Relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes
Encyclopedia
Wimbledon Football Club
was an English professional football club from Wimbledon
, south-west London
. Founded in 1889, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football
prior to a "fairytale" rise through the divisions following election to The Football League
in 1977. This success resulted in the club looking to move from its home ground, Plough Lane
, and seeking an alternative base.
Relocation to Milton Keynes
, a new town
56 miles (90 km) to the north of Wimbledon, was originally considered in the late 1970s, soon after the club's election to the Football League, but not followed up. Various abortive local options were explored during the 1980s, but the 1991 Taylor Report
, which recommended all-seater stadia for all top-flight clubs, led the team to temporarily groundshare
with Crystal Palace
at Selhurst Park
whilst an alternative was sought.
Milton Keynes, because of its foundation and designation as a new town in 1967, represented a unique situation in English football in that there was no professional team representing it that had secured the loyalty of local supporters. Wimbledon were not the only team to be approached regarding a move there – a move by Charlton Athletic
was briefly mooted in 1973 and the subject was regularly broached with Luton Town
, most notably in 1982. In the early 2000s, the Milton Keynes Stadium Consortium, led by Pete Winkelman
, proposed a Football League-standard stadium in Milton Keynes, partly funded by an attached retail development. The opportunity to take up this new ground was offered to Luton, Wimbledon, Barnet
, Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers
. Despite an initial negative response from Wimbledon, the appointment in 2000 by its owners of a new chairman, Charles Koppel, led to more receptive talks.
The Wimbledon board announced its intention to move the club to Milton Keynes in August 2001; received permission in May 2002; and did so in September 2003. Soon after the relocation's confirmation in May 2002, supporters opposed to the move formed a new team, AFC Wimbledon
. The relocated club renamed itself Milton Keynes Dons
in June 2004 and, after three years at the National Hockey Stadium
, moved to the new 22,000-seater Stadium:mk in July 2007.
in 1945, the population of London
increased significantly, causing the construction of a number of new towns
across the south-east of England. Overspill
housing for several London boroughs was constructed in Bletchley, in north Buckinghamshire
, by London County Council
. With this not proving to be enough, a Ministry of Housing and Local Government (MoH&LG) study proposed "a new city" near Bletchley in 1964. Bletchley, which had been considered for designation in its own right, became instead only a part of the planned development: a further MoH&LG study in 1965 recommended that the existing towns of Stony Stratford
and Wolverton
should also be included. A target population of 250,000 was given for what was to be the biggest new town of all, built on an area previously home to about 40,000. "Milton Keynes
" (named after the village of Milton Keynes
already present on the site) was purposely placed equidistant from London, Birmingham
, Leicester
, Oxford
and Cambridge
, and was designated as a new town on 23 January 1967.
All of the football clubs present within the boundaries of the new town were playing outside The Football League
. The largest of these teams were United Counties League sides Bletchley Town
and Wolverton Town & B.R.
, South Midlands League
outfit Stony Stratford Town
and local teams New Bradwell St Peter
and Newport Pagnell Wanderers
, who would join the South Midlands League in 1970 and 1972 respectively.
to secure their loyalty.
, in 1973. The club was in financial difficulties and had just been relegated to the third tier at the end of the 1971–72 campaign. Towards the end of the 1972–73 season, Charlton revealed plans for commercial extensions to their ground, The Valley: a community sports complex and a public market to be held on weekdays. Greenwich Council
refused to licence the market and insisted that the complex be built on public space at a local park, leading the club to announce that it could potentially relocate to "a progressive Midlands borough". The club affirmed that it was not disaffected with the community or supporters and that if the club were to move it would be a matter of being "forced out" by the council; to this end Charlton encouraged supporters to protest loudly to the council in support of the plans, ostensibly to prevent the team from moving. Fans inundated the local media and club offices with strong opinion against any move, leading the council to eventually cave in over Charlton's ground extensions. No relocation occurred.
, the team quickly "outgrew" their Plough Lane
ground after their election to The Football League
in 1977. Ron Noades
, club chairman at the time, claimed in 2003 to have realised the limitations of the ground as early as 1979; specifically, he cited its location as the reason for Wimbledon's continuing low gates at that time.
Noades's interest was attracted by the site designated by the local Milton Keynes authority for a stadium next to the town's still-under-construction Central railway station
. Intending to merge Wimbledon with a local Milton Keynes club in order to take up the site, Noades bought non-League
club Milton Keynes City
for £1, capitalising on the smaller club's financial problems. After Noades and three other Wimbledon directors – Jimmy Rose, Bernie Coleman and Sam Hammam
– were voted onto MK City's board "in an advisory capacity", Noades emphasised that it was a separate investment by the four directors in a personal capacity and not a move by the Wimbledon club itself. However, he also claimed that Wimbledon had "no future" at Plough Lane while Milton Keynes held stronger long-term promise because it could, he claimed, "support a multi-purpose stadium". No move (for Wimbledon) occurred and MK City was sold on after Noades changed his mind and concluded that the side would not draw larger attendances playing in Milton Keynes than it already did in Wimbledon. Noades, who had paid £2,782 for then non-League Wimbledon in 1976, charged Hammam a figure between £40,000 and £100,000 for the club in 1981 before becoming chairman of nearby Crystal Palace
during the same year.
Luton Town
, based in Milton Keynes's neighbouring town of Luton
, were also seeking a new site at this time. As early as 1960, then-First Division
Luton's attendances had been deemed far too low for the top flight by Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly, which also considered their ground at Kenilworth Road
, in the middle of town, to be hard to get to. At this time the club was already planning a 50,000-capacity ground near Dunstable
, to the north-west of Luton, but no new ground materialised. Luton were relegated in 1960 and, apart from the 1974–75 season, remained outside of the top division until 1982–83. With the team still based at Kenilworth Road, Luton's owners were tempted by the prospect of moving to Milton Keynes; an article in the local paper "dreamed" of "MK Hatters" playing home matches at a "super-stadium" there. The distance from Milton Keynes to Luton is far shorter than that to Wimbledon – 20 miles (32 km) compared to 56 miles (90 km) – but "vehement" resistance from Luton fans prevented the move from happening.
in 1988, but the site was instead made into a car park by a newly-elected Labour
council in 1990. Wimbledon's desire to move was made a necessity a year later, when the Taylor Report
, which ordered the extensive redevelopment of football grounds, was released. When Hammam had purchased the club from Ron Noades, Wimbledon had also owned its ground at Plough Lane, though a pre-emption clause had existed specifying that the ground was only to be used for "sports, leisure or recreational purposes" – if Wimbledon Football Club were ever to cease to exist, then Merton Council would be able to buy Plough Lane back for £8,000. This clause reduced the possibility of the club losing its home stadium, but it was unpopular with a succession of Wimbledon owners: Noades stated that the club had no future there unless the clause were "sorted out", in his words, and Hammam argued that it limited his ability to borrow money needed to redevelop the ground. Seeking to increase the value of Plough Lane, Hammam entered into negotiations with the council for its removal in 1990; the eventual agreed price for the revoking of the clause was a sum between £300,000 and £800,000. At least one Wimbledon club director resigned his position in protest. Even with the clause removed, the team could not afford to redevelop Plough Lane when required to do so the following year.
