Milton Keynes Dons
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
club based in
Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...
,
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
, England. The team competes in
EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...
, the fourth level of the
English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...
. The club was founded in 2004, following
Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English Association football, football club formed in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane (1912–1998), Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Cent ...
's controversial relocation to Milton Keynes from south London, when it adopted its present name, badge and home colours. Initially based at the
National Hockey Stadium National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
, the club competed as Milton Keynes Dons from the start of the 2004–05 season. The club moved to their current ground, Stadium MK, for the 2007–08 season, in which they won the League Two title and the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
. After seven further seasons in League One, the club won promotion to the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
in 2015 under the management of
Karl Robinson Karl Joseph Robinson (born 13 September 1980) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player. He is currently head coach of club Salford City F.C., Salford City. Robinson be ...
; however, they were relegated back to League One after one season. Milton Keynes Dons have built a reputation for youth development, run 16 disability teams and their football trust engages around 60,000 people; between 2012 and 2013 the club produced 11 young players who have been called into age group national teams and between 2004 and 2014 the club also gave first-team debuts to 14 local academy graduates, including the England international midfielder
Dele Alli Bamidele Jermaine "Dele" Alli ( ; born 11 April 1996) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Como 1907, Como. Born and raised in Milton Keynes, he joined the youth system at ...
. The club also operates a women's team, Milton Keynes Dons Women, who groundshare Stadium MK with their male counterparts, and currently play in the third tier of the English women's football pyramid.


