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FORMERLY known as Wimbledon Football Club, Milton Keynes Dons have been at the centre of controversy after the club moved from Wimbledon to Milton Keynes and were re-branded to become new local rivals to Luton Town - who themselves could have made the move to Milton Keynes years ago... 

The Club and The Ground

MILTON KEYNES DONS have built up a label of "Franchise FC" from supporters of opposing clubs after they were moved from Wimbledon to Milton Keynes and then given a new logo and name.  Under the ownership of Pete Winkleman, who led the whole move to Milton Keynes, The Dons are set for a new stadium in a couple of years.

After a long running soap opera, the club finally moved last season from their South London roots, sixty five miles up the M1 to the new town of Milton Keynes, where they have taken up residence at the National Hockey Stadium. The move has upset a number of fans, who fear that the move may pave the way for future teams moving around the country, threatening the fabric of English Football as we know it. This feeling has not been dampened with the announcement that the Club has been given permission to change its name from Wimbledon to Milton Keynes Dons. So effectively, as most of us thought would be the outcome, Wimbledon Football Club is now dead and a new Milton Keynes club has taken their place in their League. Which club might be next I wonder...

The stadium itself is fairly new having been built in the mid-1990s. On one side is a good sized single-tier cantilever stand. Known as the South (Main) Stand, it is covered, all-seated, with a fair sized press area located within it. Opposite is a small 'block' of seating that straddles the half way line. This stand like the rest of the remaining parts of the stadium is open to the elements (although there are rumours that a cover will be added to the East Stand for the 2004-05 season). The arrival of the football club has meant that the stadium has had its capacity almost doubled with the construction of two 'temporary' seated stands located at each end. These small stands are almost identical, with the West Stand given to visiting supporters. The stadium used to have an artificial pitch, but to meet League rules this has been replaced with a grass surface that on my last visit looked very good.

The Club hope to move to a purpose built 30,000 capacity stadium, on the Southern outskirts of Milton Keynes in a couple of years time. However, it remains to be seen whether sufficient finance can be secured to get the project off the ground.

Hatters fans are normally located at one end of the ground, in the West Stand, where up to 1,200 fans can be housed. If demand requires it, then the North Stand can also be allocated to away supporters, further increasing the allocation by another 1,000. The West Stand has the feel of a temporary stand rather than a permanent structure, with lots of scaffolding and corrugated sheeting in evidence. There is a walkway running under the stand for its full width and if you do walk along it, you really see how the stand seems to have been bolted together, rather than being built as a permanent structure. This stand is all-seated and is open to the elements so hope that it doesn't rain. Entrance to the ground is by ticket only, so away supporters arriving without tickets need to first purchase one from the small ticket office located at the South West corner of the stadium (at one side of the Main Stand going towards the away end). Please also note that the stadium is a no smoking one.

To be honest I had not been looking forward to visiting the stadium as it had formed a negative image for me. But I was actually pleasantly surprised. There was some atmosphere being created from the home fans, the stewarding relaxed and the facilities inside weren't that bad, plus the leg room and view from the away stand were good. My only real grumble was that on each side of the away end there were blocks of portakabin type toilets, which in the men's case seemed to have poorly designed entrances that allowed passers by to look directly in onto the urinals. Refreshments were provided by two burger vans selling the usual array of burgers, hot dogs & chips and on my visit they did quite well in serving the sold out away end. I and the away fans around me were quite amused with the loudspeaker request before the game for away fans to refrain from jumping up and down, in case it caused structural problems!

Ground Guide courtesy of the excellent Internet Football Ground Guide.

History - Milton Keynes Dons Football Club

MILTON KEYNES Football Club were formed in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Centrals, playing on the Common. Their first honours came with the Clapham League title in 1896. They became Wimbledon Football Club in May 1905 and moved to Plough Lane in 1912 and joined the Athenian League seven years later.

In 1921, the club joined the Isthmian League, winning the Championship for the first of eight times 10 years later with a then record number of points. They were also beaten Amateur Cup Finalists in 1935 and 1947.

In 1963, Wimbledon were Amateur Cup Winners at Wembley, Eddie Reynolds heading all four against Sutton. The club turned professional a year later, joining the Southern League, Division One, and winning promotion immediately. They also took on Burnley, Leeds and Middlesbrough in FA Cup giant killing runs in the mid-70s, while also becoming Premier Division Champions for three years running.

In 1977, Wimbledon were elected to the Football League and gained promotion to the Third Division two years later. The club were twice relegated to Division Four, but regained place, as Champions in 1983. They were then promoted to the Second Division in 1984 and, amazingly, to the First Division 1986 - just nine years after being elected to the Football League!

In 1988, the Wimbledon had arguably their greatest-ever moment when they won the FA Cup at Wembley, Lawrie Sanchez heading the goal against Champions Liverpool and Dave Beasant saving a penalty from John Aldridge to give The Dons and unlikely 1-0 victory.

In 1992, the club were inaugural Members of the FA Premier League.

However, in 2000, the club were relegated from the Premiership after a 14-year stay in the top flight. Academy Director Terry Burton was appointed manager, and entrusted with the job of returning the Dons to the elite.

Unfortunately for Burton, he couldn't holt the slide and the club were forced to sell players to survive.  With the club desperately needing a new ground, but not getting the council's permission to build a new stadium in Wimbledon, the club had looked further afield, and even considered moving to Dublin in the 90s when former Luton Town boss Joe Kinnear was in charge of The Dons.

In 2001, the club announced that they were to move to Milton Keynes, where a new stadium would be constructed and the team would be renamed.  They lost a lot of their fan base, who were disgusted by the move to Milton Keynes and instead set up their own side, AFC Wimbledon.  Burton also left and was replaced as manager by Stuart Murdoch, but he inherited a squad that would be sold off drastically and he would have to rely very heavily on youngsters.  With the club in administration, Murdoch's hands were very much tied, and in 2003-04, the club were relegated to Division Two (now known as League One).  However, they came out of administration and with plans to build a new stadium underway, and the club's name changed to Milton Keynes Dons, the old Wimbledon are dead and buried.  There is a case to argue about what has happened until you're blue in the face, but it is has happened and the club are now local rivals to the Hatters and in a way I suppose Luton Town fans should be grateful that it wasn't us who were moved to Milton Keynes - it could so easily have been over the years.

Luton Town vMilton Keynes Dons...

A full rundown of all of the past meetings

Home Matches   Apr 8 1997 ND2 D 0 0 8117   Mar 7 1998 ND2 D 0 0 6114   Jan 9 1999 ND2 W 3 1 5063   Oct 19 1999 ND2 D 1 1 5820   Jan 12 2001 ND2 L 1 2 4551 Report Jan 25 2002 ND2 W 1 0 7351 Report Oct 11 2003 ND2 W 3 1 5695 Report Statto's Corner

Away Matches   Sep 7 1996 ND2 W 1 0 6471   Nov 1 1997 ND2 D 2 2 6219   Aug 8 1998 ND2 W 1 0 5252   Apr 29 2000 ND2 W 1 0 5379   Aug 28 2000 ND2 D 1 1 6001 Report Dec 28 2002 ND2 W 2 1 7740 Report Statto's Corner

• Stats taken from Lutonfc.com's 'Statto's Corner'

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