AFC Wimbledon are moving into the next phase of their plans to sell Kingsmeadow Stadium to Chelsea after opening the second stage of voting to Trust members.

The Dons Trust last week announced 98 per cent of fans had cast their vote had given a thumbs up to the sale of the Kingston-based venue in round one.

Almost 2,000 people turned out to have their say, representing an 86 per cent turnout and easily surpassing the required 50 per cent as dictated by the constitution.

Kingsmeadow is leased by the Dons from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames after they purchased the agreement for £2.4million from Kingstonian FC owner Rajesh Khosla in 2003.

Wimbledon signed fresh terms with the council on a new 125-year contract in 2010 which enabled the club to build a new stand at the Kingston Road end.

How Kingsmeadow has developed through the years

The south west Londoners are hopeful of completing a move back to their spiritual home of Merton and are in the process of trying to secure planning permission for an 11,000-seater stadium in Plough Lane.

To enable the move, the Dons Trust are looking to raise funds and see the sale of their current home to the reigning Premier League champions as the most suitable option.

Chelsea intend to use Kingsmeadow as a new base for their ladies and youth teams.

An initial payment of £600,000 will be made by the Blues upon signature of the agreement with a further two installments when the lease is transferred to them and when the Dons move out.

Monday saw the final stage of the ‘Back in Two Ticks’ campaign launched and the sale cannot go through unless a similar outcome is achieved to last week’s successful first round of voting.

Wimbledon have announced there will be a SGM on 16 November at which the outcome of the second round of voting will be announced.

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