New AFC Wimbledon signing outlines recipe for League Two success
New signing Myles Hippolyte has outlined a recipe which he believes can help AFC Wimbledon win promotion from League Two.
The 29-year-old joined the Dons on a two-year deal on Tuesday after his release from Stockport following their promotion to League One.
Hippolyte turned out 18 times last season for Dave Challinor’s County side as they finished above Wrexham and Mansfield to lift the League Two trophy.
Winger Hippolyte has featured 110 times in the fourth tier, scoring nine times and picking up seven assists.
He also spent time in League Two with Scunthorpe after joining in August 2020 but left in January 2022 to join Stockport in the National League, with the Iron relegated later that season.
The Dons finished 10th in League Two last season under Johnnie Jackson, five points off the play-off spots.
“This level is not too hard,” Hippolyte told the club’s official website.
“With the right squad, coaching and training, you can definitely get out of this league.
“I witnessed it with Stockport and I had the opposite at Scunthorpe. I have learned both sides – how easy it is to get out of the league and how easy it is to get relegated.
“With the right dressing room, you can achieve a lot in this league. It’s something I hope we’re going to do here.”
Having dropped down to non-league after leaving Brentford, Hippolyte’s senior career began in Scotland at Livingston before spells at Falkirk, St Mirren and Dunfermline.
He racked up 140 Scottish Championship appearances, scoring 16 times and picking up 18 assists.
“You have to be taken out of your comfort zone sometimes,” London-born Hippolyte added about his venture across the border. “You can go through your career and be quite sheltered with certain things.
“I had to go up north to prove myself. It made me stronger, wiser, and it adapted my game as well.
“It allowed me to play at different levels, tempos and speeds. I can mix it up in different formations. It’s helped me.
“I’m at the age now where I just want to push on and be as progressive as I can be and playing for something season after season.
“Hopefully Wimbledon is going to be the club where I can do that.”
Wimbledon have already snapped up striker Matty Stevens following his release from Forest Green and moved quickly to make Hippolyte the second signing of the summer window.
He will officially become a Wimbledon player on July 1 and will help provide competition for Josh Neufville, James Tilley, Aron Sasu and Ryan McLean, when he returns from his ACL injury.
“There was interest from quite a few clubs, but AFC Wimbledon stood out,” said Hippolyte. “It was a massive thing being back home and I also have good relationships with friends here.
“It’s something I looked at as a project that I would definitely be interested in and want to be a part of.
“It’s a very important move. I needed somewhere that I could make a base for myself in regards to pushing on and getting as high as I can in the next couple of years.
“I feel as though AFC Wimbledon is a club where I can do that.”
Everyone at the South London Press thanks you for your continued support.
Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has encouraged everyone in the country who can afford to do so to buy a newspaper, and told the Downing Street press briefing:
“A FREE COUNTRY NEEDS A FREE PRESS, AND THE NEWSPAPERS OF OUR COUNTRY ARE UNDER SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL PRESSURE”
If you can afford to do so, we would be so grateful if you can make a donation which will allow us to continue to bring stories to you, both in print and online. Or please make cheques payable to “MSI Media Limited” and send by post to South London Press, Unit 112, 160 Bromley Road, Catford, London SE6 2NZ
