It's a praise for the MK Dons experience

[Deleted member 875]

As much as I hated they born in to this world, and what happened is now a decade and a half ago. I finally think they are beginning to mature in to a proper football club, and now are in a place they might well have ended up if they had started organically at the bottom of the pile, I can still see why there is not a love for them after the hugely conterversial way, and I don't think they will ever be anybody's second team, but they are providing and building a football club in one of England youngest cities, where was a need for a football club, and I saw loads of families going to the game yesterday with young kids wearing MK Dons shirts, and those kids will not have even been born when MK came in to existence, and they was going to support their local side rather than being brought up without a football club to support other than the clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham that their families traditionally supported before they moved away from the capital. With everything that has happened in the past sometimes it isn't easy to see past it.

I had never been keen on the whole MK away day experience, yesterday was my 4th visit to MK, but it was great having a few beers in Fenny Stratford, it is a bit of a hike up to the ground, but at the ground the whole experience was slick, well organised and well ran, but the thing that surprised me was how co-operative the authorities were. It was contentious that they wouldn't give us a greater allocation, but when it became apparent there was Blades in the home end, all they did was do the common sense thing and open another block for the Blades. They allowed us to enjoy our own party, and we got treated with dignity and respect. I was in the upper tier and the view was second to none, and the ground is first class as it is designed to make watching football and enjoyable experience, with comfortable seats with plenty of leg room, first class facilities, plenty of stewards round to help rather than police. If you gave me the choice of a day out like I had yesterday at Stadium MK where the way we was looked after enhanced our day, or last weekends visit to Burslem where we got bricked, penned in, corralled on to buses, then I would have prefered yesterday. In fact my only regret yesterday was that I didn't bring Brownie Jnr along to enjoy the experience as well, and the other one was that we didn't a book a table in one of the food and drink outlets near the ground and have a meal and a few beers in there.

 

[Ricky]

It's not my preferred kind of stadium, but the facilities are good, and the experience you have there is far more down to your own fans and also the stewarding/policing.

 

[Sheffsteel]

I took my partner who rarely attends any matches.
She was very impressed with the MK experience and enjoyed it more than Wembley.

Also the staff in the MK Hilton hotel, the restaurants and around the ground were all incredibly friendly.
It reminded me of Florida in the US, where everyone smiles and says "have a nice day" etc.

 

[1066blade]

Agree with all that Brownie, great day out. Top Blades performance both on and off the pitch, hilarious scenes in the Concourse at half time (yes, there was a flare, but it was handled sensibly and added to the sense of celebration). Fans were all tanked up but well behaved, pre-match drinks in Fenny were great and the Blades we met up with happily smuggled us onto their coach for a lift to the ground. Queues were efficienly dealt with and comfy seats found with ease. To witness both Billy's goals right in front of our goal was a fitting touch.
The after match players get together in front of the fans was brilliant, particularly Billy setting Jack O'C up to head the (rubber) brick back, after first installing what I can only assume was a 'Magic' hat on his head! Class.

 

[wizadry]

Good post brownie but they will never mature into a proper football club, never! I can't stand the cunts!

 

[Bladesman]

Good post brownie but they will never mature into a proper football club, never! I can't stand the cunts!

Exactly, the locals should have put more effort into supporting Milton Keynes City FC. Why couldn't Winkleman invest that club and get them out of non-league.

Great that the experience was good for us Blades but the fact remains they have 30,000 seater stadium with an average attendance of around 8,000.

 

[Cassius Kray]

As much as I hated they born in to this world, and what happened is now a decade and a half ago. I finally think they are beginning to mature in to a proper football club, and now are in a place they might well have ended up if they had started organically at the bottom of the pile

But they didn't, and will be forever branded as the antithesis of a proper football club. The minute we forgive and forget the fact that WInkleman & the Football League destroyed a football club to bring MK into existence is the minute you risk it happening again*.

For all the reasons you mention, Milton Keynes FC could have been a decent football club. But they're not, they're grave-robbing scum. The vapid, soulless, plastic, corporate Frankie & Bennie's of football. Except a restaurant is just a business - a football club is so much more. Never, ever forget your history.


