Why I won't be going to Milton Keynes

By Albatross
September 13 2004

Hartlepool United's next away league game is against the Milton Keynes Dons - or, for those that feel strongly about what has happened to the former Wimbledon, "Franchise FC". I won't be going to the National Hockey Stadium; here are my reasons why.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was a team called Wimbledon FC. In existence for well over 100 years, they had risen from Non-League to claim possibly the most famous domestic trophy in the world: the FA Cup. They did it by hard work, effort, team spirit, loyal support, and if their tactics weren't always pretty to watch - well, even after winning the Cup they were still a "small team" as far as most were concerned. They gave hope to teams all over the country, throughout the pyramid, that the dream could become reality - that major trophies and top level football were not beyond any club with sufficient luck, willpower, and passion.

That, as much as anything, is why I will not be going to see Hartlepool play at the National Hockey Stadium on the 25th September. Pop Promoter Pete Winkelman's desire to get a League Club to move to Milton Keynes - whatever the reason - has shown that dreams can be shattered; should the newly-renamed "MK Dons" succeed it will be proof that cash is king and there's no room left for sentiment in football.

The story of how Wimbledon FC became MK Dons is one that I don't propose to go into in too much depth here. There are plenty of websites that can give you the Wimbledon Fans story - head for The Big Tissue for starters. In short there's a sorry tale of some people coining it, misinformation, complete lack of respect for the fans (at one point the then Chairman, addressing a campaign group against a move back to Plough Lane, said "Football Fans are not the kind of people you want on your doorstep"), and attempts by Winkelman's "Inter MK" consortium to persuade several teams to move to Milton Keynes before the owners of Wimbledon FC took the bait. The case for the other side is much less well represented, and is often characterised by repetition of certain "facts" that are openly questioned by many, and a wheedling insistence that the club is there now and so people should move on. A recent interview with Pete Winkelman in 442 Magazine demonstrates the level of, let's be kind, misunderstanding - he claims at one point that the Wimbledon fans gave up on their club despite plenty of evidence to the contrary.

The thing that should make this of concern to those of us outside South-West London is that if the Milton Keynes experiment succeeds, then it will be the precedent that could leave fans of any smallish club with debts feeling under threat. Much of the rhetoric used to persuade the FA/FL to allow the move included the statement that Milton Keynes was the largest conurbation in Europe without a professional football club; that the club needed this support to survive. By that justification, why should a town like Rochdale have a club when there are many people in Kent with only Gillingham to follow? Brighton are in desperate need of a new stadium - so why not move them to another town where one can be provided? This American-style Franchising goes against the traditions of the game in this country; if it succeeds, then who will be next? Us? For all that some people talk about Rushden and Diamonds as a bit of a "plastic" club, at least they earned their place in the Football League on the pitch; yet it seems that getting behind a local Non-League side such as Milton Keynes City (now defunct due to lack of interest) and helping them surge up the Pyramid was out of the question for those behind the capture of the Dons: only the instant gratification of a League place would do.

The reaction of the people of Milton Keynes to the cuckoo that's been placed into their nest has hardly been the enthusiastic "Football Frenzy waiting to happen" that was promised; attendances at "home" this season are averaging well under the 4000 mark. Performances on the pitch are hardly helping: with Administration last season and the departure of most of their promising players, a second successive relegation is already looking highly likely. Meanwhile AFC Wimbledon - the fan-run club that was set up following the decision by the authorities to allow the move, despite a warning from the FA Commission that such a move "would not be in the wider interests of football" - are regularly attracting crowds around the 3000 mark in the Rymans League Div1, four promotions away from the Football League, and at the time of writing have been unbeaten in league fixtures since February 2003.

Should we as fans be boycotting the match? It's a thorny issue, and has been for fans of many opponents of Franchise FC. Some have preferred to join the AFC Wimbledon fans at their game - with a uniformly warm reception. (AFC Wimbledon are at home to Hastings that day by the way.) Others have simply stayed at home. Others have felt that whatever the rights and wrongs, they should support their team and have gone anyway.

As I said, I won't be going to the National Hockey Stadium; but neither will I condemn those that feel that they should go to support Pools. What I would ask anyone who will be there though is to give as little financial support as possible to the MK Dons. No programme, no pie, no drink at half time; just pay to go in, cheer Pools on (hopefully) to victory, and then leave this much-disliked remnant of a once-proud club to drift closer to oblivion. Instead look forward to the day when we can welcome AFC Wimbledon and their supporters to Victoria Park - as a sign that even in football, dreams still can come true.