Origins

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban area, its urban area was 264,349. The River Great Ouse forms t ...
, about north-west of London in
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
, was established as a
new town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...
in 1967. In the absence of a professional football club representing the town—none of the local
non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...
teams progressed significantly through the
English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...
or "pyramid" over the following decades—it was occasionally suggested that a
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
club might relocate there. There was no precedent in English league football for such a move between
conurbation A conurbation is a region consisting of a number of metropolises, cities, large towns, and other urban areas which, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban or industrially developed area. In most ...
s and the football authorities and most fans expressed strong opposition to the idea.
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...
briefly mooted moving to "a progressive Midlands borough" during a planning dispute with their local council in 1973, and the relocation of nearby
Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...
to Milton Keynes was repeatedly suggested from the 1980s onwards. Another team linked with the new town was Wimbledon Football Club. Wimbledon, established in south London in 1889 and nicknamed "the Dons", were elected to the Football League in 1977. They thereafter went through a "fairytale" rise from obscurity and by the end of the 1980s were established in the top division of English football, as well as winning the
1988 FA Cup final The 1988 FA Cup final was the 107th final of the FA Cup. It took place on Saturday 14 May 1988 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Wimbledon and Liverpool, the dominant English club side of the 1980s and newly crowned league champions ...
. Despite Wimbledon's new prominence, the club's modest home stadium at
Plough Lane Plough Lane, currently known as the Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rug ...
remained largely unchanged from its non-league days. The club's then-owner Ron Noades identified this as a problem as early as 1979, extending his dissatisfaction to the ground's very location. Interested in the stadium site designated by the
Milton Keynes Development Corporation Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) was a development corporation operating from 1967 to 1992 to oversee the planning and early development of Milton Keynes, then a planned new town midway between London and Birmingham. At designation ...
, Noades briefly planned to move Wimbledon there by merging with a non-league club in Milton Keynes, and bought debt-ridden Milton Keynes City. However, Noades then decided that the club would not gain sufficient support in Milton Keynes and abandoned the idea. In 1991, after the
Taylor Report The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...
was published recommending the redevelopment of English football grounds, Wimbledon left Plough Lane to
groundshare A groundshare, also known as a shared stadium or shared arena, is the principle of sharing a stadium between two local sports teams. This is usually done for the purpose of reducing the costs of either construction of two separate facilities and ...
at Crystal Palace's ground,
Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...
, about away.
Sam Hammam Samir Georges Nassib Hammam (; born 17 July 1947) is a Lebanese businessman, well known for his high-profile involvement in British football clubs, and who most recently relinquished the life presidency of Cardiff City in March 2022 following a ...
, who then owned Wimbledon, said the club could not afford to redevelop Plough Lane and that the groundshare was a temporary arrangement while a new ground was sourced in south-west London. A new stadium for Wimbledon proved difficult to achieve. Frustrated by what he perceived as a lack of support from Merton Council, Hammam began to look further afield and by 1996 was pursuing a move to
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, an idea that most Wimbledon fans strongly opposed. Hammam sold the club to two Norwegian businessmen,
Kjell Inge Røkke Kjell Inge Røkke (born October 25, 1958) is a Norwegian billionaire businessman. He is the chairman of the Norwegian-based company Aker ASA, and holds directorships in Aker BP, Kværner, Ocean Yield, Aker BioMarine and Aker Energy. As of De ...
and Bjørn Rune Gjelsten, in 1997, and a year later sold Plough Lane to
Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...
supermarkets. Wimbledon were
relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...
from the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
at the end of the 1999–2000 season. Starting in 1997, a consortium led by music promoter
Pete Winkelman Peter John Winkelman is the former chairman and owner of English association football club Milton Keynes Dons and former managing director of holding company Inter MK Ltd, which was involved in the development of the Denbigh North district of ...
and supported by
Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...
(a
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...
subsidiary) and
IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...
proposed a large retail development in Milton Keynes including a Football League-standard stadium. The consortium originally proposed that the stadium be located at the National Bowl but later altered their proposal to change the site of the proposed stadium to Denbigh North, the same site as the mooted retail development. The consortium proposed that an established league club move to use this site; it approached Luton, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace, Barnet, and
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
. In 2001 Røkke and Gjelsten appointed a new chairman, Charles Koppel, who was in favour of this idea, saying it was necessary to stop the club going out of business. To the fury of most Wimbledon fans, Koppel announced on 2 August 2001 that the club intended to relocate to Milton Keynes. After the Football League refused permission, Wimbledon launched an appeal, leading to a
Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...
arbitration hearing and subsequently the appointment of a three-man independent commission to make a final and binding verdict. The league and FA stated opposition but the commissioners ruled in favour, two to one, on 28 May 2002. Having campaigned against the move,; a group of disaffected Wimbledon fans reacted to this in June 2002 by forming their own non-league club,
AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...
, to which most of the original team's support defected. AFC Wimbledon entered a groundshare agreement with Kingstonian in the borough of
Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...
, adjacent to Merton. The original Wimbledon intended to move to Milton Keynes immediately but were unable to do so until a temporary home in the town meeting Football League criteria could be found. The club remained at Selhurst Park in the meantime and in June 2003 went into
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
. With the move threatened and the club facing liquidation, Winkelman decided to buy it himself. He secured funding for the administrators to keep the team operating with the goal of getting it to Milton Keynes as soon as possible. The club arranged the temporary use of the
National Hockey Stadium National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
in Milton Keynes and played its first match there in September 2003. Nine months later Winkelman's Inter MK Group bought the club out of administration and announced changes to its name, badge and colours—the team was renamed Milton Keynes Dons Football Club.


History


2004–2006: Struggles and relegation

The first season for the club as Milton Keynes Dons was 2004–05, in
Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...
, under Stuart Murdoch, who had managed Wimbledon F.C. since 2002. The team's first game was on 7 August 2004, a 1–1 home draw against
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
, with Izale McLeod equalising with their first competitive goal. Murdoch was sacked in November and replaced by Danny Wilson, who kept Milton Keynes Dons in the division on the final day of the season — largely due to
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...
's 10-point deduction for going into
administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...
. The following season, Milton Keynes Dons struggled all year, and were relegated to League Two; Wilson, as a result, was sacked.


