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Quoted from Les Brechin

I can't understand how MK can have any fans older than 10. I mean who did their older fans support before they were formed, did they not support anyone? Surely they should all have been supporting a team and you can't just change the team you support can you?

I live near there. You'd be surprised. One of my neighbours was a season ticket holder. He was an Evertonian. There are a lot of Spurs, West Ham, Chelsea etc who follow MK and another team. The thing is there's a big area around MK without any decent dominant football teams and the city itself continues to grow with a population around 250,000. Nearest teams are Oxford, Luton, Cambridge, Northampton. Pretty excrement choice. Personally I hate them.

Darren Gough is a fan....

Quoted from tanga_the_indestructible

I live near there. You'd be surprised. One of my neighbours was a season ticket holder. He was an Evertonian. There are a lot of Spurs, West Ham, Chelsea etc who follow MK and another team. The thing is there's a big area around MK without any decent dominant football teams and the city itself continues to grow with a population around 250,000. Nearest teams are Oxford, Luton, Cambridge, Northampton. Pretty excrement choice. Personally I hate them.

When I lived in MK I knew quite a few who were fans of Northampton and Luton and I used to have a good bit of banter with them whenever Town were playing either club (used to go and see games with them if it didn't clash with my Town commitments)

This was well before Wimbledon were uprooted to the "new city" so I'm not sure who this new club have as their "core" support but I know that those who I knew back in the day would never be seen dead going anywhere near the "StadiumMK Franchise"

I know they used to give free tickets out to local school kids so maybe they've grown up knowing nothing different and they see them as their local club :-/

I can't see that anyone from the outlying areas close to MK would choose to go to see them play but then again when you have all the phoney prem types here there and everywhere, I bet the road to their stadium the other night had never seen so many plastic glory hunters going to witness their victory over Manure

The sad thing is the more they are in the public eye for this sort of thing, the more they become accepted as an established club in some quarters....not for me though. They will always be the cuckoos who stole another team's identity

franchise football, never forget, never forgive

Personally I hate AFC Wimbledon a lot more for their continued attempts to try and steal the Wimbledon greyhound track - London's only remaining dog track.

When MK Dons took over Wimbledon the Dons had been moving to and fro and were without a home (a bit like the London Broncos rugby league side at the moment). They gave the club a home, the outragous thing was the name change. But if the greyhound track goes, that will be it - they will have killed off another organisation. A far worse "crime" in my eyes.

Couldn't care less. My mate at work supports Palace and goes to most home games, but goes to watch Ayr United when he visits his in-laws and they're now his Scottish team. For me, I'd much rather hear how Ayr got on at the weekend from him, than listening to the Man Yoo fans going on about who Van Gaal ought to spend £65m on next. It all depends on how you like your football culture served up.

I loved it. Always enjoy seeing United lose and the manner in which they went down to Milton Keynes is hopefully an indicator for another entertaining year observing their struggles and seeing their supporters (the core of which - I am a little surprised to discover - are passionate and funny and reasonably humble about things) suffer the few ups and many downs that most of us football supporters have to endure but that they have been mostly immune from for far too long.

[As an expat I don't get the opportunity to join in with the banter that most of you do (time differences and all that) and have next to no access to anything NOT premier league related (before anyone jumps up and down about me being a plastic Premier League tragic), hence me knowing more about Man United or Arsenal (which still isn't much) than I do Macclesfield or Aldershot (which is nil).]

The subject of franchised clubs (and their supporters) is an interesting one though. The animosity on here towards MK Dons surprised me a bit. Here in Oz, where football is undoubtedly growing but still languishes below Rugby League, AFL and [arguably] basketball, franchised clubs are very much the accepted norm.

When still fresh to Oz, I was struck by the manipulation of the NRL (we have always lived in RL strongholds) by the administrators, especially when it came to a ruthless control over clubs, the league and their supporters. As an example, following a restructuring of the league in 1999 traditional clubs (and local rivals) Balmain Tigers and Western Sydney Magpies (both formed in 1908 and each very successful) were forced into a union as Wests Tigers. Thinking along traditional English footballing lines, I could not comprehend the union being accepted, supported or successful. And yet it has, West Tigers even beating my own NQ Cowboys in the 2005 Grand Final. They have a reasonably strong fan base and are now an accepted part of the Rugby League structure with fans who are passionate and love their club (despite the former clubs still existing and playing in NSW Rugby (the second tier down from the national competition).

In Aussie Rules (AFL) the situation was even worse. The [massively successful 10 years ago] Brisbane Lions were formed by merging Melbourne's Fitzroy Lions with QFL's Brisbane Bears so that Queensland could have a representative in the expanding national competition and the South Melbourne Football Club (founded 4 years BEFORE Grimsby Town) were relocated to Sydney (as the Swans) in 1982. Both the Lions and the Swans now have massive followings (the Swans average over 30,000 and have done for nearly 20 years) who are passionate and loyal and travel huge distances (this being Australia) to follow their teams (playing Australian Rules!!!!!!).

Now I can't imagine that happening too much in English football (tho' Rushden & Diamonds were an amalgamation weren't they? And Inverness Caledonian Thistle in Scotland - plus the MK Dons relocation) but it does go to demonstrate that if a club is relocated, or merged, or whatever into an area starved of access to a competitive side, then that relocated or merged club can soon become a part of the local identity and quickly develop a local following.

