Leaked files show Premier League nearly had Northern Ireland team with 40,000-seater stadium

The Premier League nearly had a team playing in Northern Ireland, leaked files reveal.

Swansea City and Cardiff City are the only two non-English sides who have participated sides but in the 1990's, there were plans to move an existing club to Belfast.

Prime Minister Tony Blair was supportive of the idea, which would have seen a monumental relocation for Wimbledon.

The 1988 FA Cup winners had a spell playing home games at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park but this would have seen Wimbledon change their name to 'Belfast United'.

As detailed by The Guardian, state papers that were previously not made public contain a note from 1997 which says it would be "significant breakthrough if Belfast had a football team playing in the English Premier League”, and claims the move “should be able to build up strong cross-community support and provide a positive unifying force in a divided city”.

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A year on and another memo suggested Blair had given his seal of approval, viewing that "it would be excellent if Wimbledon were to move to Belfast and we should encourage this as much as possible".

The plans, which followed the signing of the Good Friday agreement, included a 40,000 capacity stadium funded primarily by the private sector and a sporting academy.

TV presenter and staunch Manchester United fan Eamonn Holmes backed the proposals, with then-Wimbledon owner Sam Hammam believed to have explored the possibility.

However, as expected, Irish football authorities were strongly opposed to the idea and ultimately never materialised.

Instead, attentions turned to the proposed building a new national stadium for Northern Ireland but that too never happened.

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Wimbledon did move around 60 miles and rebrand though, becoming Milton Keynes Dons after entering administration in 2003.

A group of disgruntled fans responded by founding 'AFC Wimbledon' and both sides now ply their trade in League Two.