2006–2010: Promotion and first silverware

Wilson's successor for 2006–07 was
Martin Allen Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and ...
, who had just taken
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...
to the brink of a place in the
Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...
. Milton Keynes Dons were in contention for automatic promotion right up to the last game of the season, but eventually finished fourth and had to settle for a play-off place. They then suffered a defeat to
Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...
in the play-off semi-finals. During the 2007 summer break, Allen left to take over at
Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
. For the 2007–08 season, former
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently manager of Reading. A midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1986 to 2007, starting his career with West ...
took over as manager. Milton Keynes Dons reached the final of the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
, while topping the table for most of the season. The final was played on 30 March 2008 against
Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...
 — Milton Keynes Dons won 2–0 at
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
to bring the first professional trophy to Milton Keynes. The club capped the trophy win with the League Two championship, and the subsequent promotion to League One. Following his successes, Ince left at the end of the season to manage
Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...
. Ince's replacement was former Chelsea player
Roberto Di Matteo Roberto Di Matteo (; born 29 May 1970) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. A midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau early in his career. After winning the Swiss league title with Aarau i ...
, taking his first role as a manager. In the 2008–09 season, they missed out on an automatic promotion spot by two points, finishing third behind
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...
and
Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
. They were knocked out of the play-offs by
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...
, who defeated MK Dons by
penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
at Stadium MK. Di Matteo left at the season's end for
West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
. A year after leaving, Ince returned as manager for the 2009–10 season. He resigned from the club on 16 April 2010, but remained manager until the end of the season.


2010–2016: Karl Robinson era

On 10 May 2010,
Karl Robinson Karl Joseph Robinson (born 13 September 1980) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player. He is currently head coach of club Salford City F.C., Salford City. Robinson be ...
was appointed as the club's new manager, with former
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
coach John Gorman as his assistant. At 29 years of age, Robinson was at the time of his appointment the youngest manager in the
Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
. In his first season in the club Milton Keynes Dons finished fifth in 2010–11 League One. They faced
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...
in the play-off semifinals. Although they won the first leg 2–1, a 2–0 defeat at London Road meant they missed out on the play-off final, losing the Semi-Final 3–2 on aggregate goals. The 2011–12 season brought similar results to the previous season with the Dons finishing fifth in 2011–12 League One facing
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
in the play-offs. Losing the first leg 2–0 followed by winning 2–1 at The Galpharm saw Milton Keynes Dons lose 3–2 on aggregate against the eventual play-off winners. The away leg was John Gorman's last match in football after announcing his retirement a few weeks beforehand. Gorman's replacement was announced on 18 May 2012 as being ex-Luton manager
Mick Harford Michael Gordon Harford (born 12 February 1959) is an English football manager and former professional player. He is the chief recruitment officer at Luton Town, a club where he has spent a large portion of both his playing and non-playing career ...
along with new part-time coach
Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English media personality and former professional footballer. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal as a forward, spending six years with the former and seven year ...
. Milton Keynes Dons experienced their best ever FA Cup campaign in the 2012–13 season by beating a spirited Cambridge City (0–0 and 6–1), League Two fierce rivals
AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...
(2–1), Championship
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...
(0–0 and 2–0) and Premier League
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
(4–2) to reach the fifth round of the competition for the first time in their history. Their record-breaking run ended in the fifth round at Stadium MK on 16 February 2013, losing 3–1 to Championship side
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
. After being in the top five for most of the season, the club finished the 2013–14 League One season in tenth place. The 2014–15 season began well. The highlight event of the season's first month was being drawn against
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
in the League Cup second round, having dispatched AFC Wimbledon in the first. The Dons recorded a shock 4–0 victory over Manchester United in front of a sell out crowd at Stadium MK. A few weeks later, the Dons recorded their record win, a 6–0 thrashing of
Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...
at home. That record did not last long as it was broken once again with a 7–0 demolition of
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...
on 20 December 2014. Just over a month later, on 31 January 2015, the Dons recorded a joint record 5–0 away win against
Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...
, earning a short-lived top spot. On 3 May the club secured promotion to the Football League Championship for the first time, beating Yeovil Town 5–1 and leapfrogging
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...
(who lost 1–0 at
Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...
) on the final day of the season. The Dons started life in the Championship by beating
Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...
away 4–1 on the opening day of the season and gaining seven points from a possible 12 in their first four games. They were not able to sustain this form throughout the season – the Dons did not win any of their final 11 games and they returned to League One after finishing 23rd in the Championship. On 23 October 2016, Karl Robinson left the club by mutual consent, following a 3–0 home defeat by Southend United the previous day, which had extended the Dons' winless run to four games and left them 19th in the League One table.


