History UsefulNotes / BritishFootyTeams

'''Current Owners:''' Black and white striped shirts\\

** Aside from the Olympics (see below) a Great Britain XI has twice been called into existence for friendlies - in 1947 to commemorate the Home Nations [=FAs=] rejoining FIFA, and in 1955 to celebrate the IFA's 75th anniversary. On both occasions, the opposition was a composite Rest of Europe XI and the colour of the British side's shirts depended on the venue - they wore navy for the 1947 match which was played at Hampden Park and green for the 1955 one which was played at Windsor Park. Wales have twice played a Rest of Great Britain XI - in 1951 to commemorate the FAW's 75th anniversary and in 1969 to commemorate [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishRoyalFamily Prince Charles]]'s investiture as Prince of Wales.

'''Trophies Won:''' Trophies inherited from Wimbledon FC (see above); 2008–09 Conference South Champions; 2004–05 Isthmian League Division One champions; 2003–04 Combined Counties League champions; 2003–04 Combined Counties League Premier Challenge Cup; 2009–10 Isle of Man Tournament; 2007–08 & 2011–12 champions; 2013–14 London Senior Cup; 2004–05 Surrey Senior Cup

Feeling alienated by all of the above, a group of Wimbledon fans [[StartMyOwn founded their own team]], starting in the amateur London leagues. The club was rapidly promoted through the regional leagues and gained entry to the Football League in 2011, only nine years after the club was founded. Although the club does not ''officially'' claim to be a continuation of the old Wimbledon FC, it is regarded by its own fans and most neutrals as its SpiritualSuccessor - Vinnie Jones even gave the club his 1988 FA Cup winner's medal. Crowd turnout at their home games tends to be significantly higher than both home crowd turnout for other clubs in their division ''and'' MK Dons' average turnout. They also hold the record for the longest unbeaten run in any league, at 78 games! After five seasons in League Two, they won the 2016 promotion playoff, placing them in the same division as MK Dons for the first time. And then during the 2017–18 season, they got approval for a new stadium a stone's throw from Wimbledon FC's old ground, and ended the season in mid-table while seeing MK Dons suffer the drop. The 2018–19 season was mostly a disaster for AFCW, as they were in relegation trouble throughout and survived the drop only on goal difference. Meanwhile, back in League Two, MK Dons finished third, sending them back to League One to rejoin AFCW for another season. Both teams struggled to survive the drop in the 2019–20 season, cut short due to COVID-19; they finished in the last two safe spots of 19th (MKD) and 20th (AFCW). The new ground opened in November 2020. AFCW dropped to League Two in 2022, and barely survived relegation in 2023; MKD suffered its own drop to League Two in 2023, placing the two sides in the same league once again.

!!!AFC Wimbledon

('''A''' '''F'''ans' '''C'''lub) Feeling alienated by all of the above, a group of Wimbledon fans [[StartMyOwn founded their own team]], starting in the amateur London leagues. The club was rapidly promoted through the regional leagues and gained entry to the Football League in 2011, only nine years after the club was founded. Although the club does not ''officially'' claim to be a continuation of the old Wimbledon FC, it is regarded by its own fans and most neutrals as its SpiritualSuccessor - Vinnie Jones even gave the club his 1988 FA Cup winner's medal. Crowd turnout at their home games tends to be significantly higher than both home crowd turnout for other clubs in their division ''and'' MK Dons' average turnout. They also hold the record for the longest unbeaten run in any league, at 78 games! After five seasons in League Two, they won the 2016 promotion playoff, placing them in the same division as MK Dons for the first time. And then during the 2017–18 season, they got approval for a new stadium a stone's throw from Wimbledon FC's old ground, and ended the season in mid-table while seeing MK Dons suffer the drop. The 2018–19 season was mostly a disaster for AFCW, as they were in relegation trouble throughout and survived the drop only on goal difference. Meanwhile, back in League Two, MK Dons finished third, sending them back to League One to rejoin AFCW for another season. Both teams struggled to survive the drop in the 2019–20 season, cut short due to COVID-19; they finished in the last two safe spots of 19th (MKD) and 20th (AFCW). The new ground opened in November 2020. AFCW dropped to League Two in 2022, and barely survived relegation in 2023; MKD suffered its own drop to League Two in 2023, placing the two sides in the same league once again.

