Because Milton Keynes is famous as a new city, visitors to the borough could be forgiven for assuming that it has no history - nothing could be further from the truth! By the time of the Roman conquest in AD 43, it is thought the area was extensively settled and farmed. A major Roman villa, containing some of the finest quality mosaic floors, was excavated at Bancroft Park. The occupants erected a large stone mausoleum on an adjacent hilltop, on the site of an earlier cemetery. The remains of the villa have been preserved and on-site interpretation panels give a good impression of the building and account of life in Roman Milton Keynes. There were other Roman buildings in various parts of the borough and several areas such as Haversham, Stanton Low, Emberton and Olney were extensively settled. Olney has latterly become home to MK Gould, a football legend when gracing the park pitches of Harlow (him of the Gouldmobile - Ed) The football club has attracted a lot of publicity and criticism following on from the relocation and subsequent name change of Wimbledon FC. There has been a lot said and written on this issue. Emotions have been strained. The pieman does not agree with the way a football club can be taken away from supporters and believes that a very dangerous precedent was set. (Floating on the stock exchange can also remove a club from it's fans - Ed) However, it did happen and we have to get on with life.
MK Dons currently play at the National Hockey Stadium which is only a few hundred yards away from Milton Keynes Central railway station. A new stadium is being constructed at Denbigh and will host football from the start of the 2007-08 season. This site will be nearer to Bletchley railway station. The Pieman saw his only other Senior match in Milton Keynes in February 1993 when Milton Keynes Borough beat Oxford City 2-1 in the South Midlands League at Manor Fields, Bletchley. 
The National Hockey Stadium is only a few minutes walk from Milton Keynes Central railway station and with regular services to/from London, the West Midlands and the North West, this venue is ideally placed. The stadium is, in truth, a bit odd looking. The main stand is decent enough and would not be out of place elsewhere, at the end of the ground housing the home fans there is cover and I guess comparisons could be made with Luton Town. The opposite end (usually used by home fans) is completely open and the forecast was not good for the evening of the match. I am pleased to say that the light rain endured did not inconvenience us too much. Opposite the main stand is another (uncovered) stand which MK Gould informs me is usually used by away fans. 
This was only the second occasion (the visit of Luton Town being the other) that MK had sold out this all seated venue and it was the first occasion that they had hosted a Premiership club in a competitive fixture. They resisted the temptation to raise the prices to an unrealistic level (THFC take note regarding UEFA Cup Group Stage matches) and this will have helped in attracting floating local support. Tottenham Hotspur were comfortable winners on the night but the home side competed well and for the first half hour gave as good as they got. 
True football fans will always brave the elements to support their clubs and it seems parent & child packages are available in Buckinghamshire. 
Admission: £16
Programme: £2 (obtained for you Stan)
Mars Bar: 50p
Fare: £8.65 from Zone 6 with Gold Card discount
BADGER'S BLAST - AFC Wimbledon supporter, colleague of the Pieman and fellow member of the Rat Infestations Old Boys with Ciderman & the Worley Brothers, Badger Atkins has been invited by Pie & Peas to give his view. Frustrated was my first reaction when the Simple Pieman told me he was off to MK to watch his beloved Spurs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not frustrated that the Pieman was making the journey along with his faithful partner Matt (the ‘Tonto’ to the Pieman’s ‘Lone Ranger’), just frustrated that my prayers had gone unanswered and that God hadn’t seen fit to open up a large chasm beneath the National Hockey Stadium and swallow up the place where the MK Club-Thieves have moved their circus.
How much do we AFCW fans dislike the Franchise scum, ooops, sorry, I meant Franchise Consortium. Well, according to certain Fans Stadium terrace songs, some of the AFC faithful would like them to stick Milton Keynes up their bottom, or varying words to that effect. Whilst I’m unsure that this is physically possible (…although that Pete Winkleman is a fairly broad bottomed chap), it does give a general idea of the warm fuzzy sentiment that AFC fans hold in the hearts for MK.