2016–2018: Slow decline

Robbie Neilson joined MK Dons as manager from
Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
club Heart of Midlothian in his native
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, with his first official game in charge coincidentally an
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
tie against Karl Robinson's new club
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...
. Neilson's reign started off well, with his second game in charge a win over AFC Wimbledon, and in late January 2017 a
local derby A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and th ...
win against
Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...
. The following season started badly; however, on 30 December 2017 the team was noted for a remarkable 1–0 derby win against
Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...
, playing with 9 men for 68 minutes after controversial refereeing decisions and 13 minutes of added time. Neilson left by mutual consent on 20 January 2018 after a run of one win in eleven league games with the club 21st in the table; he was sacked the same day as his last game, a disappointing away 2–1 derby defeat against relegation rivals
Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...
. Under Neilson's successor, Dan Micciche, the club continued to struggle in the relegation places. Following a run of poor results with only three wins in sixteen matches in charge, Micciche left the club on 22 April 2018, with assistant manager Keith Millen taking over as a caretaker. On the penultimate weekend of the season another defeat relegated them to League Two (leaving them seven points from safety with one game to play).


2018–2023: Bounce-back and search for stability

Former
Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
manager
Paul Tisdale Paul Robert Tisdale (born 14 January 1973) is an English professional football manager and former player. He is currently Head of Football Operations at Celtic. As a player, Tisdale represented Southampton, Bristol City, FinnPa, Panionios and ...
was appointed in June 2018 after 12 years at his previous club. After a season where the Dons were tipped to be favourites for promotion, the club spent most of the season around the automatic promotion and play-off places. Going top after a 2–0 win over Macclesfield Town in November, the club sunk to 8th in February before being one win way away from automatic promotion against play-off hopefuls
Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...
in the penultimate game. The Dons lost 2–0 which led to a "winner takes all" game against 3rd placed
Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...
, who were separated by goal difference, to determine who was promoted. MK Dons won 1–0 in front of nearly 21,000 fans meaning they returned to League One at the first attempt. Following a poor start to the 2019–20 season in which the Dons achieved only one point from a possible 27, the worst run of results in the club's history, Tisdale's contract with the club was mutually terminated on 2 November 2019 following a 1–3 home defeat to fellow relegation-threatened
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...
. The next day, Russell Martin was announced as the new permanent first-team manager; he had joined as a player earlier in the year. Fixtures were suspended on 13 March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, and the clubs later voted to end the season prematurely with immediate effect on 9 June 2020, with the final table decided upon by an unweighted points-per-game system resulting in the club finishing the season in 19th place, thus avoiding relegation. The ''Dons'' went into the final weekend of the 2021–22 League One season with a chance of gaining automatic promotion to the Championship, and even had a slim chance of becoming Champions if they won by a big score and other results went their way. They comfortably beat Plymouth Argyle 5–0, but both
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...
and Rotherham United won their games against Shrewsbury Town and Gillingham, respectively, to claim the two automatic promotion berths. The ''Dons'' finished third and faced Buckinghamshire rivals Wycombe Wanderers in the play-offs. Despite the ''Dons'' having
home advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home (sports), home team ...
in the second leg of their semi-final, Wycombe won 2–1 on aggregate to reach the final at Wembley. MK Dons suffered relegation to League Two in the 2022–23 League One season. Liam Manning was replaced as manager in December 2022, but successor Mark Jackson registered just six wins in 25 games and was sacked after the side were relegated following a final day 0–0 draw at Burton Albion.


