McLaughlin, with Angus Fox, Martin Drake, Alex Folkes, Simon Hood, James Longhurst, Hannah Kitcher and Ian Robinson all in attendance, apologies were sent by Graeme Price – the board unanimously accepted these and other recommendations.
The only one not accepted was the one about outsourcing elections – this was turned down on cost reasons but might be considered again in future. You can find the minutes of this meeting here: https://thedonstrust.org/files/Feb-Mins-final.docx.pdf.
Following the 2024 election, the ESG noted with concern that neither the Dons Trust’s constitution nor its election rules outlined how to deal with a case of a valid nomination being received from a member who had a recorded history of serious breaches of the volunteer’s code of conduct and/or other codes guidelines under which the DT operates.
As such, the ESG believed that there needed to be a fail-safe mechanism to enable them to reject such nominations where the member’s behaviour seriously and consistently broke those rules. At the February board meeting the Trust board agreed with this view.
Having had their report accepted, the ESG then worked on the election rules based on the agreement from the board to their recommendations. The revised Election Policy was presented to the board at its August meeting, where it was agreed (minutes due soon).
Having been signed off by the board, the ESG set about managing the 2025 elections.
Rejected candidacy
For the 2025 elections, the ESG received eight correctly completed nomination papers and went through their checks to ensure the candidates had paid their membership fees and have complied with the other eligibility criteria.
NB: Once the ESG has compiled a list of the valid nominations for candidacy, those already on the Dons Trust board aren’t part of decisions the board might make in respect of the elections. They have an interest in the outcome, which would be unfair to other candidates, so they aren’t present for any discussion and don’t have any involvement in any decisions affecting the elections.
The ESG raised two concerns:
1. They believed that one potential candidate’s manifesto breached board guidelines and they asked them to consider revising it.
This potential candidate resubmitted their manifesto, and the ESG asked the non-candidate Dons Trust board members for guidance as the content could have been seen to have breached guidelines – by damaging the reputation of the Trust – that would normally apply to Dons Trust board members. The board voted unanimously to allow the manifesto to be published.
2. It was decided that one potential candidate had breached the conduct rule.
This potential candidate appealed the ESG’s decision, and skipped the part of the process where they appeal to the independent scrutineer and appealed directly to the DTB as final decision-makers. The appeal was brought to the September DTB meeting held on 10th September 2025.
Ahead of the meeting, board member Ian Robinson, who had already sent apologies for the meeting, voted to allow the candidate to stand. In discussions in the meeting all the remaining board members (not including board members standing for election) voted to support the ESG’s decision.
This decision was made based on over two years’ history of abusive (and potentially libellous) messages made about board members, club staff, the secretariat, the ESG, other members of the Trust and towards volunteers.
These were not just strong words but included attempts to call into doubt the professional reputations of volunteers, including unfounded and unsubstantiated accusations of financial impropriety.
The board acknowledged that the member in question had made efforts towards reconciliation (and the board would like to thank Ian Robinson and Simon Hood for leading that process) but that was insufficient at this stage, given the seriousness and consistency of past behaviour in both public forums and private messages.
To be clear, had any existing board member such a track record, they would be in breach of the code of conduct and would be very likely required to resign. Were any volunteer to have such a track record, they would be forbidden to volunteer and represent the Club and Trust.
Board guidelines
The board was clear that to protect the privacy of the member, and in the hope for a full reconciliation at a future date, that the details of the appeal and the potential candidate would remain confidential.
As part of that, the board decided this issue met the test for the highest possible level of collective responsibility of the board and as such all board members would be requested to not discuss the issue or their dissent, because this was to be a decision where the board spoke with one voice.
After the board meeting, the language from the relevant part of the DTB guidelines was shared via email with all board members, including those standing for election. Specifically, part of the following guideline was quoted:
“Very exceptionally, the board may decide that a specific decision is sufficiently sensitive that disagreement among board members will not be recorded in the published minutes. In this case dissenting board members must remain silent on the issue or resign from the board.”
In retrospect, and out of the context of the discussions, the language from the guidelines, which were published in 2010, does seem particularly stark and could have been softened.
You can find the full DTB guidelines on our website here: https://thedonstrust.org/policies/
In response to both the decision to support the ESG and the application of the guidelines, board member Ian Robinson decided to resign. The board would like to put on record its sincere thanks for Ian’s service and our regret that he decided to step down.
The 2025 election
Ian’s resignation was followed by board member Simon Hood also resigning, although remaining as a candidate seeking re-election.
Again, the board wishes to put on record thanks for Simon’s service and regret that he felt it necessary to resign in order to stand in these elections on his platform.
Two candidates (Matt Thornett and Ian Hicks) have withdrawn from the election; Matt before the ballot was sent out, and Ian Hicks after.