As a result, Wimbledon moved across south London before the start of the 1991–92 season to share the Selhurst Park
ground belonging to Noades's Crystal Palace. This decision was unpopular among Wimbledon fans, and the club's "already modest" support resultantly took a hit the club could ill-afford. Concurrently with this move, the council's recommended proposal of a relocation to a ground in nearby Beddington
fell through. With the inflation in costs brought on by the foundation of the FA Premier League in 1992, the club soon began to lose money heavily; Hammam attempted to find a new home for the club, and in frustration at a perceived lack of support from the local council, sought to relocate within south London, looking at "seven boroughs" including Tolworth
and Brixton
. His anger at the council's attitude was such that he declared that in the event of such a move he would change the club's name entirely. In 2000, Hammam claimed that he looked at every possible site in Merton, but according to the BBC
he turned down the opportunity to redevelop Wimbledon Stadium
in 1992. Two years after this, Merton Council, attempting to retain the Plough Lane site for public use, refused to sanction Hammam's proposed sale of the ground for a supermarket redevelopment. Hammam reacted with a "vow never to return to the ground".
and Bjørn Rune Gjelsten
, in 1997. With political control of Merton Council having changed, he then secured the £8 million sale of the Plough Lane site to Safeway
supermarkets in 1998. Hammam unsuccessfully attempted to gain permission to redevelop a former gas works in Merton during the same year, and soon after once again launched abortive negotiations over a site in Beddington. Following this, Hammam started to look further and further afield, and despite the anger from a majority of supporters, considered Basingstoke
, "Gatwick" (near Crawley
), Dublin, Belfast
, Cardiff
and (non-specifically) "Scotland" as potential new locations for the club. Wimbledon even received Premier League approval for Hammam's preferred option, Dublin, before the idea was vetoed by the Football Association of Ireland
. During this time, Wimbledon were also approached by seven other clubs, all from outside of London, each offering to share their home ground. After the FAI veto of the move to Dublin, Hammam offered to buy Selhurst Park from Noades, still the owner of the ground despite his sale of Crystal Palace in 1998; Hammam offered £12 million in 1999, but this plan came to nothing. Hammam subsequently sold his shares in Wimbledon in February 2000, and became the owner of Cardiff City
in September of that year.
and supported by Asda
(a subsidiary of Wal-Mart
) and IKEA
, in late 2000. This consortium proposed a large development in Milton Keynes, including a 30,000-capacity football stadium, an Asda hypermarket, an IKEA store, a hotel, a conference centre and a retail park
. The decision to build such a ground was complicated by the fact that the highest ranked team in the town, Milton Keynes City
, was playing in the then eighth-tier
Spartan South Midlands League
, four divisions below The Football League. The developers could not justify building a stadium of such a size for a club of this small stature, though the system of promotion and relegation
used in English football means that consistent good performance can result in a side rising through the leagues over time – indeed, as Wimbledon did themselves during the 1970s and 1980s. However, the Milton Keynes Stadium Consortium resolved instead to "import" an established Football League club to use the ground. Wimbledon fans opposed to the move claimed that the stadium was a "Trojan Horse
" only included in the blueprint to bypass planning rules, and that although the consortium described the Asda superstore as an "enabling development to finance the building of the stadium", the opposite was in fact the case; they claimed that this was why it was so necessary for the consortium to import a team: without a professional club, the ground would not be built, and without the ground, the development could not go ahead. The local Milton Keynes authorities favoured the plan: council leader Norman Miles stated that a relocated club would be welcomed but also implied that its previous identity would be irrelevant, saying that "[i]t could be Southend
or Blackpool
I suppose". The consortium had already attempted to relocate Luton Town
to Milton Keynes earlier that year, but had been blocked by a Football League
decree that "all clubs must stay in their own area". After this, the consortium tried to negotiate moves with north London club Barnet
and Wimbledon's landlords Crystal Palace respectively, but failed to persuade either to take up the proposal.
The consortium's offer was initially turned down by Wimbledon, but Charles Koppel, the new chairman appointed by the Norwegian owners in January 2001, was in favour of the move. Koppel claimed that the club's owners were subsidising it to the tune of £6 million per year and that the relocation was necessary to prevent the team from going out of business. The Milton Keynes consortium, meanwhile, had turned its attention to west London club Queens Park Rangers
. Just as the consortium had always maintained that the Wimbledon name, colours and badge would remain even after any potential relocation, QPR were promised that the club name and blue-and-white hooped strip would be kept if the team moved; the fans were offered a place on the club's board for a supporters' representative. Despite being in financial administration, QPR turned down the offer made by the consortium at the end of the 2000–01 season, leading the consortium to once again contact Wimbledon in June 2001 with a "firmed up" proposal. With Koppel now in charge, the club was more receptive to the idea. As talks progressed, Winkelman began to register various internet domain name
s relating to "MK Dons", and approached the owner of Milton Keynes City, attempting to buy the club name. Although fans strongly opposed a move, Koppel announced in August 2001 that the club intended to relocate to the new town; the club made a formal application for the
Football League’s approval at the same time. Meanwhile, the local council claimed that Noades had agreed to sell the Selhurst Park ground to Wimbledon – something which Noades denied.
The proposed move to Milton Keynes was opposed in most quarters: a majority of Wimbledon fans "fiercely opposed" it, as well as both The Football Association
and The Football League. Although relocation of a Football League club across such a distance was unprecedented, similar moves had occurred within the Scottish Football League
during the 1990s: Glasgow
club Clyde
and Edinburgh
-based Meadowbank Thistle
had migrated to the new towns of Cumbernauld
and Livingston
respectively, with Meadowbank actually adopting the name of the town on moving (they dropped the suffix "Thistle"). The Football League told the consortium that any Milton Keynes club would have to earn League membership by "progress[ing] through the pyramid
" and unanimously rejected Wimbledon's application to move, remarking that "franchised football" would be "disastrous".
The decision was contested by Wimbledon, leading the Football Association to form an arbitration panel, made up of Association vice-chairman David Dein
(also vice-chairman of Arsenal
), York City
chairman Douglas Craig
and Charles Hollander QC
. Craig was a controversial choice for some because of his actions as York chief; he had sold his club's stadium, Bootham Crescent, to a holding company
he also owned for £165,000 in July 1999, and in December 2001 he had announced his intention to evict the team and sell the ground for £4.5 million. Before the arbitration panel heard Wimbledon's appeal in January 2002, Winkelman claimed that even if the move were turned down, "our door will be open to any club in trouble". The panel unanimously decided that the decision taken had "not been properly taken in the legal sense, and that the procedures had not been fair", reopening the possibility of Wimbledon moving. As a result of this verdict, the League board reconvened on 17 April 2002 to reconsider the proposal, and concluded that the matter should be considered by an independent commission appointed by The Football Association. The commission members chosen by the FA were solicitor Raj Parker, FA Council member Alan Turvey (also Chairman of the Isthmian League
) and Steve Stride
, the Operations Director at Aston Villa
. The commission ruled in favour of the move, by two votes to one – Turvey voted against – on 28 May 2002.
