Is this the right way forward for the Dons and QPR?
And could this be the first of many mergers in the cash stricken lower divisions in years to come?
The plans are aimed at preventing QPR from going bankrupt.
Could this be the way forward for cash stricken clubs deprived of lucrative television and sponsorship deals?
How has this news been met by the fans? Share your thoughts.
With the way money is going in the English Football League, this is the only way smaller clubs are going to survive. Supporters of QPR and Wimbledon have stayed loyal to these clubs for years but in the case of both clubs they have not been able to get back the glory they once had, when both were in the Premier League and this is where the question of money comes in. Merging the two may give them the chance to get into the Premier League again and perhaps win some silverware. These two clubs will only be the first more are likely to follow.
Karen,
Wales
My old man would be turning in his grave. He took me to see the hoops when I was eight years old and we both supported QPR through thick and thin. I accept this is an emotional and sentimental response but that is what football has and will always be about. Of course professional football needs to be run on business terms but there needs to be limits. The fact that the premiership benefits from an exclusive monopoly of TV rights with Sky means that Nationwide clubs are denied to participate equally in a financially deregulated market. Like wise it's only the cash injections from millionaire fan-owners that give some fortunate clubs the opportunity to climb out of recent obscurity. Wage levels, transfer fees and TV rights need to be controlled in order not to increase further divide in the game. I like any other true football fan will oppose mergers of any teams to preserve local communities identity and pride from business interests.
Don Shenker,
UK
As a QPR fan watching all this from afar I cannot believe that this is even being considered. People say that the two clubs should merge, and this will save both us and the Dons. No this will see the end of both clubs. This new club would be shunned by the majority of fans and I for one wouldn't support this club. I'm blue and white through and through. I want no part of this and urge both sets of fans to make themselves heard. My family ties run deep with the club. I'd rather live on past glories and see us play non-league or lower, than follow this new soul-less team.
Richard Foreman,
Australia
I'm a Dons season ticket holder and have supported the club all my life! A merger like this should not be allowed to take place, imagine their club losing their identity just when things are starting to look brighter! We don¿t need QPR, we wouldn't take Man Utd's help at the end of the day because even if it worked, the club would no longer be ours! At the end of the day the club should remain to the fans!
George,
Wimbledon
I think it is a great idea when clubs merge. Each team will become stronger as one. I would like to see my club Leicester merge with any one it would be mint, providing it stayed local. Why do the fans complain, they want to see good football and if a club is struggling it is a good idea. Also it is always a good thing to see something new, as it is exciting. I say go for it QPR and Wimbledon, I look forward to it!
Peter Kirby,
UK
Wimbledon and QPR fans will never accept this merger. I have been a season ticket holder at Wimbledon since 1979, I also live five minutes from Loftus Road, however I will never consider a merged Wimbledon/QPR team as 'mine' and would not consider going to see a game. This Sunday may be the last time I see my Wimbledon football team play which is a sad indictment of they way modern football has 'progressed'. Any last pretensions about the game being connected to the community are well and truly buried.
Acton Womble,
England
As a QPR supporter since 1965, I am totally opposed to a merger with Wimbledon (or any other club, for that matter). The whole point of having more than the Premier League is for local people to support their local clubs, however large or small; and particularly in London, the clubs really are part of local communities and have a long history in particular areas. I'm sure that the majority of fans of both clubs will be against this - possibly the first time they have agreed on anything!
Ian Kearey,
UK
As a life long Wimbledon supporter, I find this whole story rather depressing. The media have always seen Wimbledon as an unfashionable club with little in the way of support. Yet Wimbledon is what football is all about, not players on £30,000 per week. To merge them and QPR would see a total disregard for the ordinary football supporter, without whom there would be no football. Money in the end always comes from the football supporter whether they pay for it on Sky, in the pub, or at the turnstile.
Dan,
UK
The situation at QPR may be a bit grim at the moment, but I think they stand to lose out even more by merging with the Dons. Wimbledon really have nothing to offer Rangers, and QPR supporters would never stand for this, even if the Wombles would. The merger suggestion does at least seem to have sparked some action with this City consortium hopefully putting together a rescue package, which is what Rangers need ¿ not a new identity.
Steve P, UK
As an armchair Wimbledon fan I am of the opinion that the merger can only be good news for both parties. We are getting a much needed home as well as a possible improvement to our poor gates whilst QPR will get a squad of half decent players and a new manager.
Andy Naym,
UK
This is the thin edge of the wedge. Lower division football teams will cease to exist and only top level teams will remain. This will in turn reduce supply (of football as an entertainment) and increase the cost of TV and live football for us poor fans.
Mark Easton,
UK
Of course these two should merge. All these other people going on about tradition and being bad for football, do they not realise that if either of these clubs go bust then we won't have to worry about tradition or anything else because there will be no club to worry about? Common-sense dictates that this is a very good idea and I would lay my cash on the line that once all the furore dies down the majority of the supporters of both sides will get behind the new club and urge it on to success both on and off the pitch.
Lee,
UK
It should be pointed out that these merger talks are only at an early stage, and nothing has been finalised. However, the very fact that it is being discussed is cause for alarm. UK football sides are not American baseball teams, where name changes and relocations are an accepted occurrence. QPR and Wimbledon are two separate clubs, with independent fans and histories. A merger would alienate large sections of each fan base, and as for the creation of a new club with new colours, what self-respecting fan could support that? We must watch developments carefully and consistently and vociferously oppose any creation of a Wimble Park Rangers.
