Wimbledon chief Sam Hammam insisted yesterday that Wimbledon will continue their preparations for a move to a Dublin home but added that it would not happen until the next century at the earliest.

He said that he was looking "seriously, actively and practically" at moving to Ireland out of "frustration and hopelessness" at Merton council's refusal to help the club find a new ground on their home patch for the past 19 years.

Hammam explained his desire to move was born out of the knowledge that Wimbledon would "die" if they remained at Selhurst Park.

"If we exhaust all other possibilities, we will be going to Dublin," he said. "I can't see such a move being before three or four years or having a decision before a year or 18 months - but it's something we need to look at seriously."

And Hammam claimed the Dons would have already moved to Dublin - if he had wanted them to do so. "The only reason we aren't there is because I've chosen not to do it. If we choose to do it, then we will do it. That's the bottom line.

"We will be at Selhurst Park this season and the season after at least unless something happens here. I don't want to move - no-one who likes Wimbledon in his right mind would voluntarily want to move - but it's not what I want, but what I can do for the club."

Hammam even went as far as to claim that the public and politicians in Dublin supported the move and he dismissed opposition from the FAI, who have said they would block the plan, telling them: "I usually know what I'm doing."

He said there were still issues to be sorted out about any move to Ireland, such as subsidising fans to travel there, "otherwise, we would be in Dublin tomorrow", he claimed.

However, he did stress that Merton remained the club's first choice, but he told fans demonstrating against the move to "put up or shut up" by suggesting a suitable venue themselves.

He appealed to the club's fans: "You tell me where you want to go. You tell me, `this is the site, this is viable, this is good for Wimbledon's status' and then we will look at it seriously and implement it if it's feasible.

"It's no good telling me, `we don't want to do this'. We have to deal with the art of the possible, we can't behave in an irresponsible manner. Remember, I am the number one fan at this club."

Wimbledon fans staged a protest against the proposed move after the club's game against Manchester United two weeks ago and were displaying placards opposing it at yesterday's televised match against Southampton.

Hammam said: "Our only aim is to get back to our borough in Merton if at all possible, if we can find a site that is worthy of our status and is a feasible site. This is our one and only aim.

"We will not stay as we are. If we do that, this club will at some point in time be relegated and, if that happens, it will go into freefall and we will not be alive any more - and I will not allow that to happen."

He said the first application for a new ground had been submitted to Merton Council in 1978, followed by "a number of approaches and sites" since then.

But Hammam, now officially a partner/director at Wimbledon, said: "Our council's behaviour has been unreasonable towards this club.

"As David Mellor wrote, the politicians in Merton are of the worst kind - they do not have the vision and imagination to say yes to Wimbledon going back and have not got the guts to say no."

Commenting on the latest protest by the fans against a move to Dublin, he added: "I completely sympathise and concur with those feelings. It's a tragedy but we've had that tragedy for 20 years.

"I am cautiously optimistic that we can do something with our council. If we can, we will - but if we can't do that, we will continue to prepare for Dublin. What else can I say?

"The bottom line is that the club will move to Dublin if we are not allowed to return to our home in the London borough of Merton by callous and cowardly council leaders."

Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear echoed the sentiments of Hammam saying: "I sympathise with the fans, don't get me wrong, but it's a bit of a liberty. They should vent their anger at Merton Council.

"When you look at Millwall, Reading and even Wycombe they've all got their own grounds. Their boroughs seem to be looking after them. We just get a custard pie, end of story."

And Kinnear is almost resigned to the fact that the club will eventually be based in Ireland: "Unfortunately Dublin is probably the only strong option we have got. Maybe this will bring it to a head and Merton will pull their finger out.

(See also pages 2 and three)