It doesn't surprise me that that [very impressive looking] stadium in Milton Keynes was full the other night and such an occasion will possibly further entrench the team into the local community. Whatever, I for one, was very pleased to see them win (even if I didn't actually realise the game was on - my wife had to tell me that United had lost to "someone called Don or something"). I only wish it could have been highlights of Town hammering United (I wish) in the League Cup (I wish) at such a lovely, new stadium (I wish) that I got to watch. I will, however, leave the having-been-relocated-to-Milton Keynes bit out.

Yes, but Cairns, all those Australian examples you quote are, well, about Australians.

Franchising defeats the point of promotion and relegation. MK Dons older supporters couldn't be arsed to go to watch other MK teams. Ersatz culture.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Yes, but Cairns, all those Australian examples you quote are, well, about Australians.

Franchising defeats the point of promotion and relegation. MK Dons older supporters couldn't be arsed to go to watch other MK teams. Ersatz culture.

You're spot on Kingston Mariner

When I lived down there, numerous clubs could have been developed (MK Borough, MK City, Wolverton, Bletchley) but even though there was quite some potential given the growth in local population, this was simply over-looked by the powers that be

All had a chance to be grown with some investment, the same as Max Griggs did with Irthingborough and Rushden, even though in the long run his project failed

However the person who allegedly wanted the area to develop football-wise, Pete Winkelman, chose to take the more financially lucrative route of moving an established club to the area. He tried to get Luton first but they escaped his grasp before he moved on to Wimbledon

He of course wasn't able to put this in to place without the assistance of the FA...the whole thing in my opinion was wrong and even though lots of water has passed since, the scenario that allowed Milton Keynes to have a team positioned in the league, without having to endure an arduous journey up the football pyramid, is unacceptable however you look at it

At what point does it become unacceptable?

Acceptable - AFC's current ground is about 15 minutes drive from Wimbledon (like us playing in Immigham).
Acceptable - When Wimbledon were at Selhurst Park it was about 40 minutes or more to drive there (like us playing in Lincoln).
Unacceptable - MK is about 1.5 or 1.75 hours drive from Wimbledon (like us playing in Leeds)

Is the tipping point an hour?

Quoted from psgmariner

At what point does it become unacceptable?

Acceptable - AFC's current ground is about 15 minutes drive from Wimbledon (like us playing in Immigham).
Acceptable - When Wimbledon were at Selhurst Park it was about 40 minutes or more to drive there (like us playing in Lincoln).
Unacceptable - MK is about 1.5 or 1.75 hours drive from Wimbledon (like us playing in Leeds)

Is the tipping point an hour?

It's the name change that is the issue, not the distance. It's only half an hour from MK to London Euston on the train. If they'd carried on calling themselves Wimbledon and played at Milton Keynes there wouldn't be the great fuss (Arsenal switched from one side of London to the other once).

Quoted from GrimRob

If they'd carried on calling themselves Wimbledon and played at Milton Keynes there wouldn't be the great fuss .

Well that's nonsense! AFCW were formed whilst they were still called Wimbledon and still played at Selhurst.

Quoted from Abdul19

Well that's nonsense! AFCW were formed whilst they were still called Wimbledon and still played at Selhurst.

According to Wikipedia AFCW were formed 2 days after the FA decision to approve the move to MK. They might still have been at Selhurst but they knew they were going to have to move.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Wimbledon

Picking the winner of this game was like having a choice between digging my eyes out with spoons or setting fire to myself.

I hate it when the TV get onto it and say how far they have come in a short space of time, they got a bloody free pass that has taken AFC Wimbledon years of hard work to get back themselves and they're still quite a way apart. Nothing made me feel worse than losing at Wembley to probably the most despicable club in the country.

After all that, it was still bloody hard not to laugh at United.

Quoted from pontoonlew

Picking the winner of this game was like having a choice between digging my eyes out with spoons or setting fire to myself.

I hate it when the TV get onto it and say how far they have come in a short space of time, they got a bloody free pass that has taken AFC Wimbledon years of hard work to get back themselves and they're still quite a way apart. Nothing made me feel worse than losing at Wembley to probably the most despicable club in the country.

After all that, it was still bloody hard not to laugh at United.

My thoughts exactly Lew.

Maybe I had the better option that day at Wembley as I was in Hull recovering from having my head carved open. ;D

Try not to rip into Man Utd too much pmsl, I'm bumming petition signatures as we speak off their 7 forums for Peaks Parkway. ;D

Quoted from GrimRob

According to Wikipedia AFCW were formed 2 days after the FA decision to approve the move to MK. They might still have been at Selhurst but they knew they were going to have to move.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFC_Wimbledon

But it was the name change rather than move that's the issue, according to your post?

Quoted from GrimRob

It's the name change that is the issue, not the distance. It's only half an hour from MK to London Euston on the train. If they'd carried on calling themselves Wimbledon and played at Milton Keynes there wouldn't be the great fuss (Arsenal switched from one side of London to the other once).

Think you're being a bit optimistic with your travelling times there Rob ;)

I know there are some main line services that connect to London in just over half an hour (as opposed to the stopping trains that take up to an hour) but as you say that's just in to Euston

It probably takes even longer than that just to get across the other side of London whether by tube, bus or taxi

I never managed to get from MK to the south side of London to any grounds (Plough Lane, Selhurst Park, The Valley) in any less than an hour and a half and that was usually with all connections just falling right

The time to get there is a different matter I guess...if Wimbledon's fans had to travel there just temporarily rather than have their club uprooted totally to MK maybe there'd be less animosity?

Agree with you to some extent about (Woolwich) Arsenal though....seems from what I've read that move was unpopular on all sides. Maybe a century later though it's all been forgotten and the same will happen over time with the MK Dons :-/