The search is on for Kingstonian to find a new ground as AFC Wimbledon voted overwhelmingly in favour of plans to sell Kingsmeadow to Premier-League champions Chelsea.

The Dons Trust, the supporter group which own the club, met at Kingsmeadow on Monday, November 16 and voted 1, 918 to 19 in favour of selling the ground to help fund a move back to Merton.

From yesterday: AFC Wimbledon set to announce plans to sell Kingstonian's home stadium Kingsmeadow

The move leaves Kingstonian facing the reality of having to find a new stadium, possibly for the start of the new season in September 2016.

Kingstonian chairman Mark Anderson said: "It’s part of the process.

"I’m kind of pleased there was such an overwhelming majority, for us we are in exactly the same position as we were in before the vote."

Councillor and Kingstonian fan Jon Tolley said: "We obviously all strongly respect and welcome their decision to go back to Merton, that’s where they stand and that’s their decision.

"All of us recognise how good Wimbledon have been in all of this, but in the long term it’s Kingstonian who are suffering."

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AFC Wimbledon were formed by supporters in protest to Wimbledon FC’s decision to move to Milton Keynes to avoid bankruptcy in 2002.

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The club then purchased the lease for Kingsmeadow for £2.4m from former Kingstonian owner Rajesh Khosla in 2003, and have been ground sharing with the Ks ever since.

Kingstonian does not pay any rent to use the site.

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Chairman of the Dons Trust Matthew Breach said: "The successful vote on the stadium sale is an important milestone in helping to return AFC Wimbledon to its spiritual home in Merton.

"There is still a lot of work to do to deliver a new stadium but the outcome of the vote shows the overwhelming support among Trust members and the club’s fans for having AFC Wimbledon play where it belongs, back in Merton."

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The Dons are in the process of securing planning permission for building a new 11,000 seater stadium in Plough Lane. The plan would increase to 22,000 seats later on.

The long-delayed planning application is expected to be discussed by the Merton Council planning committee on Thursday, December 10. It had been due on the agenda as long ago as June.

Chelsea reportedly plan to use Kingsmeadow as the home of its women’s team. It is believed more than £1m of cash from the sale will be given to Kingstonian to help with finding a new ground.

The Dons Trust board is expected to approve the sale of the stadium at its annual general meeting in December.

AFC Wimbledon chief executive Erik Samuelson said: "There is much work still to be done but this is another important step along the way.

"We now need to turn that determination into reality by finalising the agreement with Chelsea to sell the stadium to them, getting planning permission for the new stadium and getting all the commercial arrangements in place."

A petition launched by Kingstonian supporters calling on Kingston Council to secure the future of Kingstonian in the borough surpassed 500 signatures and will now be debated by Kingston Council in December.