Milton Keynes Dons F.C.
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| Full name | Milton Keynes Dons Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Dons | ||
| Founded | 2004 | ||
| Ground | stadium:mk | ||
| Capacity | 22,000[1] | ||
| Chairman |  Pete Winkelman | ||
| Manager |  Roberto Di Matteo | ||
| League | League One | ||
| 2007–08 | League Two, 1st (promoted as champions) | ||
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Milton Keynes Dons Football Club is a professional football club founded in 2004, based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and they are a disgrace to football. They will play the 2008–09 season in Football League One, the third division of English football. The side's home ground is the stadium:mk in Milton Keynes.
The club was relaunched under its current name on 21 June 2004, nine months after the then Wimbledon F.C. moved to Milton Keynes. Milton Keynes Dons is legally a continuation of Wimbledon F.C., however after negotiation with the Wimbledon Independent Supporters' Association, mediated by the Football Supporters Federation, the club agreed to return the trophies and memorabilia of Wimbledon F.C. to the London Borough of Merton, and to make no claims on the history of Wimbledon F.C. thereafter.[2][3] This step was taken in part to ensure the recognition of the Milton Keynes Dons Supporters Association by the Football Supporters Federation.
History
- An account of the controversy surrounding Wimbledon's move is detailed in Wimbledon F.C.
The history of Milton Keynes Dons (MK Dons) begins in the late 1990s with Pete Winkelman, a music promoter and resident of Milton Keynes. Winkelman had a vision to build a FIFA-compliant new stadium complex in the town, providing a sporting & events centre. The core to this project was to base a professional football club at the stadium. As such Winkelman began approaching football clubs within a reasonable radius of the town who were struggling to gain consent to redevelop their stadia. These included Barnet, Luton Town and Queens Park Rangers. These initial approaches were unsuccessful, however, in Wimbledon F.C., he found a club with owners who were already looking for a new base.[4] He persuaded the directors that a move 56 miles (90 km) north to Milton Keynes might give them the financial boost they wanted. Most of Wimbledon's fans as well as the Football League were against such a move.[5]
On 28 May 2002, despite over a year of fan protests against the idea, the Football Association authorised the move to Milton Keynes. Although there have been club relocations in the UK, there had never been such a relocation of a professional club within the English pyramid system, and this move attracted widespread criticism. Those who interpreted the League decision as American-style sports "franchises" gave Wimbledon the disparaging title "Franchise F.C.". At the behest of the Football Supporters Federation, the fans of other teams boycotted games against the club and crowds dwindled to non-league levels. On 5 June 2003, Wimbledon went into financial administration with debts of more than £20 million.[6]
During the 2003–04 season, Wimbledon F.C. was run by the administrators and many of the team's players were sold. At the end of a dismal season, the club was relegated to League One (the new name for the Second Division). During the summer of 2003, the National Hockey Stadium was converted for use as a football stadium, and in September 2003, Wimbledon F.C. moved into the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes. In spring 2004, to ensure that the idea of permanently basing a football team at the proposed stadium complex became a reality, Winkelman bought the near-bankrupt club from the administrators, although the owning of the club was never the original intention.
In 2008, the club claimed their first items of silverware, winning the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final 2–0 against Grimsby Town in front of over 55 thousand fans at Wembley Stadium. In May 2008, the club lifted the League Two championship trophy after winning League Two and gaining promotion to League One for the 2008–09 season.
Change of name
In June 2004, against the recommendations of the Football Association's Independent Commission, Winkelman announced that he was changing the name of Wimbledon FC to Milton Keynes Dons FC. This was not a popular decision - Winkelman had previously promised fans a vote on the issue, and the committee of the official supporters' club had voted unanimously for the word "Wimbledon" to be retained in the name. When the club formally emerged from administration under the new name and ownership on July 1, Winkelman also announced that he was changing the club's blue and yellow kit for new team colours and a new badge. This change was again implemented without any consultation with supporters. The new badge bore the letters "MMIV", signifying that 2004 was a new start for the Milton Keynes Dons.
League history
When the 2004–05 season began, the team were still being managed by Stuart Murdoch. They started the season badly and Murdoch was sacked to be replaced by Danny Wilson. Under their new manager, the Dons began to improve and they were suddenly looking good enough for survival. They managed to beat the drop from League One on the final day of the season - but only because of Wrexham's 10-point deduction that had been their penalty for going into administration.
