The first match under the new floodlights took place on 3 October 1960, in a London Charity Cup match against Arsenal. Arsenal beat Wimbledon 4–1. The ground remained largely unchanged until the club's election to the Football League, though during 1971–72 an attempt was made to start a market on the club's grounds to raise funds. The High Court ruled that this plan contravened a statute decreed by Charles I in 1628 forbidding any market within seven miles of Kingston upon Thames's market— the court reckoned the distance to be five and a half miles, so no market was built. Despite election to the Football League in 1977 and subsequent success, the club was still plagued by financial trouble. To try and ease the strain on the club, in April 1983 Wimbledon bought out the preemption clause inserted back in 1959 for £100,000. A year later, they sold the ground to club chairman Sam Hammam for £3 million.