For better or for worse, MK Dons are here to stay. The circumstances which led to the creation of the Buckinghamshire-based club in 2004 are controversial and well-documented. The relocation of Wimbledon FC to Milton Keynes 11 years ago, eventually leading to a complete rebranding of the club under its current name, was a universally unpopular decision which prompted a large section of Wimbledon supporters to form their own ‘phoenix’ club, and which rendered ‘Franchise FC’ – as the fledgling Dons were pejoratively known by supporters of many clubs – one of the most loathed football clubs in English football, an apparently soulless embodiment of the greed and exploitation which dominates the modern game.
However, the reality is that MK Dons, for all their haters, detractors and enemies, are one of the best-run clubs in English football. Chairman Pete Winkelman may be known for being brash and antagonistic at times; his claims in a question and answer session with FourFourTwo magazine in November 2004 that his side were “the real child of Wimbledon” and that the founders of AFC Wimbledon had betrayed their club were unnecessary and unwise at a time when tensions were understandably still high. Nevertheless, under his guidance the Dons have established 16 disability football teams and have given first-team debuts to an impressive 12 academy graduates; their ticket prices for children are among the most affordable in the football league; whilst in the past year 11 players have been selected to represent their countries at youth level. The painful truth is that while Wimbledon FC’s demise was brought about by financial mismanagement, the club that replaced them in the football league is run in a responsible and stable manner.
Despite its status as a ‘new’ club, longevity is not alien to the Dons – in fact, it is a philosophy which the club has embraced. Winkelman remains the club’s first and only chairman, while manager Karl Robinson is one of the longest reigning current managers in the football league, having been in charge since May 2010. Indeed, the club has an admirable, if somewhat recent, reputation of hiring young, unproven managers and giving them an early taste in management – as well as Robinson, Roberto Di Matteo’s first job was at Stadium mk, while Paul Ince was also in charge in the early stages of his own coaching career. This dual recognition of the importance of time and the potential of youth with regard to the managerial setup at MK Dons is something to be lauded.
The watershed moment came in last month’s sensational League Cup drubbing of Manchester United. As the Dons put on an excellent display against Louis van Gaal’s men – scoring four goals without reply – social media, television studios and radio shows were awash with praise for the team from Milton Keynes for having the temerity to relentlessly attack and dominate supposedly superior opponents. Although football loves an underdog victory, a triumph of David over Goliath – especially when the monstrous brute in question happens to be wearing a red shirt emblazoned with horned, trident-wielding devil – the newfound respect shown towards the Dons was in purely footballing terms.
MK Dons will never be fully viewed as a legitimate football club by some supporters, particularly in the eyes of AFC Wimbledon fans who still feel that its place in the league at the expense of the ‘real’ Dons is a case of a monumental miscarriage of footballing justice. Presently, however, the good very much outweighs the bad at Milton Keynes. The tireless work it has done over the past ten years to promote inclusivity in the area cannot be scoffed at, and it continues to boast healthy attendances – last season’s average of 8,611 was the fifth-highest in League One. Time heals all wounds, as the saying goes, and although the wounds caused by the birth of MK Dons run especially deep, there are signs that ‘Franchise FC’ are finally being accepted into the footballing community.
[ad_pod id=’ricco’ align=’center’]
