Money not the seesnce of 'paupers' challenge

GOOD old Wimbledon.

After losing their first three matches of the season, they have bounced back with four successive victories to move into sixth place (that's right, sixth) in the Premiership.

You just can't keep a good Don down, can you? The Dons, admittedly, are not everyone's cup of 'Rosie Lee' but, in these days of silver service executive boxes, GBP30,000-a-week players and GBP15 million transfers, they continue to prove that there is room at the top for the more down-to-earth, homely members of the Premiership.

Players come and go (and, like a certain Mr Vincent Jones, sometimes come back again) but the Wimbledon spirit and resilience remain - qualities which brought them through the four divisions after joining the Football League in 1977 and all the way to that 'Prince and Pauper' FA Cup final against Liverpool in 1988, when the Dons won 1-0.

Descriptions of Wimbledon range from 'lovable rogues' to 'a bunch of thugs' but maybe they're just a half-decent football team whose collective spirit sees them through time after time.

Whoever's at the top of the table, Wimbledon away (or at home for that matter) will continue to be one of the big tests of the season.

Up the Dons - the Premiership needs you.

Looking at this weekend's Premiership fixtures, the match between Everton and Sheffield Wednesday brings back fond memories of a previous Sports Editor, the late Bill Carter, formerly of the Halifax Evening Courier.

On one memorable occasion, Bill's lifelong love affair with the game scuppered his marriage plans when his bride-to-be's birthday clashed with a Central League match between Halifax Town Reserves and Scunthorpe United Reserves at The Shay.

His fiancee gave him the following ultimatum: 'Bill, it's Town Reserves or me.' For Bill it was no contest . . . and off he went to the match.

But back to the Everton-Sheffield Wednesday game.

These two famous clubs met in the 1966 FA Cup final and Bill made his annual pilgrimage to Wembley with a colleague for English football's big day of the season.

On the Friday night they were walking round London discussing the following day's final when they were approached by two of Soho's finest.

One of the young ladies high-heeled her way up to Bill and asked: 'Right darling, who do you fancy?' And Bill, his mind on nothing but the FA Cup, promptly replied: 'Everton 2-0. What about you?'