MK Dons ... A different perspective

I can't agree with you there, [MENTION=7031]fired[/MENTION]. As previously described in numerous posts, the area has plenty of clubs that were desperate for support. They just wanted a league one and they wanted it right on their doorsteps so they stole one.

 

Whatever MK are or whatever they do Wimbledon wanted a club too if MK wanted one they should have started one not nicked somebody elses

 

heres a scenario that could have happened.

Barnsley were in admin,no buyer came in , then a rich guy from say wakefield came in built a brand new stadium in Emley, and renamed that club Emley tykes.

would you have still gone to watch said club

 

No, no and thrice no.

 

i liked it fired too. Seen to take for ever once we got in to MK but the stadium was nice. I liked that there was things around the stadium.

KFC/ McDonald. Cortonwood (Next ect) type shops at the other corner and a big Asda.

There was a bar at the ground but not sure if that was just for home fans.

 

I'm with fired on this one - it was very wrong the way it all happened - no-one would seriously argue against that fact, but I do believe that Wimbledon were on the point of going out of business so the fans would have lost their club anyway. Yes, their place in the league should then have gone to someone else etc etc - its all been said and nothing can now change it. I think that the Football authorities know in hindsight it was wrong and I don't believe it would happen again.

So fast forward to where we are now and I agree - yesterday was a good day - nice stadium, family friendly club, looking to go places. Much as their existence and how it came about was wrong, I find it very hard now to hold it against them - move on and good luck to them.

 

I have to agree with the posts below that it will never be right that they stole someone else's team in order to be able to have a football club for their town that didn't have to start from scratch and earn their right to be where they are.

However if you ignore all that and see what they have done since having the team relocated there is probably a model for everyone else - I have to say it was probably the best stadium I have been to and the facilities in and around the area were first class, the atmosphere around the ground was friendly and welcoming with shopppers/home and away fans mingling happily - how is the stadium financed does the local council own it? if so with a Hilton hotel on site and the club paying a rental i guess it pays for itself? perhaps as it is part of the entire shopping complex with those rents as well?

 

Give me Oakwell any day...close to the town centre including the bus/train station but surrounded by terraced streets and it having a bit of character. Hate these out of town 'stadiums' that are in the middle of a retail park and are miles away from the town centre. Liked the view from the away end though and thought being able to see the pitch from the concourse was good as well.
Not sure what to think about MK Dons, still feel a bit uneasy about it all...in the programme they claimed to be a 'new club' making their own history yet they stole Wimbledon FC's place in the league but don't claim any of Wimbledon FC's history.

 

Very similar to the Reebok in that respect - retail outlets/fast food etc all on tap. But that's the bonus of building a new stadium. Fair play to them.

However, if they want to be known as their own club now, it's about time they dropped the 'Dons' bit from their name.

Milton Keynes Thieves, sounds decent.

 

I could offer another senario here, Rangers FC took over Carlisle & relocated to Glasgow, could easily have happened as they were out of the Scottish League this summer till they reapplied.

 

Aren't Carlisle United in the process of building themselves a new stadium to replace Brunton Park?

One "idea" the clown in charge at The Rangers FC had in mind was to take over Bury and use them to get The Rangers FC in to the English leagues.

 

Ive never been there fella.

 

the only way Rangers could contemplate that is if the club was about to go bust, hang on a minute Portsmouth rangers can it happen YES.

Will it happen NO

 

I tend to agree, whenever anyone mentions the Miners Strike we get a barrage of poster telling everyone to "move on".......same here 8 years ago, etc.

 

Decent ground, and practically on a retail park. Over-zealous stewards, though.

 

Agreed 100%

 

How does having an Asda and Next next to the ground make it any better? It's not like you're going to pop out at half time to do your weekly shop is it.

 

If they wanted a club they should have formed one and started at the bottom like everywhere else - population, affluence etc doesn't give you a divine right to a big shortcut. I'm sure this scenario of moving a club to another town has been tried many times in the past and the authorities have, correctly, refused to entertain the idea - why it was allowed to happen for Milton Keynes is beyond me and it wouldn't surprise me if a few of the decision makers saw some personal benefit in one form or another for allowing it to happen.

You can't deny the facilities are excellent, but it is a bit presumptuous of them to build a stadium so large, surely they should have concentrated on building a team first before spending so much on the facilities although personally I wouldn't like to see them progress any further and ever have a need to put seats in the upper tier. I'm no architect but the structure of the ground and the height of the roof above the upper tier suggests to me that it was built with adding a third-tier in mind - dream on MK! I don't think Milton Keynes in general has really bought into the football club, in the town centre before the game there was no indication of there being a game on apart from spotting the odd person in a Barnsley shirt.

I thought the fans were a strange bunch, I suppose many of them weren't used to having a local team before they stole one from South London so the 'passion' towards the club is of a completely different vibe, I stayed over and spoke to a few of their fans after the game and in the evening and they really didn't seem that bothered about the club, as if as soon as they walk out of the ground it's forgotten about. I doubt they have any hardcore fans at all, and if they slip any lower than league one they'll struggle to fill a corner of the ground let alone a two-tiered bowl.

The town itself - wow, what a weird place. Very utilitarian, like something out of a George Orwell novel where brainwashed, soul-less people live their lives like drones in a soul-less environment. All the amenities you'd ever want are on hand but I'd go crazy if I lived there...it made me appreciate what we have in Barnsley that we take for granted with the architecture etc. On a nice Summer's day I'd much rather be walking round Barnsley town centre than Milton Keynes - although as we know Barnsley town centre is far from perfect.