In the 1980s, Plough Lane was a tough place for opposition teams to visit. Not only did visiting teams have to contend with the Crazy Gang’s aggressive on-pitch antics, they also often had the water switched off in the changing room showers.
Wimbledon FC was forced to leave the original Plough Lane stadium in 1991 and, eventually, the club moved out of London altogether, rebranding as MK Dons in 2004. At that time, most diehard supporters switched their allegiance to the new fan-owned AFC Wimbledon, which started at the very bottom of the football pyramid.
Wimbledon fans would go almost three decades without a stadium to call their own. That is, until January 2021, when the now League One club took ownership of their new Plough Lane stadium, just 250 yards away from the site of the original.
Recognising the significance of the stadium move for supporters – who raised almost £8 million to help finance the project – the club owners and the main contractor Buckingham Group have taken every effort to ensure the 9,700-seat stadium will serve the needs of fans and the club for generations to come.
Buckingham Group contracted Concept Cubicle Systems to provide a full washroom fit-out service for the concourse and corporate areas of the club. Working with Buckingham we supplied and fitted a total of more than 74 cubicles in 24 separate washrooms.
The washrooms needed to be tough enough to stand up to frequent use and easy to clean after a hectic match day. The washroom fixtures also needed to be suitable for some of the stadium’s other income-generating activities, including executive conferences and banquets.
We supplied Force Cubicles for the concourse areas as well as full-height Force Privacy cubicles for some of the corporate washrooms. Full-height CGL duct panelling and solid surface vanity units were also used for increased durability and easier cleaning and maintenance.
Concourse washroom cubicles used a royal blue (Polyrey B086 Bleu Caraïbes) colour – the club colour that’s associated with Wimbledon FC’s rise to the the top of the Football League and their 1988 FA Cup win. Corporate washrooms used a muted dark wood effect (Formica American Walnut F5150) while all vanity tops were supplied in clean glacier white (Durasein Glacier White).
Ben Harding, Quantity Surveyor – Buckingham Group
Union House, Unit 2A,
Altrincham Business Park,
Stuart Road, Altrincham, Manchester, WA14 5GJ