The Football Association made it clear that although the decision was final and binding, it strongly opposed the relocation; its Chief Executive, Adam Crozier
, publicly said that it was an "appalling decision". The Association itself revealed that it had submitted to the commission its opposition to the move. Many strongly disaffected Wimbledon F.C. fans regarded it as the "death of their club" and weeks later founded their own team, AFC Wimbledon
. The new club entered a groundsharing
arrangement with Kingstonian
, moving into the latter club's home ground of Kingsmeadow in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
, adjacent to the original side's home borough of Merton
. Meanwhile, Wimbledon F.C. became pejoratively nicknamed by some as "Franchise F.C." (FFC). AFC Wimbledon claimed that since forming, their average attendance was 3,700 and that the gates of Wimbledon F.C. had been affected as a result. This situation meant that during the 2002–03 season, Wimbledon F.C.'s last full term at Selhurst Park, attendances at Wimbledon F.C. matches fell below those at Kingsmeadow possibly due to the fact that a number of local fans were now following AFC Wimbledon instead. Wimbledon F.C.'s resultant lower income contributed to the club entering administration in June 2003. A month later, the largest football team in Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes City, went out of business due to a lack of investment.
Weeks before Wimbledon F.C.'s entry into administration, Luton Town
had been purchased by a consortium of "businessmen" from Hong Kong and the United States. The consortium was fronted by John Gurney, a man who in 1999 had been arrested and remanded on a charge of "conspiracy to import cocaine", charges he was subsequently cleared of. Gurney had floated the idea of buying Wimbledon F.C. and merging the club with Luton Town "effectively buying a back door to Division One". Gurney said that he would approach the Wimbledon F.C. administrators to find out the terms as "it does no harm to ask the question". Further ideas from Gurney included the building of a "70,000-capacity stadium" near Junction 10 on the M1
and the possible renaming of the club to London Luton "after the airport
". Neither idea however was followed up. After six weeks of Gurney ownership described by supporters' representative Yvonne Fletcher as "a complete nightmare, kind of Kafkaesque
", Luton entered administrative receivership themselves "as a protective measure", resulting in Gurney's departure and the abandoning of his plans.
The College of Arms
had informed Wimbledon F.C. in August 2002 that its continued use of the Wimbledon Borough
arms for its logo was "unlawful" in light of the relocation, so a new badge was created before the 2003–04 season. Featuring a stylised eagle's head – an element from the Wimbledon arms – and drawn in navy blue and yellow outline, the yellow formed a rendering of the letters "MK" (for Milton Keynes). Wimbledon F.C. started the season at Selhurst Park and played the first match in Milton Keynes on 27 September 2003 – a 2–2 draw with Burnley
at the National Hockey Stadium
, temporarily converted for football use pending construction of the new stadium. The club struggled both on and off the pitch throughout the season, spending its entirety in administration and eventually finishing bottom of the second-tier First Division. An article appeared in British journal Property Week
in May 2004, after Wimbledon F.C. had been relegated, stating that the construction of the new stadium would be cancelled were Wimbledon F.C. to go out of business; in response, Richard Foreman, a director of the consortium's development consultant, stated that the project would continue with "the total support of the council" were this to happen. On the subject of who would occupy the new stadium, Foreman added that the consortium would invite another club to move there, and would have "a year and a half" to do so. Winkelman's consortium brought the club out of administration in June 2004, and although it had originally stated that the name "Wimbledon F.C." would remain in place regardless of the move, changed the club's name, badge and colours soon after.
", a name made up of the team's new location and a common nickname of Wimbledon-based sports teams, "The Dons
". Winkelman's consortium claimed that the name was intended to "represent the past, present and future and place the club at the heart of its new community" as well as to "retain a link with its former identity". The blue and yellow colours that Wimbledon F.C. players had worn were replaced by an all-white strip, while the club badge became a rendering of the letters "MK", with the "K" positioned below the "M", rotated 90° anti-clockwise, and with the year "MMIV" (2004) superposed. AFC Wimbledon, meanwhile, founded in 2002 to attempt to continue the original club's identity, adopted a home kit of blue and yellow, emulating the uniform worn by Wimbledon F.C. In a similar vein, the emblem chosen by AFC Wimbledon was, like the Wimbledon F.C. badge, based on the coat of arms of the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon
, and the traditional local nickname, "The Dons", was established as the club's nickname.
in September 2003, the club continued to use the ground following its June 2004 rebranding. Work on the "Denbigh Stadium" had not yet even begun; despite its original proposed opening time of the 2004–05 season, ground was not broken on the intended 30,000-capacity stadium until February 2005. After the club set a new target of January 2007 in December 2005, February 2007 saw a revised proposal of a 22,000-seater ground ready in July of that year, with provision for expansion to 32,000. The first match at the ground, by now renamed "Stadium:mk" was played in July 2007.
tournament in July 2006.
Wimbledon F.C.
Wimbledon Football Club was an English professional association football club from Wimbledon, south-west London. Founded in 1889 as Wimbledon Old Central Football Club, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football before being elected to the Football...
was an English professional football club from Wimbledon
Wimbledon, London
Wimbledon is a district in the south west area of London, England, located south of Wandsworth, and east of Kingston upon Thames. It is situated within Greater London. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, and contains Wimbledon Common, one of the largest areas...
, south-west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Founded in 1889, the club spent most of its history in amateur and semi-professional non-League football
Non-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...
prior to a "fairytale" rise through the divisions following election to The Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
in 1977. This success resulted in the club looking to move from its home ground, Plough Lane
Plough Lane
Plough Lane was a football stadium in Wimbledon, south west London. It was the home ground of Wimbledon Football Club from September 1912 to May 1991, when the club moved their first team home matches to Selhurst Park as part of a groundshare agreement with Crystal Palace. Both clubs' reserve teams...
, and seeking an alternative base.
Relocation to Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
, a new town
New towns in the United Kingdom
Below is a list of some of the new towns in the United Kingdom created under the various New Town Acts of the 20th century. Some earlier towns were developed as Garden Cities or overspill estates early in the twentieth century. The New Towns proper were planned to disperse population following the...