** Strong rivalry with Blackpool (called "The Donkey Lashers" by PNE fans).

** Strong rivalry with Blackpool (called "The Donkey Lashers" by PNE fans).

!!Fictional English football teams

'''2022/23 Position:''' 20th in League One\\

* A peculiarity of this season is that they've had four players sent off in three matches (one of which was overturned on appeal). The first two results were both wins, oddly enough, including against highly fancied Newcastle, with the observation that Liverpool seem to play ''better'' when down to ten men. Like conceding the first goal, it seems to either wake them up or simply annoy them. The third, where Liverpool went down to ''nine'', was an extremely controversial match against Spurs, where at least one of the sendings off was contested, and a spectacular VAR error meant that Liverpool had a perfectly valid goal ruled offside - and even then, it took until the last kick of the game for a very unfortunate own goal to prevent them from snatching a point. Then, in January, Klopp shocked the football world by announcing his departure from Liverpool at the end of the season. Despite all of this and a mounting injury crisis that as of the end of February put ''12'' first team players in the treatment room at the same time, they've taken first place and (mostly) held it, as well as winning the EFL Cup against Chelsea as "Klopp's Kids" (finishing with five players aged 20 or under) beat "the Blue Billion Pound Bottle-Jobs" in Extra Time, despite all their injuries ''and'' several days less to prepare. While a late Extra Time defeat to United in the FA Cup was deflating, they are still among the favourites for the Europa League, and - currently - have the upper hand in the title race.
* Liverpool are also known for their rich history in Europe, thriving on long odds - the more ridiculous, the better. For example: The 2005 Champions League final (3-0 down 54 minutes in, level at 3-3 on 60 minutes - nearly 20 years on, no one, participants included, is quite sure how it happened); the 2016 Europa League Quarter Final against Borussia Dortmund (3-1 down at 60 minutes, 4-3 up at 92 minutes); and the 2019 Champions League semi-final against Barcelona (3-0 down on aggregate, missing two star attackers. Level on aggregate on 60 minutes, after two goals in as many minutes, ahead on aggregate/4-0 up on the night on 79). They've previously been dubbed Europe's Comeback Kings (it actually trended on Twitter), and aren't shy of handing out thrashings either; in 2007, they broke the Champions League's goal scoring record against Beşiktaş (''8-0''), and in 2017/18, they stuffed two teams 7-0. Even European giants like Real Madrid, Manchester City, AS Roma, Barcelona, and Porto aren't immune. In Barca's case, it was ''another'' memorable comeback ('the Miracle on the Mersey'), destroying them 4-0 at Anfield with Salah and Firmino out through injuries to turn around a 3-0 loss in the first leg. [[note]]Considering Barça had both Lionel Messi and Luis 'Chomp' Suárez in the squad, many neutrals wrote Liverpool off after the first leg[[/note]]. In Porto's case, it's becoming something of a RunningGag: they draw Liverpool and promptly get absolutely stuffed at home. They hosted Liverpool 3 times in 4 seasons. As of 2022, the aggregate score is 14-2, and just to toy with Porto further, in January 2022 they promptly signed Porto's star man Luis Diaz for less than half of his release clause. Diaz immediately fit into the Liverpool squad and was instrumental in helping them lift a cup double and make a run to the Champions League final. In their most recent games, they lost 7-1 on aggregate, this in a group round where Liverpool became the first English team to win all six matches - in a so-called 'Group of Death', no less (this included putting out what was essentially a reserve team away to old rivals AC Milan in the last match. Given Milan's European history and position as leaders of Serie A, this might be considered a mistake. [[CurbstompBattle It wasn't]]). In short, Liverpool are ''dangerous'' in Europe.

* City were another one of the ESL Six, though much like Chelsea, their owners and board were not totally on board with the concept. Manager Pep Guardiola, much like Klopp, strongly opposed the ESL.

'''Other Domestic Trophies:''' 1924–25, 1936–37, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1970–71, 1979–80, 2013–14, & 2023–24 level 2 champions; 2008–09 League One Champions, 1963–64, 1996–97, & 1999–2000 League Cups; 1971 & 2021 FA Community Shields\\

* After hiring Sam Allardyce to replace Ronald Koeman the team has found their footing once more, emphasising [[BoringButPractical pragmatic]] and [[StoneWall defensive]] play to avoid conceding goals (the single greatest source of defeat during the early season was not their inability to score but their inability to keep goals out, despite the presence of goalkeeper [[TheAce Jordan Pickford]]). Everton managed to remain undefeated in their first seven games under Allardyce and ascended back to the top half of the league from what was thought to be a relegation battle mere weeks before. Whilst they struggled to find their bearings at points after their initial revival, they remained in the top half, finishing eighth. Under legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti, with a more balanced front line and defence, they've become a threat once more, with striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin being considered an early competitor for the league's top scorer, and declared his desire to remain at Everton at least until they moved into their new 52,888 capacity stadium (something expected to happen in 2024)... then promptly packed his bags as soon as Real Madrid came calling.