Election Reflections
The Election That Ate Itself
Another Dons Trust Board election has come and gone. We now find ourselves doing what we always do, a little election reflection. The results are in, the manifestos are filed away, and the winners have been declared.
So first, congratulations to those elected. You’ve just landed the least appreciated job in football. Yes, even less appreciated than being first-team manager. At least Johnnie Jackson gets a cheer when we score. You’ll mostly get emails about items being confiscated by security, questions about lager in the Phoenix, and forum posts calling you corrupt for answering slowly.
Still, someone has to do it. And as always, the road to those results wasn’t smooth. This was an election of turbulence, disqualifications, resignations, and the occasional online riot.
Now the dust has settled, it’s time for a retrospective, not just on who got elected, but on the circus that got us there.
Rule 10: The Red Card
The election didn’t begin so much as it imploded. Before the first vote was cast, the Election Steering Group had to enforce Rule 10 and show one candidate a straight red for abusive behaviour towards volunteers (including DTB members).
This shouldn’t be a grey area. The Volunteer Code of Conduct exists for a reason, and if you break it, you’re out.
The reaction, however, was predictably overblown. Suddenly the ESG were accused of censorship, conspiracies, and personal vendettas.
But let’s be honest: you can’t abuse half the club one week and ask to represent it the next.
You can debate the timing, the minutiae of the rule wording, and even document version control, sure, but not the principles behind it.
We’re unapologetically pro-Rule 10 in that regard. Protecting volunteers is a non-negotiable and fundamental to a club powered by volunteers.
Volunteer abuse isn’t free speech and you don’t get a free pass just because it happened before you fancied standing for election.
The Domino Effect
The fallout was swift. Two sitting board members resigned. Two candidates withdrew. Suddenly the election resembled a game of snakes and ladders where all the snakes had unionised. Statements rolled in at pace. Every new post began with a sombre tone, or a plea for understanding, or ended with another resignation.
It’s also the kind of circus that kills engagement. When every election turns into a soap opera, it’s no wonder turnout slides. Most members don’t boycott democracy, they just get tired of the noise. The fewer people who take part, the louder the same old voices sound, and the cycle keeps spinning.
For members trying to follow along, it was like refreshing BBC News during a government crisis: a new headline every hour, and none of them positive. What should have been a straightforward election became a farce of absences, departures, and personal statements written like they were auditioning for a second career in public speaking.
Read our very own WombleWorld Statement here, which should provide absolute clarity on the matter.
The Dog
Amid all the noise, a moment of genuine sadness, at least for us at WombleWorld. One candidates’s dog passed away during the campaign. Nothing funny there, just a reminder that real life cuts through even in the middle of our political circus. RIP Willow.
The WUP Riots of ’25
One of the campaign’s ugliest subplots unfolded on WUP. For the uninitiated, WUP isn’t really a forum. It’s a guestbook from the internet’s Jurassic period, where posts pile up on top of each other like takeaway menus in a drawer. No threads, no order, just one endless scroll of grievance.
Historically, moderation was so light it sometimes strayed into grey areas. New moderators are in place, but the culture hasn’t changed much. The same small number of voices dominate. Passionate, repetitive, occasionally nasty, but widely read. When the rejected candidate was announced, those voices erupted.
Accusations of censorship, conspiracies, and personal vendettas filled the page. Everyone suddenly became an expert in governance.
Thus began the “Riots of ’25…” although in truth it was less a riot, more the same dozen posters talking past each other slightly more loudly than usual.
Over on Discord, the official DT members only forum, things weren’t exactly calm. Posts flew, arguments rumbled, and moderators had to step in there too. Comments were removed, threads tidied, and screenshots deleted.
Together they summed up the state of supporter democracy. WUP was the angry pub at closing time, everyone shouting at once. Discord was the town hall meeting, heated but heavily policed, with the panel ducking the toughest questions.
Two platforms, same conclusion: plenty of noise, very little insight.
Over on official channels, the DTB tried to steady the ship by posting a statement on Twitter with comments disabled. Engagement, but only if you whisper it into the void. It was the digital equivalent of holding an AGM in a locked room. Members could read, but not reply.
The Hustings Without the Hustle
If the election had a chance to redeem itself, it was via the hustings. A chance for members to hear from the candidates, ask questions, and see some proper debate.
Instead, we got YouTube broadcasts. The format? Questions from the host, no audience interaction, and comments firmly switched off. Democracy by livestream, with the chat locked. Candidates spoke, candidates smiled, and candidates sidestepped anything awkward.
When you take something meant to be participatory and flatten it into broadcast TV, you end up with a hustings that looked good on the surface but felt hollow. Engagement without engagement.
Our sincere thanks however, to Graham Stacey, for stepping in when the original organiser went MIA. Proper hustings has to be on the ESG agenda for next year.
If you prefer your democracy with numbers and algorithmic analysis, check our Early Exit Poll report where we predicted the outcome with 97% confidence that it was 57% right, 33% of the time.
As for the manifestos, we’ve also already scaled that mountain elsewhere. So we’ll spare you a second climb. Link here if you missed it.
The Slugs in the Ecosystem
And then came the comic relief. One candidate memorably called members “slugs.” When asked to apologise, he doubled down, claiming slugs are an important part of the ecosystem and should be valued. Which is true in a garden. Less so in supporter democracy.
If he ever wants to stand for election to the cast of WombleWorld contributors, we’re all ears. Until then, he can slug it out on WUP.
The Results
After all that noise, 1,660 members actually voted, the second-highest total in Dons Trust history, though down to 23% turnout from last year’s 33% (2,100 members).
That’s the paradox of fan ownership: membership numbers are rising, but participation’s flatlining. The bigger we get, the quieter we sound.
Maybe that’s because this year’s election was, actually, a nothing-burger of a shitstorm. Which is pretty ironic considering everything above.
The arguments were loud, but the stakes felt small. When something truly seismic happens the members show up in droves. When it’s mostly manifesto déjà vu and online bickering, most people shrug and let the regulars fight it out.
The final tally looked like this:
Chris Atkinson – 991 🥇
Martin Drake – 932 🥈
Alex Folkes – 890 🥉
Simon Hood – 839
James Ledward – 756
Sam Spencer – 701
So welcome back to the returning candidates Drake, Folkes, and Ledward who continue their terms. And, to Simon Hood, who’ll hopefully haunt the boardroom a little more productively this term. The former two will serve three-year terms, the latter two for two.
And welcome to Chris Atkinson, a fresh voice and the top vote-getter. Could he dare to be chair?
Sam Spencer just missed out, though he may find life outside the kiosk more peaceful.
In the end, the electorate spoke softly but sensibly. Maybe, just maybe, that’s fine. Not every election needs to end with explosions.
Closing Thoughts
So what did we learn? That Rule 10 works, that volunteers need protecting, that WUP can still eat itself alive, and that Twitter comments will forever be locked.
And that somehow, through all the noise, a new board has emerged.
Messy, noisy, occasionally absurd. But still democracy, AFC Wimbledon style.
WombleWorld.
WombleWorld+ readers got this yesterday, because democracy may move slowly but we don’t.
Any complaints should be directed to the DTB, who won’t see them as they will have already turned off the comments.