2023–present: Return to League Two

On 27 May 2023, MK Dons appointed
Graham Alexander Graham Alexander (born 10 October 1971) is a professional football coach and former player who manages EFL League One club Bradford City. In a lengthy playing career, Alexander represented Scunthorpe United, Luton Town, Preston North End an ...
as their new head coach. After an eight-match winless run, Alexander was sacked with MK Dons in 16th place. On 17 October 2023, MK Dons announced that they had appointed
Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...
manager Mike Williamson as their new head coach. He led MK Dons to a 4th-placed finish, where they faced
Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...
in the play-off semi-finals. Crawley won 8–1 on aggregate, inflicting the largest play-off defeat in EFL history on the club. This was the sixth time MK Dons had competed in the play-offs without reaching a final. On 9 August 2024, the owner, Pete Winkelman, sold the club to a Kuwait-based consortium, with Fahad Al Ghanim becoming the club's new chairman, representing the first change in ownership since the club's inception. After four losses in the opening six games, including a 3–0 defeat to arch-rivals
AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...
, Mike Williamson was appointed as the manager of
Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...
on 19 September, with the Cumbrians meeting the release clause in his contract. MK Dons appointed Williamson's replacement, the
Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...
boss Scott Lindsey, on 25 September 2024. Lindsey's contract was terminated on 2 March 2025, with the club in 17th place, following a run of just two wins from 14 league games. On 15 April 2025, Paul Warne was announced as the Head Coach on a 'long term' deal with just 4 games remaining of the 2024–25 EFL League Two season.


Kit history

:''Only seasons played by Milton Keynes Dons under that name are given here. For a kit history of
Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English Association football, football club formed in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane (1912–1998), Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Cent ...
, see Wimbledon F.C.#Kit history.'' Source
Historical Football Kits


Stadium

The club's first stadium was the
National Hockey Stadium National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
, which was temporarily converted for football for the duration of the club's stay. Their lease on the venue ended in May 2007. On 18 July 2007, the club's new 30,500 capacity stadium, Stadium MK in
Denbigh Denbigh ( ; ) is a market town and a community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. It was the original county town of the Denbighshire (historic), historic county of Denbighshire created in 1536. Denbigh's Welsh name () translates to ...
hosted its first game, a restricted-entrance event against a young Chelsea XI. The stadium was officially opened on 29 November 2007 by
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
. The stadium features an open concourse at the top of the lower tier, an integrated hotel with rooms looking over the pitch and conference facilities. The complex was to include a 3,000 capacity indoor arena, where the MK Lions basketball team would be based, but completion of this arena was delayed due to deferral of proposed commercial developments around the site. In May 2009, the stadium was named as one of 15 stadia put forward as potential hosts for the England 2018 FIFA World Cup bid, which would include increasing capacity to 44,000, however England's bid was later unsuccessful. In recent years Stadium MK has played host to the 2014 FA Women's Cup final, three Rugby World Cup 2015 fixtures and four matches (including a semi-final) of the
UEFA Women's Euro 2022 The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champio ...
.


Supporters


Initial supporters' club recognition

On 4 June 2005, at the 2005
Football Supporters' Federation The Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) was an organisation representing football fans in England and Wales. It campaigned across a range of issues and supports fan representation on clubs' boards, lower ticket prices, and the introduction of ...
"Fans' Parliament" (AGM), the FSF refused the Milton Keynes Dons Supporters Association (MKDSA) membership of the FSF in a debate that, among other arguments, questioned why the Football League had yet to introduce any new rules to prevent the "franchising" of other football clubs in the future. In addition, the FSF membership agreed with the Wimbledon Independent Supporters' Association (WISA) that the MKDSA should not be entitled to join the FSF until they give up all claim to the history and honours of Wimbledon FC. With this in mind, the FSF began discussions aimed at returning Wimbledon FC's honours to the
London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton () is a London borough in London, England. The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton ...
. Shortly afterwards, following heavy criticism for allowing the move, the Football League announced new tighter rules on club relocation. At its AGM on 5 June 2006, the FSF again considered a motion proposed by the FSF Council to allow Milton Keynes Dons Supporters Association membership if the honours and trophies of Wimbledon FC were given to the
London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton () is a London borough in London, England. The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton ...
. In October 2006, agreement was reached between the club, the Milton Keynes Dons Supporters Association, the Wimbledon Independent Supporters' Association and the Football Supporters Federation. The FA Cup trophy plus all club patrimony gathered under the name of Wimbledon Football Club would be returned to the London Borough of Merton. Ownership of trademarks and website
domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...
s related to Wimbledon would also be transferred to the borough. As part of the same agreement it was agreed that any reference made to Milton Keynes Dons should refer only to events subsequent to 7 August 2004 (the date of the first league game of Milton Keynes Dons). As a result of this deal, the FSF announced that the supporters of Milton Keynes Dons would be permitted to become members of the federation, and that it would no longer appeal to the supporters of other clubs to boycott Milton Keynes Dons' matches. On 2 August 2007, Milton Keynes Dons transferred ownership of all Wimbledon Football Club trophies and memorabilia to the London Borough of Merton.