Russell Carter,
England
This is a disastrous idea and most QPR fans will not accept it. Talk of mergers with other clubs is repulsive to most true fans. Given that Millwall and Charlton have fought back successfully from the brink of financial ruin in recent years I see no reason why we can not do the same.
Dominic Smith,
UK
That these talks are happening shows two things. One, that when the Premier League was created it meant clubs like QPR and Wimbledon, excluded from the wealth pouring into football and without a wealthy benefactor and a traditionally large fan base, would always struggle financially. And two, which is a related point, that market imperatives ignore the emotional ties that make football special. Though this merger may make some financial sense when considered in a boardroom sound-proofed from the concerns of real fans, no fan of either club, I hope, will support this merger. Emotional ties are not rational like cold-blooded financial decisions, nor should they be. I hope Wimbledon fans will join QPR fans and oppose this.
Matthew Drury,
London, UK
When there was talk of a merger between the Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, there was only one verdict. The deep animosity between the two sides, meant every fan was against it. Mergers only work in the eyes of businessmen - not fans.
N Barrack, S6,
If the only way to survive is to merge, the fans of both clubs should be grateful. It's a damn site better than going out of business, and having no team to support!!!
Richard Hardiman,
Bournemouth, UK
Who cares whether they merge or not? They are small clubs with the least passionate supporters I have seen all season (with the obvious exception of the other First Division London clubs, Fulham and Palace). So to be honest, let them merge: they may be able to generate some atmosphere at their ground and get a half decent attendance. But then again.......
Dave Ascroft,
England
How ridiculous! Can you imagine Liverpool and Everton or Tottenham and Arsenal merging? As a QPR fan I am 100% against this as I am sure are all fans of the respective clubs. It just wouldn't be the same and I think it would be just another example of money running football.
Rhys Griffiths,
UK
As a QPR supporter I would be really sad to see this merger happen. It would not work and it would be bad for football.
Martin Ashton,
UK
This week's May Day demonstrations show clearly the strong feelings many have against a global economy where major conglomerates dominate the world market. This has naturally permeated to football which, now being a business, is where a small number of big clubs become bigger, swallowing up the majority of revenue coming into the game.
Although some may now see it as a romantic ideal, football is also still a game, and most supporters gain pleasure from following their team for this very reason. It is an escape from this crushing system; a place where goals and talent are the currency. This is what really matters. Of course teams need money to survive, but there comes a point where we must consider the point of having football at all, and for real supporters it is to do with roots and history.
The merger of QPR and Wimbledon would probably be a very financially viable deal, but would destroy two teams with colourful histories.
My roots with QPR go back to when I was a kid and although they might seem tenuous (I was given blue and white hooped pyjamas for Xmas in 1980) I have stuck with them through thick and thin. I would rather they ended up in the Ryman league than took part in an identity sapping merger, and I am sure this is a view shared by most Wimbledon fans.
There is no way QPR should merge with Wimbledon, Fulham or anyone else.
The history of the club can be traced back beyond most current fans lifetimes and should not be sacrificed so Chris Wright can get his money back after mismanagement.
Stuart,
UK
As a QPR supporter I would like to think that we can sort out our financial situation without having to resort to a merge with a rival club. Sadly, I can see this becoming a much more common situation in the future, what with almost all clubs in the league running at a loss except for the ever profitable Man Utd!
Our biggest mistake was being floated on the stock exchange which has brought the club to the brink of ruin. I think that the Premier League has a responsibility to raise the payments made to football league clubs, otherwise many clubs will eventually have to turn semi-pro, which will inevitably lead to a drop in standards of players coming through and ultimately the ruin of our national side!
Jim McCarthy,
UK
As a QPR fan of many years I am in favour of a merger with Wimbledon. The circumstances in which the two clubs currently find themselves - one broke, one without a ground, one without contracted players, both out of the limelight, means that in this particular instance it is the right thing to do.
Graham Collier,
Surrey, England
Is there life outside the Premier League? Yes. For every Manchester United and Arsenal there is a Wigan and Carlisle. QPR won the old League Cup in 1967. Wimbledon in more recent times humbled Liverpool at Wembley. Merging clubs would result in the identities that have permeated families and towns for generations being swept away.
Would a QPR/Wimbledon merged team lead to greater attendances? No. Would either club have the financial muscle to get back in the Premiership? No. If the FA wish to preserve the game then dip into that bundle of cash that Adam Crozier likes to refer to. Get a reality check Chris Wright / FA / Football League, the supporters, whether watching on the terraces or at home on television, are your clients - serve them well.
Andrew Fletcher,
England
I don't think this is a very good idea. QPR and Wimbledon are two separate clubs, and that's the way it should stay. By merging them, it's creating a totally new club, and doing away with the other two. QPR and Wimbledon would no longer exist.
Sinead,
England
I think this kind of merger can only work with a very small amount of clubs. Most clubs that are situated near to each tend to have a history of rivalry and this would prevent many from forming this kind of merger. I myself am a Port Vale fan and the effects of a merger with our local rivals Stoke would benefit neither club. It has been discussed in the past and many fans simply said they would no longer attend matches.
It is rather unfortunate that this sort of drastic step is even being considered, and the majority of the blame has to lie with big money sponsorship pouring into the Premiership and leaving smaller clubs out to dry. I can see this sort of measure simply delaying the inevitable, as a merged QPR/Wimbledon still seems unlikely to get into the top ten of the Premiership where the money lies.
Dominic Roberts,
Warrington, UK