56 miles (90 km) to the north of Wimbledon, was originally considered in the late 1970s, soon after the club's election to the Football League, but not followed up. Various abortive local options were explored during the 1980s, but the 1991 Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
, which recommended all-seater stadia for all top-flight clubs, led the team to temporarily groundshare
Groundshare
Groundshare is the principle of sharing a stadium between two local sport teams. This is usually done for the purpose of reducing the costs of either construction of two separate facilities and related maintenance. -Intersport Groundshares:...
with Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
at Selhurst Park
Selhurst Park
Selhurst Park is an English football stadium located in the London suburb of South Norwood in the Borough of Croydon. It is the current home ground of Crystal Palace Football Club. Its present capacity is 26,309.-History:...
whilst an alternative was sought.
Milton Keynes, because of its foundation and designation as a new town in 1967, represented a unique situation in English football in that there was no professional team representing it that had secured the loyalty of local supporters. Wimbledon were not the only team to be approached regarding a move there – a move by Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
was briefly mooted in 1973 and the subject was regularly broached with Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
, most notably in 1982. In the early 2000s, the Milton Keynes Stadium Consortium, led by Pete Winkelman
Pete Winkelman
Pete Winkelman is currently the chairman of football club Milton Keynes Dons, as well as managing director of the property development consortium Inter MK that was responsible for developing the Denbigh North district of Milton Keynes...
, proposed a Football League-standard stadium in Milton Keynes, partly funded by an attached retail development. The opportunity to take up this new ground was offered to Luton, Wimbledon, Barnet
Barnet F.C.
Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet....
, Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
. Despite an initial negative response from Wimbledon, the appointment in 2000 by its owners of a new chairman, Charles Koppel, led to more receptive talks.
The Wimbledon board announced its intention to move the club to Milton Keynes in August 2001; received permission in May 2002; and did so in September 2003. Soon after the relocation's confirmation in May 2002, supporters opposed to the move formed a new team, AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is a professional English football club that traces its origins to Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. Based at Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, the club are members of Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football....
. The relocated club renamed itself Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons F.C.
.Milton Keynes Dons Football Club is an English professional football club founded in 2004 and based since 2007 at Stadium mk, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire...
in June 2004 and, after three years at the National Hockey Stadium
National Hockey Stadium
The National Hockey Stadium was a sports stadium in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, with a nominal capacity of around 4,000 seats . It was used by England Hockey as their national stadium from 1995 to 2003 and as a professional football stadium from 2003 to 2007...
, moved to the new 22,000-seater Stadium:mk in July 2007.
The new town of Milton Keynes
Following the end of the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1945, the population of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
increased significantly, causing the construction of a number of new towns
New towns in the United Kingdom
Below is a list of some of the new towns in the United Kingdom created under the various New Town Acts of the 20th century. Some earlier towns were developed as Garden Cities or overspill estates early in the twentieth century. The New Towns proper were planned to disperse population following the...
across the south-east of England. Overspill
London overspill
London overspill is the term given to the communities created - largely consisting of publicly provided housing - as a result of the Government policy of moving residents out of Greater London, England into other towns around the South East, East Anglia and beyond.-Policy development:The policy...
housing for several London boroughs was constructed in Bletchley, in north Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, by London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
. With this not proving to be enough, a Ministry of Housing and Local Government (MoH&LG) study proposed "a new city" near Bletchley in 1964. Bletchley, which had been considered for designation in its own right, became instead only a part of the planned development: a further MoH&LG study in 1965 recommended that the existing towns of Stony Stratford
Stony Stratford
Stony Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes and is a civil parish with a town council within the Borough of Milton Keynes. It is in the north west corner of Milton Keynes, bordering Northamptonshire and separated from it by the River Great Ouse...
and Wolverton
Wolverton
Wolverton is part of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England.Wolverton may also refer to:Places in England:*Wolverton, Dorset*Wolverton, Kent*Wolverton, Hampshire*Wolverton, Shropshire*Wolverton, WarwickshirePlaces in the United States:...
should also be included. A target population of 250,000 was given for what was to be the biggest new town of all, built on an area previously home to about 40,000. "Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
" (named after the village of Milton Keynes
Middleton, Milton Keynes
Middleton is a district in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The district is centred on Milton Keynes Village, the village that gave its name to the 'New City' of Milton Keynes, which began to be developed during the late 1960s...
already present on the site) was purposely placed equidistant from London, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, and was designated as a new town on 23 January 1967.
All of the football clubs present within the boundaries of the new town were playing outside The Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
. The largest of these teams were United Counties League sides Bletchley Town
Milton Keynes City F.C.
Milton Keynes City Football Club are a defunct football club that was based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The name has been used by two English non-League football teams from the Milton Keynes area during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s....
and Wolverton Town & B.R.
Wolverton A.F.C.
Wolverton Association Football Club, often known simply as Wolverton, was an English football team representing the town of Wolverton . The club's motto was "In Omnia Paratus" . The club was wound up in 1992...
, South Midlands League
South Midlands League
The South Midlands League was an English football league covering Bedfordshire and some adjoining counties.The league was formed in 1922 as the Bedfordshire County League, changed its name to the Bedfordshire & District County League in 1924 before adopting the South Midlands League title in 1929...
outfit Stony Stratford Town
Stony Stratford Town F.C.
Stony Stratford Town F.C. is a football club based in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, England that joined the South Midlands League in 1947. For the 2011-12 season, the first team is a member of the Spartan South Midlands League Division One....
and local teams New Bradwell St Peter
New Bradwell St Peter F.C.
New Bradwell St Peter F.C. is a football club based in New Bradwell in Milton Keynes, England. The club was formed in 1902 and joined the South Midlands League in 1970. As of the 2011–12 season they are members of the Spartan South Midlands League Division One.-External links:...
and Newport Pagnell Wanderers
Newport Pagnell Town F.C.
Newport Pagnell Town F.C. is a football club based at Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire in England.-History:The Swans were founded in 1963 as Newport Pagnell Wanderers. In 1964 they joined the North Bucks & District Football League, winning the Division Three shield at their first attempt...
, who would join the South Midlands League in 1970 and 1972 respectively.
Previous Milton Keynes relocation proposals
In English football, the relocation of teams away from their traditional districts is extremely unusual because of nature of the relationship between clubs and their local fans: the local football club is regarded by most English football supporters as part of the local identity and social fabric rather than as a business that can be transplanted by its owners at will. As a result, any relocation plan would be strongly opposed by fans in the club's original area, and unlikely to succeed in most new locations due to the existence of established local clubs in most towns and cities that would already have secured the loyalty of local supporters. However, due to its recent establishment in 1967, Milton Keynes provided an exception to this rule; most people living there had been born and raised elsewhere, and no team representing Milton Keynes or any of its constituent towns had yet risen high enough in the football pyramidEnglish football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...
to secure their loyalty.