Rivalries

AFC Wimbledon Due to their shared ancestry in
Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English Association football, football club formed in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane (1912–1998), Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Cent ...
, there is an unavoidably acrimonious rivalry with
AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...
since the relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes;AFC Wimbledon face Football League probe after refusing to recognise bitter rivals MK Dons
, ''
The Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead ...
'', 23 September 2017
The first fixture between the two clubs took place on 2 December 2012 in the second round of the
2012–13 FA Cup The 2012–13 FA Cup was the 132nd season of the FA Cup, the main domestic cup competition in English football, and the oldest football knock-out competition in the world. It was sponsored by Budweiser for a second consecutive season, thus the ...
, where they were drawn to play each other at Stadium MK. Milton Keynes Dons won the match 2–1, with a winner scored in
injury time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the ga ...
by Jon Otsemobor and later dubbed by MK Dons fans as "The Heel of God" (a reference to Maradona's "Hand of God"). Kyle McFadzean's opening goal for MK Dons in the second match between the two clubs, a 3–1 Milton Keynes win in the
first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...
of the League Cup in August 2014, was also scored with his heel, and was consequently labelled "Heel of God II". Two months later, in the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
Southern section second round, AFC Wimbledon defeated MK Dons 3–2 with a winning goal by
Adebayo Akinfenwa Saheed Adebayo Akinfenwa (born 10 May 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed " the Beast", he was renowned for his physical prowess and goalscoring ability, in a career where he amassed more than 2 ...
. On 10 December 2016, the sides met for the first time in a competitive league fixture following MK Dons' relegation from the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
and AFC Wimbledon's promotion from League Two the previous season. Milton Keynes Dons won 1–0, with
Dean Bowditch Dean Peter Bowditch (born 15 June 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. He made over 200 appearances for Milton Keynes Dons and also played for Ipswich Town, Northampton Town and Yeovil To ...
scoring the only goal of the game with a 63rd-minute penalty. The first visit of MK Dons to AFC Wimbledon's home ground for a League One match on 14 March 2017 resulted in a 2–0 victory for AFC Wimbledon. The 2018–19 season saw AFC Wimbledon remain in League One, in a higher league than MK Dons for the first time. In 2017, AFC Wimbledon, in the club's programme for their home game against the Dons, played on 22 September, failed to recognise their opponents by their full name for the second successive season. AFC Wimbledon's official
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
feed also referred to their opponents as "Milton Keynes" throughout their match coverage. AFC Wimbledon were subsequently threatened by the EFL with disciplinary action, and eventually charged with breaching EFL regulations. The charges were dropped. AFC Wimbledon were forced to refer to MK Dons by their full name ahead of the 2019–20 season, after the EFL stepped in to mediate. Peterborough United MK Dons have a rivalry with
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...
, since the two clubs have vied head-to-head for promotion to the
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
in recent years. A rivalry also exists between MK Lightning and Peterborough Phantoms in
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...
that pre-dates the football rivalry. Northampton Town
Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...
is geographically the closest urban area to Milton Keynes with a professional football team,
Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...
, the two places separated by a little over . Former MK Dons Supporters' Association Chairman John Brockwell had stated that the fans were looking forward to hosting Northampton Town, the club that, geographically at least, are their nearest rivals. Although Peterborough United have been traditionally Northampton's main rivals, the " Cobblers" spokesman has stated, in 2008, that, "with MK Dons now on the fixture list, it gives orthamptonsupporters the chance to develop another rivalry."Northampton v Milton Keynes: 15 miles away but a world apart
", ''
Northampton Chronicle The ''Northampton Chronicle & Echo'' (known locally as ''"The Chron"'') is a local newspaper serving Northampton, England, and the surrounding towns and villages. It was published daily from Monday-Saturday until 26 May 2012 at a price. It the ...
'', 14 August 2008
In January 2016 police arrested a Milton Keynes fan for setting off
pyrotechnics Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating fireworks, but also includes safety matches, oxygen candles, Pyrotechnic fastener, explosive bolts (and other fasteners), parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, q ...
in the away end, and two Northampton fans and three more Milton Keynes fans were ejected from the ground. In 2018, before the 30 January 3pm kick-off in the League One game between the two clubs, Northamptonshire Police arrested seven travelling supporters of the Dons, with one Northampton fan also arrested.Eight football related arrests during afternoon of MK Dons visit to Northampton Town
by James Averill, '' MK Citizen'', 22 January 2018
Four arrests were for
public order offence In criminology, public-order crime is defined by Siegel (2004) as "crime which involves acts that interfere with the operations of society and the ability of people to function efficiently", i.e., it is behaviour that has been labelled criminal ...
s, one for
criminal damage Property damage (sometimes called damage to property) is the damage or destruction of real or tangible personal property, caused by negligence, willful destruction, or an act of nature. Destruction of property (sometimes called property dest ...
, one for pitch encroachment, one for obstructing the police, and one for
affray In many legal jurisdictions related to English common law, affray is a public order offence consisting of the fighting of one or more persons in a public place to the terror (in ) of ordinary people. Depending on their actions, and the laws ...
. Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...
are the only other professional team in
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...
, so games between the two teams are labelled "the Bucks derby".


