How much AFC Wimbledon's pitch repair could cost after flood damage as Plough Lane return date remains unknown

AFC Wimbledon's vice president Ivor Heller has told talkSPORT the club could spend around £1million on repairing their pitch.

The Wombles made national headlines after postponing their Carabao Cup third round clash with Newcastle this Tuesday due to a ginormous sink hole appearing on the Plough Lane pitch.

4 Heavy rain fall on Sunday left a huge sinkhole on AFC Wimbledon's pitch Credit: PA

There had been heavy rain storms overnight on Sunday causing flooding of the nearby River Wandle, leaving Wimbledon's pitch churned up and looking 'like a golf course', with other areas around the ground covered in deep water.

Wimbledon will now play their cup clash against the Magpies at St. James' Park a week later than scheduled on October 1, but a return date for playing games at their home is unknown.

Heller joined talkSPORT Breakfast on Tuesday morning to discuss the fan-owned club's issue, and when asked just how bad the situation is, he admitted the damage isn't yet clear.

"We don't know the full extent yet," he said. "You know, there's so much water.

"There's so much going on that it's going to be investigated and a route map to get back to Plough Lane will be put in in the coming days and we'll know what the route map is and how we deal with it.

"We always seem to be getting back to Plough Lane don't we?

"But we're resilient and we'll get on with it."

A fan-led Just Giving page has been set up to raise funds for the pitch damage, with £33,000 raised at the time of writing.

And Heller says that and the gate money from the Newcastle clash will help towards getting back up and running - but despite his gratitude, it's not going to cover what all the repairs could cost.

He continued: "We don't know when we're going to play another home game. But you know the money that we'll get from splitting the gate with Newcastle will be more I think than the money we would have got down at Plough Lane.

4 Wimbledon were set to welcome Newcastle and Accrington this week Credit: Getty

4 But flooding has led to the ground being unusable Credit: talkSPORT

"So that's a positive and thank you to Newcastle for doing what they've done by putting the game on. You know that is a great gesture and the stuff that's happened since this horrible incident shows the football family coming together once again."

On the Just Giving funds, he said: "I think it's a drop in the ocean to what this overall thing is going to cost. So I really hope that we get a lot more than that.

Footage shows how bad AFC Wimbledon's pitch is after flooding at Plough Lane as their Carabao Cup tie with Newcastle United is postponed

"You know if there's any kind of benefactors that they feel like buying in a lump in it'll be more than welcome right now."

"We have no idea [how much it'll cost]," he continued. "But for a new pitch, which I guess it's gonna be a new pitch, it is a lot of money. Everybody knows that.

"You know hybrid pitch like ours was you know, they're £1million plus.

"So, you know. But yeah, we're insured and that's the good news. You know, in fact, we're insured by by someone that also insures Newcastle."

4 It's unclear when Wimbledon will be back playing at Plough Lane Credit: Getty

Wimbledon moved into their second version of Plough Lane in November 2020, naming it after their old home.

The Wombles were famously moved away from their home of almost 80 years in 1991 after the publishing of the Taylor Report, which introduced new safety measures for football stadiums including needing to be made all-seater at the highest level.

The board of the club decided that Plough Lane could not be economically redeveloped to meet the new standards, so a ground share at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park for 12 years followed.

In a incredibly unpopular move, Wimbledon relocated to Milton Keynes in 2003, leading a majority of fans to form a new club, AFC Wimbledon. The side in Milton Keynes renamed themselves MK Dons in 2004. Both clubs now compete in League Two.

The Wombles moved into their new Plough Lane in 2020.

"I don't know another club that has been as eventful as we've been in that 50 years," Heller said. "That's for sure. You know more ups and downs. We will come back from this."

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