*"Well geeze, Sheffield has two football clubs! That doesn't make business sense. Surely it'd be better for everyone if we relocated the 'Kent Blades' so that the South East of England can share in the joy (and spending) that they've been cruelly denied by the mere fact that they don't care enough about football to have supported their own local teams."

 

[Sheffsteel]

Exactly, the locals should have put more effort into supporting Milton Keynes City FC. Why couldn't Winkleman invest that club and get them out of non-league.

Great that the experience was good for us Blades but the fact remains they have 30,000 seater stadium with an average attendance of around 8,000.

Don't think that's totally fair. I know some ex Sheffielders that live in MK and they told me that most people in MK support Arsenal, Spurs or Chelsea. Those London clubs are their local team and many have moved away from London.

It's a bit like billionaire Bill Gates buying United and Wednesday, folding both clubs, building a 70K stadium at Attercliffe, then taking over the Sheffield FC name and then wondering why gates are only 15K with low pricing.

You wouldn't expect 1000's of Blades and Owls to automatically switch loyalties to a new club. It would take decades to build up real passion for MKDFC.

 

[Treeton Blade]

Despise everything that club stands for, but seeing the applause their fans gave the team on their entrance, and the applause for Ugo, has changed my opinion of their fans.

Respect for MK.

 

[Superblades]

Good post brownie but they will never mature into a proper football club, never! I can't stand the cunts!

Refused to give Wimbledon their cups or something? Until that happens they can do one.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Refused to give Wimbledon their cups or something? Until that happens they can do one.

No. New Wimbledon aren't entitled to them either. Merton council have them. Wimbledon FC don't exist, haven't done for years.

 

[Bladesman]

Don't think that's totally fair. I know some ex Sheffielders that live in MK and they told me that most people in MK support Arsenal, Spurs or Chelsea. Those London clubs are their local team and many have moved away from London.

It's a bit like billionaire Bill Gates buying United and Wednesday, folding both clubs, building a 70K stadium at Attercliffe, then taking over the Sheffield FC name and then wondering why gates are only 15K with low pricing.

You wouldn't expect 1000's of Blades and Owls to automatically switch loyalties to a new club. It would take decades to build up real passion for MKDFC.

Maybe not but the chance was there to invest in MKC and pull them out of non-league. They didn't need to move Wimbledon and their supporters.

Wimbledon have managed to drag themselves out of non-league twice.

 

[ShockingBadBuy]

I find it impossible to warm to the club, or its location. But the ground itself is easily my favourite out of all the post-Taylor Report new-builds.

That said. If we ever move to a lego bowl on a retail park I will go to watch Sheffield FC instead.

 

[Davalon]

Agree totally with the OP. Like plenty of others I have issues with their route into the league amongst other things.

However not only is it one of the best new grounds for comfort, view, and accessible amenities, the police and stewarding has been as good as anywhere on my 4 visits.

Equally considering they aren't used to dealing with big crowds that often, the organisation of the car parks was excellent. Our minibus was parked in the worst place possible but we were out in no time and on the M1 sharpish. Many places we'd have still been sat at the back of the car park an hour after the game.

Their fans seem to have a decency without the raw passion of older ingrained clubs. That will naturally take time.

Plastic or not, you have to give them credit for a well run set up.

 

[1066blade]

I was looking forward to going to the Amex (Brighton) next season - another soulless plittle stadium with it's own train station, as it.'s the nearest by far to Hastings so that made it o.k.,ish but the inconsiderate bastards had to to and get promoted.

 

[raul]

Look forward too seeing you with your half and half scarf brownstuff.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Maybe not but the chance was there to invest in MKC and pull them out of non-league. They didn't need to move Wimbledon and their supporters.

Wimbledon have managed to drag themselves out of non-league twice.

Winkleman didn't move WFC to MK. He bought them after that, or rather did a deal with their football creditors. No one else came up with the money.
The Norwegian owners proposed a CVA which HMRC voted down resulting in liquidation. Then they effectively walked away from the club, rather like a fair bit of its support.

AFCW was formed a year before the move to MK by WFC.

 

[Maidenhead]

, and the other one was that we didn't a book a table in one of the food and drink outlets near the ground and have a meal and a few beers in there.

