When the free market lets down communities, we have a problem

In the last 30 years deindustrialisation has sapped the character of traditional communities across Britain, and identity has become associated with a nostalgia for pride and tradition. But identity is not a commodity, and it must be protected. 

In 2002, a capitalist project threatened to erode the identity and legacy of Wimbledon FC (in existence since 1889) by relocating the club to Milton Keynes. This was an unpopular suggestion to die-hard fans, so, with the help of supporters, a phoenix club emerged — known as AFC Wimbledon. Meanwhile, the original Wimbledon FC did indeed up sticks and move north to Milton Keynes. It didn’t survive its uprooting, and within a year was renamed Milton Keynes Dons. 

Six promotions in 11 seasons saw AFC Wimbledon reach the Football League. It is now in the same division as MK Dons and, since 2012, there have been eight matches in seven years between the sides. Some would argue the team reclaimed its ‘rightful’ place in the top four divisions. It is a legitimate argument — while MK Dons inherited Wimbledon FC’s position in the Football League, the new team had to go back to basics with open trials held on Wimbledon Common. The rise of AFC characterised an oppressed community, protecting its identity, battling ferociously against adversity and injustice.

Peter Winkelman, the current chairman of MK Dons and Milton Keynes property developer said in 2012: “I started off with money, and now I have debt. But I have a fantastic asset for it, so I’m not going to cry.” 

He had no reason to shed tears. Milton Keynes was a new market, just as the continent of Africa was a new market in the late 19th century, for Great Power colonialism. Before the arrival of MK Dons, the town did not have a football league club. 

Now, on the site where the 30,000-seater Stadium MK is situated, there is an Asda superstore, an Ikea, a cinema and restaurants. Capitalism is a system which inevitably produces winners and losers. When the Football Association endorsed the original club’s relocation to Buckinghamshire by two-to-one, perplexed and apathetic fans on Wimbledon Common were the losers.

Injustice was at the heart of the bitterness felt during the relocation from Wimbledon to Milton Keynes. AFC deem MK Dons to be an illegitimate entity, in the same vein that some Irish republicans regard Northern Ireland as the “Occupied Six”. Whenever AFC are hosting a fixture at their Wimbledon home, Kingsmeadow, they refuse to recognise the Buckinghamshire club on matchday memorabilia. AFC were subsequently accused of breaching EFL Regulation 3, which stipulates that “no member should unfairly criticise, belittle or discredit any other club”.

The nature of capitalist economics produces perceived injustices, such as the decline of  the UKs heavy industries due to increased competition from south-east Asia. In 1976, 134 vessels were produced in the UK, down to just four in 2011, underscored by failures to adapt the traditional ship-building industries to newer customers, such as cruise ships for the growing leisure and travel sector. Harland and Wolff, the iconic Belfast shipyard, sank into administration this month, 107 years after its greatest creation hit the iceberg,  because the company couldn’t match the new competition. Workers have called for the company to be nationalised but the government has declined to throw a lifeline and deemed the shipyard’s failure to be a ‘commercial issue’.

The demise of Wimbledon FC should serve as a reminder: while macroeconomic conditions change, identity should not  be sacrificed. The creation of AFC Wimbledon ensured that the collective spirit and legacy associated with the historic Wimbledon FC would survive and thrive. 

The government was not responsible for Wimbledon’s relocation, but it is responsible for preventing further injustices caused by free-market economics. A collective spirit, alone, in response to adversity, is not sufficient. Particularly in Northern England, the Midlands and Wales where vast swathes opted for Brexit, the legacy of traditional industry forms the bedrock of those communities. Preserving the identity of those areas, through investment, does not mean turning Britain into the Soviet Union. It is not the privileged few who will feel the worst effects of a deregulated, Thatcherite no-deal Brexit, but those who honestly supported the change of a broken economic settlement in June 2016.