The following season, the Dons struggled all year, were relegated to League Two and manager Danny Wilson was sacked.
Wilson's successor for 2006–07 was Martin Allen, who had just taken Brentford to the brink of a place in the Football League Championship. With a new manager taking charge of a team in a new division, the Dons looked more convincing than they had done in either of the previous two seasons. They looked like serious promotion challengers for much of the season and were in the hunt for automatic promotion right up to the last game. In the end, they finished fourth and had to settle for a play-off place. They suffered a shock defeat to Shrewsbury Town in the play-off semi-finals and the promotion dream was over. During the 2007 summer break, Allen terminated his contract with the Dons to take over at Leicester City in an arrangement that lasted just five games before his contract was terminated.
For the 2007–08 season, former England captain Paul Ince took over as manager. After a slightly troubled start, they recovered well and had reached the top of League Two at the end of September 2007, went 11 points clear in early January 2008[7] and they continued to top the league at the end of February 2008 by a one point margin. Also in February, they qualified for the final of the Football League Trophy with a win on penalties over League One leaders Swansea City in the Southern Area final. The final was played on Sunday 30 March against Grimsby Town where The Dons were victorious with a 2-0 win, to bring home their first professional trophy to Milton Keynes. On 19 April 2008, MK Dons beat Stockport County 3–2 and secured promotion to League One for the 2008–09 season. A week later, the Dons travelled to Valley Parade to take on Bradford City, where a 2–1 win gave them the League Two title.
After bringing two trophies to stadium:mk at the end of the 2007-08 season, Paul Ince terminated his contract with the Dons to take over Premiership club Blackburn Rovers, whose manager, Mark Hughes, had recently departed to Manchester City. Ince's place was taken by former Italian international midfielder, Roberto di Matteo, in his first managerial position. He was unveiled as the new Dons boss on July 3 2008. Dons captain Keith Andrews left the club to join former manager and Wolverhampton Wanderers team-mate Ince at Blackburn on August 28th 2008. Left-back Dean Lewington was named his successor. It is notable that Lewington is the only squad member remaining of the original Wimbledon team who came to MK in 2003.
Supporters club recognition
On 4 June 2005, at the 2005 Football Supporters' Federation "Fans' Parliament" (AGM), the FSF refused [8] the MK Dons Supporters Club membership of the FSF in a debate that, among other arguments, questioned why the Football League had yet to introduce any new rules to prevent the "franchising" of other football clubs in the future. In addition, the FSF membership agreed with the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association that the Milton Keynes Dons Supporters Association should not be entitled to join the FSF until they give up all claim to the history and honours of Wimbledon F.C. With this in mind, the FSF began discussions aimed at returning Wimbledon F.C.'s honours to the London Borough of Merton.
Shortly afterwards, following heavy criticism for allowing the move, the Football League announced new tighter rules on club relocation.[9]
At its AGM on 5 June 2006, the FSF again considered a motion[10] proposed by the FSF Council to allow MK Dons Supporters Association membership if the honours and trophies of Wimbledon F.C. were given to the London Borough of Merton. In October 2006, agreement[11] was reached between the club, the MK Dons Supporters Association, the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association and the Football Supporters Federation. The replica of the FA Cup plus all club patrimony gathered under the name of Wimbledon F.C. would be returned to the London Borough of Merton. Ownership of trademarks and website domain names related to Wimbledon F.C. would also be transferred to the Borough. Merton Council transferred the trademarks of Wimbledon F.C. to AFC Wimbledon in September 2008. As part of the same deal it was agreed that any reference made to Milton Keynes Dons F.C. should refer only to events subsequent to 7 August 2004 (the date of the first League game of Milton Keynes Dons F.C.). As a result of this deal, the FSF announced that the supporters of Milton Keynes Dons F.C. would be permitted to become members of the federation, and that it would no longer appeal to the supporters of other clubs to boycott MK Dons matches.[2]
On 2 August 2007, Milton Keynes Dons transferred the replica trophies and all Wimbledon F.C. memorabilia to the London Borough of Merton.[3]
Stadium
The club's first stadium in Milton Keynes was the National Hockey Stadium, which was temporarily converted for football for the duration of the club's stay, Their lease on this ground ended in May 2007.