Looked like you did ok on the beer front went when I saw you wobbling up the steps at Sheffield station at approximately 10.20.

Having seen you we wandered down the train to find LS26BLADE as you two are our equivalent of Torvil and Dean or sausage and hendos and it's fair to say that he looked like he'd had a fine day out too.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Taken in isolation, I wouldn't disagree that Milton Keynes is a good experience in terms of their approach to organisation, stewarding and policing.
The stadium despite lacking character is a very good venue if you see comfort as an important factor, the concourses are spacious, the seats are comfortable, the leg room is decent and the sightlines are brilliant.
The stadium announcer congratulated us on our success this season not once but twice and the matchday programme notes has their Executive Director, their manager Robbie Neilson and their captain Dean Lewington all praising Sheffield United very highly, and despite the fact that I'm opposed to everything their franchise stands for, I never begrudge a kind word from anybody and I appreciate that.

BUT

None of that disguises the fact that they are a cancerous operation, forged out of deceit, betrayal and the pursuit of commercial interest over all else. They should never be recognised and seen as a legitimate football club because they are not. If what they are was ever normalised in English football, it would be the death of it.

As Bladesman alluded to. Their formation killed two football clubs. It should be forgiven or forgotten.

 

[Fanny magnet]

They should drop the dons from their name ,it's a pisstake

 

[Sheffsteel]

Maybe not but the chance was there to invest in MKC and pull them out of non-league. They didn't need to move Wimbledon and their supporters.

Wimbledon have managed to drag themselves out of non-league twice.

It wasn't quite as simple as that. The scenario was you had the smallest club ever to reach the top flight with a poor ground and hardly any supporters. They needed to move or upgrade the ground and even the locals in the area or Merton council failed to show any appetite to have a league club.

Milton Keynes is the largest town in Europe not to have a football team. So Winkleman thought planting a successful team in MK would be far more profitable and MKD would initially get 30K gates against the big team if they ever reached the PL, then they would build a support base if they had a prolonged spell in the top flight

It's hard to believe what happended to Wimbledon and very sad that the Authorities allowed it to happen simply because "it made good business sense".

The Wimbledon scenario could NEVER happen in Sheffield because even if either Sheffield club went into league 2 or the non league there will always be a 15K minimum support no matter what and those figures are plenty enough to sustain a club. That's why I found it a bit strange listening to the Coventry fans saying they're heading for the non league and gates will be down to 4K next season etc but if support is so poor then how can anyone complain about on pitch failure.

If SU had owners like SISU with no investment we'd still get 15K in league 2 or the non league.

 

[1066blade]

This morning I kept on returning to the pre-match pubs from yesterday, must me some sort of Fenny magnet going on.

Sorry.

 

[Maidenhead]

They should drop the dons from their name ,it's a pisstake

We were discussing just this on the train on the way back.

It's over a decade since the Wimbledon thing, and as Sean Thornton says above, that wasn't as cut and dried as many seem to think.

It's time for everyone to move on.

The reincarnation of Wimbledon are where they deserve to be and MK dropping the Dons would be a positive move for all.

The turnstile area was a bit overwhelmed by the volume of late arrivals but overall I thought the police and stewards handled the whole occasion very well and despite it being a soulless town it was a very good day out.

 

[Bladesway]

Seems some of us lose all sense of principal at the sight of a nice ground and a bit of legroom. Their very existence is wrong on every level. Ripping a club out of the ground and just jumping it somewhere else is wrong.

Those warming to MK and their lovely ground shouldn't complain that the Premier League is how it is or why football continues to slip away from being the sport we loved into a business venture and plaything for the super rich.

Suppose the U23 cup that was the Johnstone Paint Trophy is a good thing? Or perhaps when we let Premier League B teams play in the lower divisions we will all be better off. In fact we could get those nasty clubs like Rochdale, Bury and Oldham out of the way to clear the way for a Greater Manchester franchise? What about the Yorkshire Bastards V's the Nottingham loincloths? We could have an ad break every time there is a corner and make the goals so big each game finished with at least 30 goals.

But that would never happen would it?