We now have six candidates standing for election for five spaces. Due to the timings of resignations, it will be for the board to decide how to fill Ian Robinson’s vacated place at a future date.
Because Ian Hicks withdrew after ballots were issued, his name remains on the ballot. Any votes for him will not be counted or considered.
What happens next?
The 2025 elections will continue to the timetable agreed and publicised.
Independent volunteers will be recording hustings interviews, and you can ask questions of the candidates on The Dons Trust Discord (details on how to sign up here).
Once the election is completed, we will need to take stock and decide the best course of action for the rest of the year until the new board is officially formed.
As part of that, and to ensure members have full trust and confidence in the electoral process, the board has agreed to commission a review into the election process undertaken by someone independent and outside the club and trust.
We are currently speaking with people who might be interested in this role, but we will wait until after the election to appoint someone and will let members know as soon as they are appointed.
What about other board members who’ve stood down this year?
As announced on 15th July 2025, Sean McLaughlin, then chair of the DTB, stepped down at short notice and you can read the DTB statement here: https://thedonstrust.org/2025/07/15/dons-trust-statement-3/
Earlier in the year Ivor Heller was unable to take up his board seat. You can read the DTB statement about that here: https://thedonstrust.org/2025/02/03/dons-trust-statement-2/
At the request of both Sean and Ivor (and as per our board guidelines) we agreed that the Dons Trust board and its serving members would make no further comment about either situation, and the remaining board members will continue to respect that decision. Both Sean and Ivor have indicated that members are welcome to contact them directly should they wish.
Why is this so important?
Dons Trust elections are the lifeblood of our democratic majority ownership of AFC Wimbledon. And no one on the board is happy that we have had resignations and candidate withdrawals.
However, we made the decisions outlined above with the best intentions of the Trust, Club and membership in our minds.
Being on the board often means doing things in the best interests of Trust, Club and members and for many reasons needing to remain silent about them to protect the rights of individuals. Immediate and total transparency is rarely possible, and sometimes, the decisions we make can feel like choosing the ‘least worst’ option rather than the best.
We know we don’t always get it right, but we absolutely can say that every decision we make is considered (and sometimes wrestled with) and we give the role the care and seriousness that you would expect for what is a body which owns a professional football club that all of its members care deeply about.
Together
The Dons Trust board in any year since 2002 has always contained a disparate group of members and Wimbledon fans. In almost every case, board members haven’t all known each other before serving.
The board utterly rejects any suggestion they do not want more people to stand. We want to see elections contested and for a wide range of members and fans to serve on the board.
Over the 23 years of the trust’s existence there have often been periods of disagreement between members, and indeed between individuals on the board, but the strength of our Trust and club has always been when people have worked together.
This was the spirit in which the Trust was founded and again the spirit in which after fractious meetings we worked together to combat the serious financial issues facing us in 2019.
In that spirit, the serving members are dismayed that any candidates saw fit to withdraw from this election and we hope to see a wide array of candidates standing again in the next election.
Beyond the election
For the election, we encourage all members to read the manifestos, watch the hustings, ask questions on Discord and most importantly vote.
When the election is concluded, we will update members on the review of the election process and when that is launched.
We urge everyone to come together, to support the incoming candidates and continuing board members and to consider volunteering for some of our other roles.
As part of the constitution update we will also revisit the Dons Trust board guidelines since these haven’t been updated since 2010 and need to be reviewed far more often than that.
We will also continue the critical work of oversight and financial planning for the Club and we will issue a more detailed update on finances in the coming days as we know this will always be a subject that is of great concern and interest to our members.
If you have any questions, you can contact the board by email to info@thedonstrust.org the ESG by email to elections@thedonstrust.org , see us at the kiosk on matchdays or take part on Discord.
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ABOUT THE ESG
All the elections for the Dons Trust are run by the Election Steering Group (ESG). This working group, which is made up of volunteers, oversees the enforcement of election rules and nomination process.
Once an election is completed, the ESG issues a report to the new Dons Trust board (DTB) with recommendations to improve the running of future elections.
Usually, this is presented at the February DTB meeting, where the board decides which recommendations to adopt and to appoint the chair of the ESG, allowing the elections process to recommence.
The ESG currently comprises four individuals, along with the Secretary of the DTB as a non-voting member. The Secretary acts as liaison officer, sharing with the DTB any thoughts of the ESG throughout the year as well as keeping the ESG up to date with DTB activity.
The ESG also has oversight in the form of an independent scrutineer. This person is Neil Springate from the Fulham Supporters’ Trust.
If the ESG rules in a manner that an individual or candidate does not agree with, they have a right to appeal to the independent scrutineer.
If they do not accept the independent scrutineer’s ruling, then the final source of appeal is to the DTB. It is very unusual for this to be necessary and even rarer for the DTB to overrule the ESG and the independent scrutineer.