On 18 July 2007, the club's new 22,000 seater stadium:mk in Denbigh, Milton Keynes hosted its first game, a restricted entrance event against a young Chelsea XI.[12] The stadium was officially opened on 29 November 2007 by Queen Elizabeth II.[13]
The complex also includes a 3,000 seat indoor arena, where the MK Lions basketball team will be based: the completion of this arena has been delayed due to Marks & Spencer pulling out of funding the stadium.[citation needed]
Training ground
The club uses the public sports facilities at Woughton on the Green for training. The club's academy sides also play their home games here. During the 2005 close season a new plastic-covered artificial training pitch nicknamed 'the bubble' was constructed. They are hoping to move to a new training ground near the stadium.
Honours
- 2005–06 Runners Up,
- 2006–07 Winners[16]
- Portimao Cup :
- 2004–05 Winners
Reserves
The club has announced that from the start of the 2008–09 season, no reserve side will be entered into any organised competition or league.[17]
Players
Current squad
- As of 13 November, 2008.[18]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Players out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Former players
Internationals
Three players have been awarded international caps whilst playing for MK Dons:
Craig Morgan – first club player to be capped.
Mark Williams
Ali Gerba
Technical staff
| Roberto Di Matteo |
|
First Team Manager |
| Eddie Newton |
|
Assistant Manager |
| Paul Heald |
|
Goalkeeping Coach & Assistant Academy Coach |
| Simon Crampton |
|
Head of Sports Medicine |
| Pat Holland |
|
Chief Scout |
| Mike Dove |
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Director of Youth |
| Ade Mafe |
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First Team Fitness Coach |
| Andrew Stone |
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Sports Scientist |
| Matt Hillyer |
|
Sports Scientist |
| Paul Collins |
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Head Academy Physiotherapist |
| Joseph Aylett |
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Head Groundsman |
| Dr Martin Cave |
|
Club Doctor |
Previous managers
| Name | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | % | ||||
| Stuart Murdoch |
|
May 2004 | November 2004 | 122 | 35 | 65 | 22 | 28.69% |
| Danny Wilson |
|
December 2004 | June 2006 | 81 | 25 | 32 | 24 | 30.86% |
| Martin Allen |
|
June 2006 | May 2007 | 46 | 25 | 9 | 12 | 54.35% |
| Paul Ince |
|
June 2007 | June 2008 | 55 | 35 | 11 | 9 | 63.64% |
See also
References
- ^ "Stadiummk Virtual Tours". MK Dons. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
- ^ a b "MK Dons agree to return Wimbledon trophies to Merton - and sanction amendments to football statistics" - FSF website
- ^ a b Merton given back Dons trophies
- ^ The Guardian's account of move, January 2003. See section beginning "But the disputes roots stretch back as long ago as 1991."
- ^ Fans united against franchising. Telegraph, 28 May 2002.
- ^ Dons' move to city in doubt (MK Citizen, 9 June 2003)
- ^ Rotherham 0-1 MK Dons (Match Report). MK Citizen (05 January, 2008).
- ^ Motion 1 on pages 6 minutes at www.fsf.org.uk (pages 44/45)
- ^ "Rule changes from League's AGM". The Football League. Retrieved 2008-09-16.
- ^ Motion 6 (pages 6)
- ^ Accord on history and honours of Wimbledon FC WISA website.
- ^ Dons open stadium against Chelsea. BBC Sport. 19 July, 2007.
- ^ The Queen visits Milton Keynes. BBC Beds, Herts & Bucks. 30 November, 2007.
- ^ "Bradford 1-2 MK Dons (Match Report)". BBC Sport. 2008-04-26.
- ^ "Grimsby Town 0-2 MK Dons (Match Report)". BBC Sport. 2008-03-30.
- ^ "Berks & Bucks Cup Winners 2006 - 2007". Berkshire and Buckinghamshire Football Association. 2007-08-06.
- ^ Reserve team sacrificed to concentrate on first team MK News
- ^ "Profiles". Milton Keynes Dons FC. Retrieved 2008-08-07.