Charlton Athletic
The first Football League team to be linked with a move to the new town was Charlton AthleticCharlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
, in 1973. The club was in financial difficulties and had just been relegated to the third tier at the end of the 1971–72 campaign. Towards the end of the 1972–73 season, Charlton revealed plans for commercial extensions to their ground, The Valley: a community sports complex and a public market to be held on weekdays. Greenwich Council
London Borough of Greenwich
The London Borough of Greenwich is an Inner London borough in south-east London, England. Taking its name from the historic town of Greenwich, the present borough was formed in 1965 by the amalgamation of the former area of the Metropolitan Borough of Greenwich with part of the Metropolitan...
refused to licence the market and insisted that the complex be built on public space at a local park, leading the club to announce that it could potentially relocate to "a progressive Midlands borough". The club affirmed that it was not disaffected with the community or supporters and that if the club were to move it would be a matter of being "forced out" by the council; to this end Charlton encouraged supporters to protest loudly to the council in support of the plans, ostensibly to prevent the team from moving. Fans inundated the local media and club offices with strong opinion against any move, leading the council to eventually cave in over Charlton's ground extensions. No relocation occurred.
Wimbledon
Because of Wimbledon's "fairytale" rise from obscurity through the English football pyramidEnglish football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...
, the team quickly "outgrew" their Plough Lane
Plough Lane
Plough Lane was a football stadium in Wimbledon, south west London. It was the home ground of Wimbledon Football Club from September 1912 to May 1991, when the club moved their first team home matches to Selhurst Park as part of a groundshare agreement with Crystal Palace. Both clubs' reserve teams...
ground after their election to The Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
in 1977. Ron Noades
Ron Noades
Ron Noades is an English businessman who has a strong connection with investments in football clubs. In his time, he has been chairman of Southall, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and Brentford between 1981 and 1998.-Crystal Palace:...
, club chairman at the time, claimed in 2003 to have realised the limitations of the ground as early as 1979; specifically, he cited its location as the reason for Wimbledon's continuing low gates at that time.
Noades's interest was attracted by the site designated by the local Milton Keynes authority for a stadium next to the town's still-under-construction Central railway station
Milton Keynes Central railway station
Milton Keynes Central railway station serves Central Milton Keynes and the surrounding area of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The station is located on the West Coast Main Line between the stations of Bletchley and Wolverton, both of which are also within Milton Keynes. The station is served by...
. Intending to merge Wimbledon with a local Milton Keynes club in order to take up the site, Noades bought non-League
Non-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...
club Milton Keynes City
Milton Keynes City F.C.
Milton Keynes City Football Club are a defunct football club that was based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The name has been used by two English non-League football teams from the Milton Keynes area during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s....
for £1, capitalising on the smaller club's financial problems. After Noades and three other Wimbledon directors – Jimmy Rose, Bernie Coleman and Sam Hammam
Sam Hammam
Samir "Sam" Hammam is a Lebanese business man, most notable for his high profile involvement in British football clubs.-Career:...
– were voted onto MK City's board "in an advisory capacity", Noades emphasised that it was a separate investment by the four directors in a personal capacity and not a move by the Wimbledon club itself. However, he also claimed that Wimbledon had "no future" at Plough Lane while Milton Keynes held stronger long-term promise because it could, he claimed, "support a multi-purpose stadium". No move (for Wimbledon) occurred and MK City was sold on after Noades changed his mind and concluded that the side would not draw larger attendances playing in Milton Keynes than it already did in Wimbledon. Noades, who had paid £2,782 for then non-League Wimbledon in 1976, charged Hammam a figure between £40,000 and £100,000 for the club in 1981 before becoming chairman of nearby Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
during the same year.
Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
, based in Milton Keynes's neighbouring town of Luton
Luton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
, were also seeking a new site at this time. As early as 1960, then-First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
Luton's attendances had been deemed far too low for the top flight by Charles Buchan’s Football Monthly, which also considered their ground at Kenilworth Road
Kenilworth Road
Kenilworth Road Stadium is a football stadium in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been home to Luton Town Football Club since 1905, when financial complications forced the club to leave its previous location at Dunstable Road...
, in the middle of town, to be hard to get to. At this time the club was already planning a 50,000-capacity ground near Dunstable
Dunstable
Dunstable is a market town and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, 30 miles north of London. These geographical features form several steep chalk escarpments most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north.-Etymology:In...
, to the north-west of Luton, but no new ground materialised. Luton were relegated in 1960 and, apart from the 1974–75 season, remained outside of the top division until 1982–83. With the team still based at Kenilworth Road, Luton's owners were tempted by the prospect of moving to Milton Keynes; an article in the local paper "dreamed" of "MK Hatters" playing home matches at a "super-stadium" there. The distance from Milton Keynes to Luton is far shorter than that to Wimbledon – 20 miles (32 km) compared to 56 miles (90 km) – but "vehement" resistance from Luton fans prevented the move from happening.
Wimbledon leave Plough Lane
After reaching the First Division for the 1986–87 season, Wimbledon's success as a club in the top flight of English football was founded on unorthodox financial management and judicious dealings in the transfer market. The team was granted planning permission to build a 20,000-capacity all-seater ground in its home borough of MertonLondon Borough of Merton
The London Borough of Merton is a borough in southwest London, England.The borough was formed under the London Government Act in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District, all formerly within Surrey...
in 1988, but the site was instead made into a car park by a newly-elected Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
council in 1990. Wimbledon's desire to move was made a necessity a year later, when the Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
, which ordered the extensive redevelopment of football grounds, was released. When Hammam had purchased the club from Ron Noades, Wimbledon had also owned its ground at Plough Lane, though a pre-emption clause had existed specifying that the ground was only to be used for "sports, leisure or recreational purposes" – if Wimbledon Football Club were ever to cease to exist, then Merton Council would be able to buy Plough Lane back for £8,000. This clause reduced the possibility of the club losing its home stadium, but it was unpopular with a succession of Wimbledon owners: Noades stated that the club had no future there unless the clause were "sorted out", in his words, and Hammam argued that it limited his ability to borrow money needed to redevelop the ground. Seeking to increase the value of Plough Lane, Hammam entered into negotiations with the council for its removal in 1990; the eventual agreed price for the revoking of the clause was a sum between £300,000 and £800,000. At least one Wimbledon club director resigned his position in protest. Even with the clause removed, the team could not afford to redevelop Plough Lane when required to do so the following year.
Selhurst Park
Selhurst Park is an English football stadium located in the London suburb of South Norwood in the Borough of Croydon. It is the current home ground of Crystal Palace Football Club. Its present capacity is 26,309.-History:...
ground belonging to Noades's Crystal Palace. This decision was unpopular among Wimbledon fans, and the club's "already modest" support resultantly took a hit the club could ill-afford. Concurrently with this move, the council's recommended proposal of a relocation to a ground in nearby Beddington
Beddington
Beddington is a settlement between the London Boroughs of Sutton and Croydon. The BedZED low energy housing scheme is located here. In Beddington was a static inverter plant of HVDC Kingsnorth....
fell through. With the inflation in costs brought on by the foundation of the FA Premier League in 1992, the club soon began to lose money heavily; Hammam attempted to find a new home for the club, and in frustration at a perceived lack of support from the local council, sought to relocate within south London, looking at "seven boroughs" including Tolworth
Tolworth
Tolworth is a mostly residential area of outer South London in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, located south west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include: New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Chessington, Ewell and Worcester Park....
and Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
. His anger at the council's attitude was such that he declared that in the event of such a move he would change the club's name entirely. In 2000, Hammam claimed that he looked at every possible site in Merton, but according to the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
he turned down the opportunity to redevelop Wimbledon Stadium
Wimbledon Stadium
Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track located in Wimbledon in southwest London, England. It also hosts speedway, stock car and other racing events....
in 1992. Two years after this, Merton Council, attempting to retain the Plough Lane site for public use, refused to sanction Hammam's proposed sale of the ground for a supermarket redevelopment. Hammam reacted with a "vow never to return to the ground".
