Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted to relocate Premier League team to Belfast according to newly-declassified files

11 months ago 78

TONY BLAIR wanted to move a Premier League team from London to Belfast, government papers reveal.

The former Prime Minister labelled the idea to relocate Wimbledon to Northern Ireland as “excellent”.

Tony Blair wanted to move Wimbledon from London to Belfast in the late 1990s[/caption]

The Dons won the 1988 FA Cup but were struggling financially within the next decade[/caption]

Previously classified notes from 1997 – the year Blair moved into 10 Downing Street as he started his ten-year stay – highlighted the ex-Labour leader “following up earlier informal discussions about the possibility of an English Premier League football club relocating to Belfast”.

Amid continued trouble in the Northern Irish capital, some thought having a football team playing in the Premier League would be a “significant breakthrough”.

The document said: “[It] should be able to build up strong cross-community support and provide a positive unifying force in a divided city.”

It also named struggling Wimbledon as the club that would switch cities – with the team being called Belfast United.

Blair was in full agreement and responded: “It would be excellent if Wimbledon were to move to Belfast and we should encourage this as much as possible.”

Plans were even drawn up for a new privately-funded 40,000-seater stadium either on Queen’s Island or in North Foreshore.

The Belfast Telegraph reported Secretary of State Mo Mowlam also threw his support behind the notion which would increase investment into the country.

However, the suggestion was not universally popular amid fears it could “kill off the game in Northern Ireland“.

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There were further suggestions that Wimbledon owner Sam Hammam “explored the possibility of moving Wimbledon to Dublin”.

Further updates in July and August 1998 – soon after the Good Friday Agreement – demonstrated Blair’s willingness for the relocation to go through but it remained “delicate” in the face of strong opposition.

However, despite a Bring Premier League Soccer To Northern Ireland campaign and plenty of negotiations, eventually the proposal was scrapped.

Hammam looked into options which would have seen Wimbledon move to Basingstoke, Cardiff, Manchester, Wigan, Bristol, Scotland or near Gatwick Airport.

The Dons were relegated from the top flight in 2000 and two years later, a deal was struck to move the 1988 FA Cup winners from Plough Lane to Milton Keynes.

They first played at their new home in September 2003 and at the end of the season changed their name to MK Dons while furious fans continued to build up a new team, AFC Wimbledon, from scratch.

The Wombles returned to their old home in 2020 and how play their football in League Two.

Another government idea – made public by the declassified documents – saw chief press secretary Alistair Campbell put forward arranging an Old Firm derby between Rangers and Celtic in Belfast.

Campbell suggested the two teams swap into their rivals’ kits and was willing to use Sir Alex Ferguson to speak to contacts at Ibrox but the match did not take place.