Community

Through the work of its charity, Milton Keynes Dons SET (Sport and Educational Trust), the club works locally in the fields of education, social inclusion, participation and football development. It works with schools, has 14 disability teams playing in regional or national competitions, works with BME (black and minority ethnic) community groups and runs many activities for women and girls. Milton Keynes Dons' work in the community has been recognised by the award of the Football League Awards Community Club of the Season for the South East & East in both 2012 and 2022, and in the award of an honorary doctorate to chairman Pete Winkelman by the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
in June 2013. The club have also been awarded Family Excellence status by the EFL every year since the award's inception in 2008, recognising continuing improvement and best practice in family engagement.


Youth academy

Striker Sam Baldock was the first notable academy graduate who, after making 102 appearances, moved on to
West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...
for a seven-figure sum. He later became captain of
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
and also played for
Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...
. , Daniel Powell, Tom Flanagan and
George Baldock George Henry Ivor Baldock (; 9 March 1993 – 9 October 2024) was a Greek professional footballer who played as a right-back or right wing-back. Baldock started his career at Milton Keynes Dons, where he played 125 total games, and was also l ...
, brother of Sam, all played regularly for the MK Dons first team. On 2 February 2015, Milton Keynes Dons academy graduate and first team midfielder
Dele Alli Bamidele Jermaine "Dele" Alli ( ; born 11 April 1996) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Como 1907, Como. Born and raised in Milton Keynes, he joined the youth system at ...
was sold to
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
side
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
for a fee in the region of £5 million. Alli became the first Milton Keynes Dons academy graduate to make a full England senior team debut, on 9 October 2015. Kevin Danso is a graduate of the academy who went on to play for
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
and became the youngest player to make a league appearance in
FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. T ...
's history, when making his
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
debut. Other notable youth graduates who have gone on to play at a higher level include George Williams, Brendan Galloway, Scotland international Liam Kelly and England youth team international
Sheyi Ojo Oluwaseyi Babajide "Sheyi" Ojo (born 19 June 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Slovenian PrvaLiga club Maribor. Ojo joined Liverpool as a 14-year-old and came through their academy. He spent time on loan wi ...
. On 9 August 2016, in a first-round
EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...
match against Newport County, manager
Karl Robinson Karl Joseph Robinson (born 13 September 1980) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player. He is currently head coach of club Salford City F.C., Salford City. Robinson be ...
selected a first-team squad composed of 13 academy graduates and players, giving eight of those players their full debuts for the club including Brandon Thomas-Asante. The game ended with a 2–3 away win for the club.