Hammam gradually withdraws
While remaining at the club in an advisory role, Hammam sold the club to two Norwegian businessmen, Kjell Inge RøkkeKjell Inge Røkke
Kjell Inge Røkke is a Norwegian businessman and among the richest people in Norway, controlling the Norwegian company Aker Solutions...
and Bjørn Rune Gjelsten
Bjørn Rune Gjelsten
Bjørn Rune Gjelsten is a Norwegian businessman and Offshore powerboat racing World Champion. He was also a joint owner of Wimbledon Football Club and involved in the controversial relocation of the team from London to Milton Keynes.Gjelsten made his powerboat racing debut in 1994 in the U.S.,...
, in 1997. With political control of Merton Council having changed, he then secured the £8 million sale of the Plough Lane site to Safeway
Safeway (UK)
Safeway was a chain of supermarkets and convenience stores in the United Kingdom. It started as a subsidiary of the American Safeway Inc., before being sold off in 1987....
supermarkets in 1998. Hammam unsuccessfully attempted to gain permission to redevelop a former gas works in Merton during the same year, and soon after once again launched abortive negotiations over a site in Beddington. Following this, Hammam started to look further and further afield, and despite the anger from a majority of supporters, considered Basingstoke
Basingstoke
Basingstoke is a town in northeast Hampshire, in south central England. It lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon. It is southwest of London, northeast of Southampton, southwest of Reading and northeast of the county town, Winchester. In 2008 it had an estimated population of...
, "Gatwick" (near Crawley
Crawley
Crawley is a town and local government district with Borough status in West Sussex, England. It is south of Charing Cross, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town of Chichester, covers an area of and had a population of 99,744 at the time of the 2001 Census.The area has...
), Dublin, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
and (non-specifically) "Scotland" as potential new locations for the club. Wimbledon even received Premier League approval for Hammam's preferred option, Dublin, before the idea was vetoed by the Football Association of Ireland
Football Association of Ireland
The Football Association of Ireland is the governing body for the sport of association football in the Republic of Ireland. It should not to be confused with the Irish Football Association , which is the organising body for the sport in Northern Ireland.For the full history, statistics and records...
. During this time, Wimbledon were also approached by seven other clubs, all from outside of London, each offering to share their home ground. After the FAI veto of the move to Dublin, Hammam offered to buy Selhurst Park from Noades, still the owner of the ground despite his sale of Crystal Palace in 1998; Hammam offered £12 million in 1999, but this plan came to nothing. Hammam subsequently sold his shares in Wimbledon in February 2000, and became the owner of Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...
in September of that year.
Milton Keynes proposed again
The club was approached by the Milton Keynes Stadium Consortium, led by Pete WinkelmanPete Winkelman
Pete Winkelman is currently the chairman of football club Milton Keynes Dons, as well as managing director of the property development consortium Inter MK that was responsible for developing the Denbigh North district of Milton Keynes...
and supported by Asda
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
(a subsidiary of Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
) and IKEA
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
, in late 2000. This consortium proposed a large development in Milton Keynes, including a 30,000-capacity football stadium, an Asda hypermarket, an IKEA store, a hotel, a conference centre and a retail park
Retail park
In the United Kingdom, a retail park is a grouping of many retail warehouses and superstores with associated car parking. Its North American equivalent is a power centre. Retail parks are found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in highly accessible locations and are aimed at households...
. The decision to build such a ground was complicated by the fact that the highest ranked team in the town, Milton Keynes City
Milton Keynes City F.C.
Milton Keynes City Football Club are a defunct football club that was based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The name has been used by two English non-League football teams from the Milton Keynes area during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s....
, was playing in the then eighth-tier
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...
Spartan South Midlands League
Spartan South Midlands Football League
The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwestern Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire...
, four divisions below The Football League. The developers could not justify building a stadium of such a size for a club of this small stature, though the system of promotion and relegation
Promotion and relegation
In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...
used in English football means that consistent good performance can result in a side rising through the leagues over time – indeed, as Wimbledon did themselves during the 1970s and 1980s. However, the Milton Keynes Stadium Consortium resolved instead to "import" an established Football League club to use the ground. Wimbledon fans opposed to the move claimed that the stadium was a "Trojan Horse
Trojan Horse
The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. In the canonical version, after a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside...
" only included in the blueprint to bypass planning rules, and that although the consortium described the Asda superstore as an "enabling development to finance the building of the stadium", the opposite was in fact the case; they claimed that this was why it was so necessary for the consortium to import a team: without a professional club, the ground would not be built, and without the ground, the development could not go ahead. The local Milton Keynes authorities favoured the plan: council leader Norman Miles stated that a relocated club would be welcomed but also implied that its previous identity would be irrelevant, saying that "[i]t could be Southend
Southend United F.C.
Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...
or Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
I suppose". The consortium had already attempted to relocate Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
to Milton Keynes earlier that year, but had been blocked by a Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
decree that "all clubs must stay in their own area". After this, the consortium tried to negotiate moves with north London club Barnet
Barnet F.C.
Barnet Football Club is an English football team from High Barnet, London, England, currently playing in Football League Two. The ground is in the town of Barnet within the London Borough of Barnet....
and Wimbledon's landlords Crystal Palace respectively, but failed to persuade either to take up the proposal.
The consortium's offer was initially turned down by Wimbledon, but Charles Koppel, the new chairman appointed by the Norwegian owners in January 2001, was in favour of the move. Koppel claimed that the club's owners were subsidising it to the tune of £6 million per year and that the relocation was necessary to prevent the team from going out of business. The Milton Keynes consortium, meanwhile, had turned its attention to west London club Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
. Just as the consortium had always maintained that the Wimbledon name, colours and badge would remain even after any potential relocation, QPR were promised that the club name and blue-and-white hooped strip would be kept if the team moved; the fans were offered a place on the club's board for a supporters' representative. Despite being in financial administration, QPR turned down the offer made by the consortium at the end of the 2000–01 season, leading the consortium to once again contact Wimbledon in June 2001 with a "firmed up" proposal. With Koppel now in charge, the club was more receptive to the idea. As talks progressed, Winkelman began to register various internet domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
s relating to "MK Dons", and approached the owner of Milton Keynes City, attempting to buy the club name. Although fans strongly opposed a move, Koppel announced in August 2001 that the club intended to relocate to the new town; the club made a formal application for the
Football League’s approval at the same time. Meanwhile, the local council claimed that Noades had agreed to sell the Selhurst Park ground to Wimbledon – something which Noades denied.