It’s very disappointing to see Martin Allen pulling the strings at Franchise FC. Then again, having worked with a Barnet fan, I have heard it mooted before that Mr Allen isn’t necessarily motivated by principles, as his hasty jumping-of-ship from the Bees to Brentford might have shown. Anyway, I’m most disappointed that he’s actually quite a good manager and he seems to have halted their previously rapid freefall down the leagues. Curse you Martin Allen, bring back Danny ‘relegation’ Wilson !
I can’t speak for all AFC fans (like most niche groups in society these days, we have our extremists too, plus one or two fans that don’t so much speak as ‘grunt’) but personally I don’t resent Franchise that much anymore. I cheer when they lose, support anybody playing against them (including Spurs) and will do a little dance when they go bankrupt, but until then, what is done is done. We have our own club and have moved on.
MK could have tried to get into the league by themselves through a non league team working their way up the ladder, but times change and now you can buy and move clubs. Honest endeavour and capitalism don’t always go hand in hand. Probably won’t be long before they sell football club franchises at Tesco, after all, they do sell everything else.
I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want MKD to fail, to slide past us on the pyramid, pausing only so that we could beat them twice in a season on our way past. However, with our current manager being as tactically inept as General Custer, I’m not sure if it is more unlikely that we will rise much further up the pyramid, or that MK will come down to our level. Hope springs eternal.
All that remains to be said is, would Tottenham Hotspur PLEASE (please, please, please) beat the Franchise. It would be “One small victory for football, one giant victory for the deep seated resentment of the AFC faithful”… although on a realistic level I fully accept that there’s no guarantee of Spurs beating anybody !!!
The Concrete Cow response by MK Gould THE WOMBLE & LETTUCE FC
FACT
Milton Keynes Dons FC are the best thing to happen to football in a long time. And if you don’t believe me then read on….
SPORT
I know this will be hard for some of you, but I’d like you to close your eyes and imagine that you were back in school. I’d like you, and this might be harder, to imagine that you were one of the best sprinters in your year group. Not the best, but one of the best. Then answer the question, “Would I be picked for the school athletics team?”. You answer a resounding “Yes!”. And this despite you being deeply unpopular at school and despite the unfortunate acne that remained with you throughout your teenage years. The reason is that school athletics is a SPORT, and reward is given for purely sporting reasons. Now you’ll probably remember that the most popular, academically gifted, attractive pupil was often the one who also happened to be picked for all the school sports teams – but that was an unfortunate coincidence! And if you don’t believe that after all these years then you really should be seeking therapy…..
BUSINESS
Marks & Spencer sell a range of products to customers. It wants the customers to be delighted with its product quality and service – but its aim, pure and simple, is to produce maximum value for its owners. It wants to make a nice profit. It is a BUSINESS.
PROFESSIONAL SPORT
Every year, in Oslo, an International Athletics meeting is held. Maybe your old school friend – you remember, the head boy/girl who was invited to all the parties – competes there still. The organisers invite the best athletes from around the world….and also invite the most popular athletes – the ones that are going to sell tickets and attract a TV audience and please the sponsors – despite them maybe being a little past their sell by date. The reason for this is that Professional Athletics is a SPORT, run on business lines.
PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
The Premiership and Football League (lets call them Professional Football PLC to simplify things) are no different to any other trade association. Their aim in life is to create wealth for their members. Income is generated by multiplying volume by price. In football terms this can be translated into the number of spectators (multiplied by the admission price), shirts sold, Sky subscriptions purchased or sponsorship gained. A popular team playing quality football will generate greater demand for tickets and the greater the demand for tickets, the more seats sold and a higher price that can be charged. There are of course other factors at play here, such as the state of the economy and the relative wealth of the fans, but I think you’ll see where I’m coming from. The reason for this is that Professional Football is a BUSINESS, run on sporting lines. To demonstrate this lets imagine that your pub side, watched by a handful of locals hoping they will be able to share in the after match refreshments, had a good run of success on a Sunday morning. The good run doesn’t just last for a month, or even a season, but 10 years on they’d won every match by a cricket score – still watched by the same group of locals. Would they now be playing in the upper reaches of the Premiership, and challenging for the prize of the Champions League? Of course not. Rationale for Membership of Professional Football is based on business not sport!!
