AFC Wimbledon have quite properly laid claim to the history of Wimbledon FC over the past dozen or so years.

Unfortunately when BT Sport presented an opportunity for the original club’s unparalleled rise to prominence in the 1980s to be brought to a younger audience, it was rather hijacked by the macho egos of Vinnie Jones and John Fashanu with embellished stories of intimidation and violence.

Yes Jones and Fashanu are a part of Wimbledon’s history – and were mightily effective in their day – but the undue prominence they were afforded meant the real story was missed.

How the infectious and – still remarkably unheralded – Dave Bassett turned a ragbag bunch of has beens and never weres from the Fourth Division to the most feared team in the top flight.

One which, a summer after his departure, would pull off the greatest FA Cup fairytale of them all.

Bassett was understandably upset by the way his achievements were depicted – not least by two players who were not yet around when journalist Tony Stenson first used the Crazy Gang moniker.

He and Wally Downes, one of the craziest in the gang, begin the process of setting the record straight tonight.

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The legendary pair are using AFC Wimbledon to launch their book The Crazy Gang, which is published on October 29.

It promises to be a must-read, but it would be nice to think their work can receive a wider audience than those of a yellow and blue persuasion.

The brilliant Jonny Owen-directed film about Nottingham Forest’s rise from nowhere to win two European Cups, I Believe in Miracles, has been hailed by Brian Clough’s family for redressing the balance for the fictional The Damned United.

If there is another football story that deserves the silver screen treatment, it’s central character should be Dave Bassett.

Your Local Guardian:

Look further: There is more to the Wimbledon FC story than the squeezing of a Geordie's testicles