Allen Batsford RIP
WISA were saddened to hear of the sudden death of Wimbledon legend Allen Batsford on the 28th December. Allen managed Wimbledon for four years and was at the helm during the historic Cup run of 1974-75, as well as leading Wimbledon to three Southern League titles in a row. This success led to Wimbledon's election to the Football League in 1977 and Allen led the team in their first ever Football League game.
In later years, Allen remained involved in football at Dulwich Hamlet, Wealdstone and Millwall and took a keen interest in Wimbledon FC and latterly AFC Wimbledon. WISA were delighted to be able to recognise his achievements in a testimonial dinner held in 2001
Allen was President of WISA up until his untimely death and played an active role in both the launch of the Dons Trust and the anti-Milton Keynes campaign in 2001-2002. He was the first President of AFC Wimbledon and was a regular attendee at our games including our Boxing Day game against Hayes and Yeading.
Our thoughts are with his wife Maureen and his family at this sad time. We offer our condolences on behalf of all WISA members and will be considering an appropriate way to remember Allen's unique contribution in conjunction with the Dons Trust and AFC Wimbledon and the wishes of Allen's family.
Steve Elson, one of the organisers of the WISA testimonial dinner for Allen Batsford, explains how Allen became involved with AFC Wimbledon:
One of the proudest nights of my life was the WISA testimonial dinner that we organized for Allen Batsford in 2001.
Allen had been ignored by Sam Hammam's regime and considered Wimbledon Football Club to be a part of his past. The testimonial dinner brought Allen back into the fold and led to him playing his part in WISA's struggle against Milton Keynes and the formation of AFC Wimbledon. Allen wanted to be sure that AFC Wimbledon was a serious concern and once he was he came to as many of our games as he was able.
I had the honour of sitting next to Allen when AFC Wimbledon played Wealdstone in one of the early friendlies. Allen's role at Wealdstone had not been forgotten and they put up a trophy in honour of Allen for the game. Allen was nervous about being the centre of attention but also concentrated fully on the game while it was on, explaining to me strategic points that I did not know existed. It was clear that he had forgotten more about football than I have ever known. Then it was time for him to present the trophy and up he sprang and skipped down the stand steps to the pitch. He was still embarrassed but I know that he was immensely grateful that his achievements were being recognized at last.
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