Wimbledon in Sporting History provided a moment of Womble history on August 21st, when it brought together – for the first time ever – the two Wimbledon football Womble mascots, Wandle and Haydon. It was also the first public appearance of Wandle in eighteen years, as the relevant licence holders gave permission for him to come out of hiding in the cause of helping the heritage work of WiSH. The two popular Wombles were part of the WiSH team promoting and sharing the rich history of football in Wimbledon at the Merton Heritage Discovery Day at Merton’s Civic Centre, fully immersing themselves in meeting members of the public and judging a children’s colouring competition there. It was a great day of club and community interacting, with WiSH volunteers enthusiastically on hand to talk and share the Wimbledon story with the many visitors attending the Heritage Day event. A highlight for visitors was the opportunity to have their photos taken with the most treasured trophy from Wimbledon’s past successes – the FA Cup trophy from 1988 – as well as with past Dons legends including the 1988 winning captain and goalkeeper, Dave Beasant, and from even further back, Dave Willis and Mike Kelly from the 1963 FA Amateur Cup final winning squad. A day of living history!
