Home > Milton Keynes Dons F.C.

Milton Keynes Dons F.C. is a football club that will play the 2004-05 season in the English Football League One, having just been relegated from the First Division. Known until 21 June 2004 as Wimbledon F.C., their new name reflects their controversial move to the city of Milton Keynes. Their traditional home is Wimbledon , south London, but since 2003 they have been based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

1 History

Wimbledon Old Centrals were formed in 1889, and changed their name to Wimbledon in 1905. The club played on Wimbledon Common until 19121912 is a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar) Events January 1 Establishment of Republic of China. January 6 New Mexico is admitted as the 47th U. January 17 British polar explorer Robert Falcon Scott and a team of four begin the, when they moved to Plough Lane , their home for the next 75 years. They became one of the best known amateur clubs, winning the Isthmian LeagueThe Isthmian League is a regional football league covering London and South East England. It is more commonly known by the name of its official title sponsor as the Ryman League and before that as the Diadora League ICIS League and Vauxhall-Opel League''. title eight times, and finally lifting the F.A. Amateur Cup in 1963.

The club turned professional the following year, entering the Southern League, and were elected to the Football League in 1977For the album by Ash, see 1977 (album). Events January 1 First woman Episcopal priest ordained January 6 EMI sacks the Sex Pistols January 18 Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious " legionnaire's disease" Januar. They were promoted or relegated every season from 1979 to 1984, reaching the top level in 1986. Known as "The Crazy Gang" because of the eccentric behaviour of their players and fans, their greatest moment came in 1988 when they won the FA Cup, beating Liverpool 1-0.

2 Recent seasons

Just days after winning the F.A Cup, the directors of Wimbledon football club announced plans to relocate to a new all-seater stadium in its home borough of Merton. But nothing came of these plans, and at the end of the 1990-91 season Wimbledon decided that its cramped Plough Lane ground was beyond redevelopment and it began to share Selhurst Park with Crystal Palace.

Bobby Gould, manager of the Wimbledon F.A Cup winners, remained in charge until the summer of 1990 when he was replaced by Ray Harford, who in 1988 had guided Luton Town to victory in the League Cup. In 1990-91, Wimbledon finished an impressive seventh in the First Division and with the ban on English clubs in European competition now lifted, Wimbledon fans hoped that Harford could guide the club to a European place for the first time ever - Wimbledon could not compete in the 1988-89 European Cup Winners Cup because of the ban on English teams following the Heysel tragedy of 1985.

Harford resigned in the autumn of 1991 to be replaced by Peter Withe, who remained in charge until the end of the season. Wimbledon finished high enough in 1991-92 to become members of the new Premier League, and their manager from the start of 1992-93 onwards would be Joe Kinnear. The first few seasons under Joe Kinnear suggested that Wimbledon could challenge for success once again.

The club's best seasons in the new Premier League were 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1996-97, when Kinnear guided the club to respective sixth, ninth and eighth place finishes. There were some quality players in the side like Robbie Earle, Dean Holdsworth, Warren Barton and Ben Thatcher. Wimbledon came close to domestic trophy success in 1996-97, when they reached the semi finals of the F.A Cup and League Cup.

At the end of the 1998-99 season, Joe Kinnear handed in his resignation after seven years as Wimbledon manager. In the previous two seasons Wimbledon had finished just above the Premiership relegation zone, and the recent club record £7.5million signing of West Ham United striker John Hartson had done little to address matters. Wimbledon were taken over by a Norweigan consortium who appointed Egil Olsen as manager. Olsen had taken the Norwegian national team to the World Cup tournaments of 1994 and 1998, and his new employers were hopeful that he could be a success at Wimbledon. But infact the transition proved to be the beginning of the end for the club.

On the last day of 1999-2000 (the 12th anniversary of their F.A Cup victory), Wimbledon lost to Southampton and their nearest rivals Bradford achieved a surprise win over Liverpool. Wimbledon were finally relegated from the top division of English football after a 14-year membership. Olsen had resigned two games earlier to be replaced by coach Terry Burton.

Terry Burton remained manager of Wimbledon for two seasons in Division One, he was sacked at the end of 2001-2002 after the club had narrowly missed out on the promotion playoffs two seasons in a row. Goalkeeper coach Stuart Murdoch took over, and it was just after this transition that the club was given permission by an independent panel to relocate to Milton Keynes. It was the first time that an English league club had been allowed to relocate outside its geographical area, and club chairman Charles Koppel became one of the most hated men in football for making the decision which many people saw as 'franchising'.

Despite being given permission to relocate to Milton Keynes, Wimbledon were still playing at Selhurst Park and their plans for a new stadium in the Denbigh area of the Buckinghamshire new town were yet to be approved. The club's average attendance for 2002-03 was less than 3,000, the third lowest of all the 92 league clubs. But Stuart Murdoch's team was still able to secure a respectable 10th place finish in Division One and the strike partnership of Neil Shipperley and David Connolly managed a total of almost 50 goals between them.

In September 2003, Wimbledon moved into a temporary new home - the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes. The club had gone into financial administration with debts of more than £20million, but the club's temporary stadium had been developed after businessman Peter Winkleman made funds available. Six months later, Winklemann took the club over and saved it from liquidation, but it was too late to rescue Wimbledon's season. They were now firmly rooted to the bottom of Division One and their only hope of survival was winning effectively all of their remaining games and hoping that their rivals lost all of theirs. Wimbledon ended the season bottom of Division One with 33 league defeats - only Doncaster Rovers, with 34 defeats in the 1997-98 Division Three campaign, have ever lost more games in a single season.

In the summer of 2004, Wimbledon Football Club changed its name to Milton Keynes Dons and in the 2004-05 season the club is playing in League One of the Coca-Cola Football League (previously Division Two). Its future does not look bright as attendances are still low, financial resources are tight and the club is near the foot of the division, which ultimately resulted in Murdoch's dismissal in November. Interestingly, the new club formed in South West London by the fans of Wimbledon who opposed the move to Milton Keynes, i.e. AFC Wimbledon can now get similar crowds to the MK Dons and seem likely to be on the rise through the non league divisions. The prospect now seems possible that in future years the two clubs may well be in the same division and playing against each other. At this point, if not before, the ownership of the history of Wimbledon FC may well become a major legal battle.