Players


First-team squad


Development squad


Notable players

Mark Wright finished the 2007–08 season as the club's top goalscorer, helping the Dons win both the League Two title and the
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
. Jon Otsemobor made 44 appearances for the club and scored the winning goal in the first match against
AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...
with a back-heel that was later dubbed the " Heel of God". Milton Keynes Dons were former Premier League player Jimmy Bullard's last club before his retirement from football, making only three appearances for the club. Similarly Dietmar Hamman made 12 appearances as a player-coach before retiring. Notable players loaned from other clubs were strikers Patrick Bamford, who scored 18 goals in 37 games, Benik Afobe, who became the league's top scorer in just six months, and
Ángelo Balanta Ángelo Jasiel Balanta (born 1 July 1990) is a Colombian professional Association football, footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a forward (association football), striker for club Hornchurch F.C., Hornchurch. Club career Born in C ...
, whose loan spell lasted three years. Former Ireland international Clinton Morrison and former Premiership players Paul Rachubka and James Tavernier also had short loan spells with the club. Alan Smith, most known for his time at
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
and
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
, joined the club on loan, signing from
Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...
before making the move permanent totalling 67 appearances for the club. Other international players who have worn the Dons shirt include
Tore André Flo Tore André Flo (born 15 June 1973) is a Norwegian professional football coach and a former striker who previously was the manager of 1. divisjon club Sogndal. He was capped 76 times, scoring 23 goals for Norway, and represented his country ...
, Ali Gerba, Michel Pensée, Cristian Benavente, Richard Pacquette, Keith Andrews, Russell Martin, Tom Flanagan, Drissa Diallo,
Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
and Ousseynou Cissé.
Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born Joseph Woodward Fidler; November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Best known as a member of the rock band Eagles (band), Eagles, his five-decade career includes solo work and stints in other ...
, Brendan Galloway, Jordan Houghton, Connor Furlong, Gboly Ariyibi, Gareth Edds all represented their countries at youth level. :''This list contains players who have made 100 or more league appearances (with the exception of Dele Alli). Appearances and goals apply to league matches only; substitute appearances are included. Names in bold denote current Milton Keynes Dons players.'' :''Statistics are correct as of 8 May 2025.''


Player of the Year

Source:


Club staff


Football staff


Senior management


Managerial history


Honours

League * League One (level 3) **Runners-up: 2014–15 * League Two (level 4) **Champions: 2007–08 **Promoted: 2018–19 Cup *
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
**Winners: 2007–08 * Berks & Bucks Senior Cup **Winners: 2006–07 **Runners-up: 2005–06, 2017–18 *Portimão Cup **Winners: 2004 Source:
MKDons.com
'


Records and statistics


Milton Keynes Dons Women

The club founded a
women's association football Women's association football, more commonly known as women's football or women's soccer, is the team sport of association football played by women. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries, and about 200 national teams partic ...
team in 2009. They operate as part of the club with an identical badge and strip, and as of the 2018–19 season, the team share Stadium MK as their home stadium with their male counterparts, one of the first clubs in the country to do so. They compete in the
FA Women's National League South The FA Women's National League South is a league in the third level in the women's football pyramid in England, along with the Northern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women's National League and below the Women's Super Leag ...
.


Footnotes


References


External links

*
Official Supporters Association website
(archived 9 January 2016)
MK Dons news
in the
Milton Keynes Citizen The ''Milton Keynes Citizen'' is the only freely distributed local newspaper in Milton Keynes. The newspaper is owned by National World. The ''MK Citizen'' was founded by Bill Alder and 1981 and they sold to EMAP in 1987 and the purchase was c ...
(current) {{Authority control 2004 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 2004 Football clubs in England Sport in Milton Keynes Wimbledon F.C. English Football League clubs EFL Trophy winners Football clubs in Buckinghamshire