The proposed move to Milton Keynes was opposed in most quarters: a majority of Wimbledon fans "fiercely opposed" it, as well as both The Football Association
The Football Association
The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...
and The Football League. Although relocation of a Football League club across such a distance was unprecedented, similar moves had occurred within the Scottish Football League
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...
during the 1990s: Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
club Clyde
Clyde F.C.
Clyde Football Club are a Scottish professional football team currently playing in the Third Division of the Scottish Football League. Although based for the last fifteen years in the new town of Cumbernauld, they are traditionally associated with an area that covers Rutherglen in South...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
-based Meadowbank Thistle
Livingston F.C.
Livingston Football Club is a Scottish association football club based in Livingston, West Lothian. The club currently plays in the Scottish Football League First Division.The club was founded in 1943 as Ferranti Thistle, a works team...
had migrated to the new towns of Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld is a Scottish new town in North Lanarkshire. It was created in 1956 as a population overspill for Glasgow City. It is the eighth most populous settlement in Scotland and the largest in North Lanarkshire...
and Livingston
Livingston, Scotland
Livingston is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is the fourth post-WWII new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is about 15 miles west of Edinburgh and 30 miles east of Glasgow, and is bordered by the towns of Broxburn to the northeast and Bathgate to the northwest.Livingston...
respectively, with Meadowbank actually adopting the name of the town on moving (they dropped the suffix "Thistle"). The Football League told the consortium that any Milton Keynes club would have to earn League membership by "progress[ing] through the pyramid
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...
" and unanimously rejected Wimbledon's application to move, remarking that "franchised football" would be "disastrous".
The decision was contested by Wimbledon, leading the Football Association to form an arbitration panel, made up of Association vice-chairman David Dein
David Dein
David Barry Dein is the former vice-chairman of Arsenal Football Club and former vice-chairman of the Football Association. He was also the President of the G-14 group of European football clubs between October 2006 and May 2007 and has sat on various committees within FIFA and UEFA including...
(also vice-chairman of Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
), York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...
chairman Douglas Craig
Douglas Craig
Douglas Malcolm Craig OBE, JP, BSC, FICE, FI, MUN E, FCI ARB, M CONS E is former chairman of York City. Craig is an engineer and a former local Tory councillor.-Early years:...
and Charles Hollander QC
Queen's Counsel
Queen's Counsel , known as King's Counsel during the reign of a male sovereign, are lawyers appointed by letters patent to be one of Her [or His] Majesty's Counsel learned in the law...
. Craig was a controversial choice for some because of his actions as York chief; he had sold his club's stadium, Bootham Crescent, to a holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
he also owned for £165,000 in July 1999, and in December 2001 he had announced his intention to evict the team and sell the ground for £4.5 million. Before the arbitration panel heard Wimbledon's appeal in January 2002, Winkelman claimed that even if the move were turned down, "our door will be open to any club in trouble". The panel unanimously decided that the decision taken had "not been properly taken in the legal sense, and that the procedures had not been fair", reopening the possibility of Wimbledon moving. As a result of this verdict, the League board reconvened on 17 April 2002 to reconsider the proposal, and concluded that the matter should be considered by an independent commission appointed by The Football Association. The commission members chosen by the FA were solicitor Raj Parker, FA Council member Alan Turvey (also Chairman of the Isthmian League
Isthmian League
The Isthmian League is a regional football league covering London and South East England featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. It is sponsored by Ryman, and therefore officially known as the Ryman League. It was founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area...
) and Steve Stride
Steve Stride
Steven M. "Steve" Stride is the former Operations Director of Aston Villa Football Club.Stride joined the office staff at Aston Villa in 1972 and seven years later was appointed football secretary, a post he held for 16 years...
, the Operations Director at Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
. The commission ruled in favour of the move, by two votes to one – Turvey voted against – on 28 May 2002.
Foundation of AFC Wimbledon and relocation of Wimbledon F.C.
- From this point Wimbledon F.C. is named in full in order to disambiguate from AFC Wimbledon.
The Football Association made it clear that although the decision was final and binding, it strongly opposed the relocation; its Chief Executive, Adam Crozier
Adam Crozier
Adam Crozier is a Scottish businessman, and the current chief executive officer of media company ITV plc, operator of the television channel ITV in England and Wales...
, publicly said that it was an "appalling decision". The Association itself revealed that it had submitted to the commission its opposition to the move. Many strongly disaffected Wimbledon F.C. fans regarded it as the "death of their club" and weeks later founded their own team, AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is a professional English football club that traces its origins to Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. Based at Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, the club are members of Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football....
. The new club entered a groundsharing
Groundshare
Groundshare is the principle of sharing a stadium between two local sport teams. This is usually done for the purpose of reducing the costs of either construction of two separate facilities and related maintenance. -Intersport Groundshares:...
arrangement with Kingstonian
Kingstonian F.C.
Kingstonian Football Club are an English, semi-professional football club that are playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division for the 2011–12 season. The club has played at Kingsmeadow in Kingston upon Thames since 1989, after leaving their traditional Richmond Road ground...
, moving into the latter club's home ground of Kingsmeadow in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a borough in southwest London, England. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the three Royal Boroughs in England, the others are Kensington and Chelsea, also in London,...
, adjacent to the original side's home borough of Merton
London Borough of Merton
The London Borough of Merton is a borough in southwest London, England.The borough was formed under the London Government Act in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton and Morden Urban District, all formerly within Surrey...
. Meanwhile, Wimbledon F.C. became pejoratively nicknamed by some as "Franchise F.C." (FFC). AFC Wimbledon claimed that since forming, their average attendance was 3,700 and that the gates of Wimbledon F.C. had been affected as a result. This situation meant that during the 2002–03 season, Wimbledon F.C.'s last full term at Selhurst Park, attendances at Wimbledon F.C. matches fell below those at Kingsmeadow possibly due to the fact that a number of local fans were now following AFC Wimbledon instead. Wimbledon F.C.'s resultant lower income contributed to the club entering administration in June 2003. A month later, the largest football team in Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes City, went out of business due to a lack of investment.
Weeks before Wimbledon F.C.'s entry into administration, Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
had been purchased by a consortium of "businessmen" from Hong Kong and the United States. The consortium was fronted by John Gurney, a man who in 1999 had been arrested and remanded on a charge of "conspiracy to import cocaine", charges he was subsequently cleared of. Gurney had floated the idea of buying Wimbledon F.C. and merging the club with Luton Town "effectively buying a back door to Division One". Gurney said that he would approach the Wimbledon F.C. administrators to find out the terms as "it does no harm to ask the question". Further ideas from Gurney included the building of a "70,000-capacity stadium" near Junction 10 on the M1
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
and the possible renaming of the club to London Luton "after the airport
London Luton Airport
London Luton Airport is an international airport located east of the town centre in the Borough of Luton in Bedfordshire, England and is north of Central London. The airport is from Junction 10a of the M1 motorway...
