Milton Keynes Dons FC
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History of the Milton Keynes Dons
The history of the Milton Keynes Dons (MK Dons) begins in the late
1990s with Pete Winkelman, a music promoter and resident of Milton
Keynes. Winkelman saw an opportunity to build a FIFA-compliant new
stadium complex in the town, as part of a large commercial development
that included ASDA and IKEA superstores. There were already four
non-League football teams in the borough, including Milton Keynes City,
who played in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division. One
option available to Winkelman would have been to invest in one of these
local clubs, with the aim of repeating the early success achieved by Max
Griggs, founder of the Dr. Martens footwear manufacturer, who had
overseen the creation of Rushden and Diamonds from two small clubs in
nearby Northamptonshire. However, Winkelman felt it would be easier to
convince backers to fund a stadium for a league club rather than a
non-League team, and to this end, he began trying to bring in a
professional club from another town.
Winkelman began approaching any football clubs that were struggling
financially, including Barnet, Luton Town and Queens Park Rangers,
without success. However, in Wimbledon F.C., he found a club with owners
who were already looking for a new base. He persuaded the directors that
a move 62 miles north to Milton Keynes might give them the financial
boost they wanted. Unsurprisingly, however, most of Wimbledon's fans -
as well as the Football League - were against such a move.
On May 28 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.". Supporters 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.
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.
By spring of 2004, Winkelman bought the near-bankrupt club from the
administrators.
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. They felt that by
losing the name "Wimbledon", the controversial move to Milton Keynes
could no longer be justified as saving Wimbledon FC. Furthermore,
the domain name mkdons.com had been registered by Winkelman in 2000,
suggesting that he had always intended to use this name. When the club
formally emerged from administration under the new name and ownership on
July 1, Winkelman also announced that he was discarding 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 MK Dons.
Supporters club recognition
On 4 June 2005, at the 2005 Football Supporters' Federation "Fans'
Parliament" (AGM), the FSF refused 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 and/or AFC Wimbledon.
Shortly afterwards, following heavy criticism for allowing the move, the
Football League announced new tighter rules on club relocation.
At its AGM on 5 June 2006, the FSF again considered a motion 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 and/or AFC Wimbledon. In October 2006, agreement 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. 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 August 7, 2004 (the date
of the first League game of Milton Keynes Dons F.C.), making it clear
that Milton Keynes Dons F.C. are a new entity independent of Wimbledon
FC. 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.
On 2 August 2007, Milton Keynes Dons transferred the replica trophies
and all Wimbledon F.C. memorabilia to the London Borough of Merton.
[Taken from Wikipedia]
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