Dons beat competition to land Whelpdale

By Peter Westwood

Chris Whelpdale has become Neal Ardley’s second signing of the transfer window.

The 29-year-old is a promotion winner with former clubs Peterborough United and Gillingham, and impressed last season when managing to score a hat-trick against Morecambe in a 4-3 thriller.

Neal Ardley told the Dons website: “Chris had been offered a good deal by a club and we needed to move quickly to get this deal over the line. We had met with Chris last week to start the process and I am glad that we’ve managed to sell the club to him.

“Chris was at Stevenage last season and for me he was one of their best players. There were a couple of players at Stevenage that stood out as better than the level and Chris was one of them. His goalscoring record from midfield has been exceptional over the years. Last season I think he scored nine goals in 20 games, but he had a couple of niggling injuries towards the end of the campaign.

“He is fit, we’ve taken a good look at that, and we are delighted to get him. On either flank, we think that Chris is going to be a big addition for us.”

Stevenage’s top scorer Whelpdale explained his reasoning for joining the newly-promoted Dons.

“Wimbledon have always had a good following – even back when I was at Billericay,” said Whelpdale. “It was a good fan base all those years ago and it was a good feeling to come up against them. They still have that fan base now and I am looking forward to putting the shirt on to do it for the fans.

“I had been talking to Neal for a couple of weeks about coming here and I’m just glad to get it sorted now. It’s a great club with good history and I am looking forward to it.”

Wimbledon begin their first season in League One with a trip to the West Midlands to face Walsall.