 

[Bladesman]

Winkleman didn't move WFC to MK. He bought them after that, or rather did a deal with their football creditors. No one else came up with the money.
The Norwegian owners proposed a CVA which HMRC voted down resulting in liquidation. Then they effectively walked away from the club, rather like a fair bit of its support.

AFCW was formed a year before the move to MK by WFC.

Does sort of mask the fact that Milton Keynes had their eye on Wimbledon for a long time dating back to when Hammam was running Wimbledon. All they needed was someone to sell Plough Lane, pocket the money and run it into the ground.

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Thing is, the opportunities for doing it the "proper way" are vast now - so many small, non-league clubs have seen big investment and have risen & risen. (Sadly, in some cases, risen to unsustainable situations & gone bust - like Rushden & Diamonds, or Colne Dynamos.)

MK had the backing & the funding & the resources - they could quite easily have done it properly & have gained the respect and admiration of the football world. Crawley did it, Fleetwood are doing it. FFS, Forest Green are doing it.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Does sort of mask the fact that Milton Keynes had their eye on Wimbledon for a long time dating back to when Hammam was running Wimbledon. All they needed was someone to sell Plough Lane, pocket the money and run it into the ground.

Actually the ground was offered to various clubs, not just WFC. Hamman and the Norwegians plans had nothing to do with Winkleman.

There's a lot of misinformation still going around over this. MK got a leg up league wise but Wimbledon were a busted flush long before that and the AFC set up were nowhere near capable of doing the deal.

 

[Sheffsteel]

As Bladesman alluded to. Their formation killed two football clubs. It should be forgiven or forgotten.

The problem is that loads of current league clubs were formed by merges and/or killing other clubs.
Another example is Arsenal were Woolwich Arsenal playing in South London, imagine the uproar when they re-located into North London, now it's all forgotten and no one is bothered, the same will apply to MKD In a few decades.

I do agree though that it would be a good idea to drop the "Dons" name and have a name or knickname specific to MK like the "concrete cows" etc. "Come on you concrete cows" ha ha

 

[Bladesway]

MK got a leg up league wise.

Which in itself is criminal.

 

[cjx blade]

As much as I hated they born in to this world, and what happened is now a decade and a half ago. I finally think they are beginning to mature in to a proper football club, and now are in a place they might well have ended up if they had started organically at the bottom of the pile, I can still see why there is not a love for them after the hugely conterversial way, and I don't think they will ever be anybody's second team, but they are providing and building a football club in one of England youngest cities, where was a need for a football club, and I saw loads of families going to the game yesterday with young kids wearing MK Dons shirts, and those kids will not have even been born when MK came in to existence, and they was going to support their local side rather than being brought up without a football club to support other than the clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham that their families traditionally supported before they moved away from the capital. With everything that has happened in the past sometimes it isn't easy to see past it.

I had never been keen on the whole MK away day experience, yesterday was my 4th visit to MK, but it was great having a few beers in Fenny Stratford, it is a bit of a hike up to the ground, but at the ground the whole experience was slick, well organised and well ran, but the thing that surprised me was how co-operative the authorities were. It was contentious that they wouldn't give us a greater allocation, but when it became apparent there was Blades in the home end, all they did was do the common sense thing and open another block for the Blades. They allowed us to enjoy our own party, and we got treated with dignity and respect. I was in the upper tier and the view was second to none, and the ground is first class as it is designed to make watching football and enjoyable experience, with comfortable seats with plenty of leg room, first class facilities, plenty of stewards round to help rather than police. If you gave me the choice of a day out like I had yesterday at Stadium MK where the way we was looked after enhanced our day, or last weekends visit to Burslem where we got bricked, penned in, corralled on to buses, then I would have prefered yesterday. In fact my only regret yesterday was that I didn't bring Brownie Jnr along to enjoy the experience as well, and the other one was that we didn't a book a table in one of the food and drink outlets near the ground and have a meal and a few beers in there.

Just got back and on the drive up I was thinking exactly the same. Hotel was cracking and for roughly £75 for night you couldn't go wrong. Police were great as well with one asking my eldest about " the song with the magic hat" as he liked it. Also walked back from Fenny with a plastic pint full of beer and not one of them stopped me as I expected them to. Took time to take pictures with us as well. Really cracking day.