". Neither idea however was followed up. After six weeks of Gurney ownership described by supporters' representative Yvonne Fletcher as "a complete nightmare, kind of Kafkaesque
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
", Luton entered administrative receivership themselves "as a protective measure", resulting in Gurney's departure and the abandoning of his plans.
The College of Arms
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
had informed Wimbledon F.C. in August 2002 that its continued use of the Wimbledon Borough
Municipal Borough of Wimbledon
Wimbledon was a local government district in north-east Surrey from 1866 to 1965 covering the town of Wimbledon and its surrounding area. It was part of the London postal district and Metropolitan Police District....
arms for its logo was "unlawful" in light of the relocation, so a new badge was created before the 2003–04 season. Featuring a stylised eagle's head – an element from the Wimbledon arms – and drawn in navy blue and yellow outline, the yellow formed a rendering of the letters "MK" (for Milton Keynes). Wimbledon F.C. started the season at Selhurst Park and played the first match in Milton Keynes on 27 September 2003 – a 2–2 draw with Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
at the National Hockey Stadium
National Hockey Stadium
The National Hockey Stadium was a sports stadium in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, with a nominal capacity of around 4,000 seats . It was used by England Hockey as their national stadium from 1995 to 2003 and as a professional football stadium from 2003 to 2007...
, temporarily converted for football use pending construction of the new stadium. The club struggled both on and off the pitch throughout the season, spending its entirety in administration and eventually finishing bottom of the second-tier First Division. An article appeared in British journal Property Week
Property Week
Property Week is a UK business-to-business magazine which reports on the worldwide commercial and residential property market.It is the Business Magazine of the Year 2007....
in May 2004, after Wimbledon F.C. had been relegated, stating that the construction of the new stadium would be cancelled were Wimbledon F.C. to go out of business; in response, Richard Foreman, a director of the consortium's development consultant, stated that the project would continue with "the total support of the council" were this to happen. On the subject of who would occupy the new stadium, Foreman added that the consortium would invite another club to move there, and would have "a year and a half" to do so. Winkelman's consortium brought the club out of administration in June 2004, and although it had originally stated that the name "Wimbledon F.C." would remain in place regardless of the move, changed the club's name, badge and colours soon after.
Aftermath
Identity
The new name of the club was "Milton Keynes Dons Football ClubMilton Keynes Dons F.C.
.Milton Keynes Dons Football Club is an English professional football club founded in 2004 and based since 2007 at Stadium mk, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire...
", a name made up of the team's new location and a common nickname of Wimbledon-based sports teams, "The Dons
Dons
Dons or The Dons may refer to:In association football:* Wimbledon F.C., a former English professional football club from London which relocated to Milton Keynes in 2003, and the two clubs founded during the surrounding controversy:...
". Winkelman's consortium claimed that the name was intended to "represent the past, present and future and place the club at the heart of its new community" as well as to "retain a link with its former identity". The blue and yellow colours that Wimbledon F.C. players had worn were replaced by an all-white strip, while the club badge became a rendering of the letters "MK", with the "K" positioned below the "M", rotated 90° anti-clockwise, and with the year "MMIV" (2004) superposed. AFC Wimbledon, meanwhile, founded in 2002 to attempt to continue the original club's identity, adopted a home kit of blue and yellow, emulating the uniform worn by Wimbledon F.C. In a similar vein, the emblem chosen by AFC Wimbledon was, like the Wimbledon F.C. badge, based on the coat of arms of the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon
Municipal Borough of Wimbledon
Wimbledon was a local government district in north-east Surrey from 1866 to 1965 covering the town of Wimbledon and its surrounding area. It was part of the London postal district and Metropolitan Police District....
, and the traditional local nickname, "The Dons", was established as the club's nickname.
The new stadium
After first playing at the National Hockey StadiumNational Hockey Stadium
The National Hockey Stadium was a sports stadium in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom, with a nominal capacity of around 4,000 seats . It was used by England Hockey as their national stadium from 1995 to 2003 and as a professional football stadium from 2003 to 2007...
in September 2003, the club continued to use the ground following its June 2004 rebranding. Work on the "Denbigh Stadium" had not yet even begun; despite its original proposed opening time of the 2004–05 season, ground was not broken on the intended 30,000-capacity stadium until February 2005. After the club set a new target of January 2007 in December 2005, February 2007 saw a revised proposal of a 22,000-seater ground ready in July of that year, with provision for expansion to 32,000. The first match at the ground, by now renamed "Stadium:mk" was played in July 2007.
History and honours
The location of the history and legacy of Wimbledon F.C., as well as the honours won by the club, remained open to debate for five years after the relocation's confirmation on 28 May 2002. In the view of AFC Wimbledon and its supporters, "[t]he identity of a football club is implicitly bound up in its community", while on the other hand, Pete Winkelman claimed in November 2004 that "we're the real child of Wimbledon". By now chairman of Milton Keynes Dons, Winkelman said during the same interview that "both the MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon share the same heritage", but also that the founders of AFC Wimbledon had "left their team before their team left them". Winkelman went on to say that he would retain the trophies and history of Wimbledon F.C. in Milton Keynes, because AFC Wimbledon had "abdicated their right to it when they all walked away." Despite Winkelman's claims, the history and honours eventually found their way back to Merton in August 2007, a year after extensive negotiations had been completed between the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association (WISA), Milton Keynes Dons F.C., the Milton Keynes Dons Supporters Association and the Football Supporters Federation. Milton Keynes Dons announced at the same time that they considered themselves to be a new club, formed in 2004, and renounced all claims to a club history before this point. As a result of these developments, the WISA revoked its call for supporters to boycott Milton Keynes Dons matches played in Milton Keynes and removed its objection to Milton Keynes Dons fans joining the Football Supporters Federation. The Wimbledon F.C. trophies and memorabilia were subsequently put on public display at Morden Library in Merton in April 2008.Players and staff
The Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association (WISA), by now affiliated to AFC Wimbledon, formed the Wimbledon Old Players Association (WOPA) in September 2005 "as part of its campaign to reclaim the history of Wimbledon Football Club for AFC Wimbledon and/or the community of Wimbledon". Membership was opened to any former Wimbledon F.C. or AFC Wimbledon player or manager; there were sixty founder members. The AFC Wimbledon-backed WOPA team competed as Wimbledon in the London MastersMasters Football
Masters football is a 6 a-side indoor football competition in the United Kingdom, where players over the age of 35 are chosen by the Masters Football Selection Committee to represent a senior club which they played for. Regional heats are held, and the winners of each go forward to a national...
tournament in July 2006.