THE ORIGINS
But Professional Football PLC has a problem. It agreed its membership at a time when Queen Victoria was on the throne. In the days when we had an empire, no health service or minimum wage. In the days when women had no vote, and when the majority of the population worked in the factory, or the fields. In the days when even the smallest villages were linked by steam train. The Industrial Revolution had peaked and the landscape of the North West of England was indeed one of dark satanic mills. It was established at a time when football was still primarily a sport.
But the 20th Century saw massive change. Two World Wars, the decline of Manufacturing, growth of service industries, increase (maybe only temporary!) in leisure time and length of retirement – and growth in the Professionalism of Football. The pace of change has effected every aspect of our lives except one……, Football !! So, the membership profile of this particular trade association has remained, uniquely, largely unchanged for 100 years.
Between 1901 and 2001 the population of England & Wales rose by 60%.
In the same period the population of Rochdale increased by only 24%, Bradford by 12%. The large scale immigration from India and Pakistan – countries where cricket dominates as a spectator sport – has masked a decline in real terms in potential fan base of the traditional paying football punter.
Over the same period towns have been created out of villages with Milton Keynes growing 500% (a rate of increase which is showing no signs of slowing), Chelmsford 338% and Basildon 2,200%. Whilst their populations were happy at first to support the teams of their forefathers, lack of ticket availability in all-seater stadiums and a need to create their own sense of community, of belonging, leads to a demand for their own teams. And we’re now in a time when society won’t wait until tomorrow. If society wants something it expects it NOW!! And to meet this need by ploughing investment into an existing non-league team is too risky, too slow.
THE PROBLEM
But Professional Football PLC, like other businesses before them, do recognise the optimum location of its “branches”. And the picture is somewhat different to the “map” agreed 100 years ago. They can see the benefit of tapping into the relative wealth of, for example, Milton Keynes. But the only tool at their disposal has been by promotion and relegation from the Football League. But they recognise that this is painfully slow, and has great risks – for the investor and themselves. What would happen if Man Utd slipped down the Football League and were replaced by your local pub side. Sounds great, you say, but would be a financial disaster for all.
Rochdale’s highest attendance so far this season is 3,218. Bury is even lower at 2,912. A ranking of club average attendance based on ground capacity shows the bottom four to be Rochdale, Notts County, Bury and, at the bottom, Darlington. These clubs do not add value to Professional Football PLC, but it is high risk to rely on relegation/promotion to resolve the imbalance. Notts County are 5th and Darlington 10th so unlikely to go down. And Dagenham & Redbridge, currently 2nd in the Conference attract an average crowd of 1,456.
So this imbalance has to be remedied by other means.
THE SOLUTION
As a football fan you have the right to expect to be able to continue to support your club. But you have absolutely no automatic right to keep your status amongst the elite 92. And with bankruptcy and relegation the only way out then the unfortunate truth is that the best option open to the Pete Winkelmans of this world is to buy your franchise.
Milton Keynes Dons, despite the protests, are already the 2nd best supported team in the 2nd Division. And with a new stadium being built with a 20,000 plus capacity look to be going from strength to strength. This week they played against Premiership Tottenham Hotspur, to a sell out crowd of over 8,000. The team they replaced were not mourned. The opposition fans sang no songs in protest. Wimbledon, and I really don’t mean to be disrespectful (particularly as a number of my family live within a stones throw of Plough Lane), were the Professional Football PLC version of the pub team on a good run. They didn’t attract fans through the turnstile. A match against them was never the first one you looked for in the fixture list. You wouldn’t switch the TV over from Eastenders on a Monday night to watch them play. And this had nothing to do with sport. In short – they were the unpopular zit infested kid at school. The owners of Wimbledon knew they had something of incredible value, and they sold it. And, Professional Football PLC rubbed their hands with glee.
THE FUTURE
Celtic and Rangers have long been mooted as interested in moving from the Scottish subsidiary of Professional Football International PLC and joining their English friends across the border. Assuming that there are no plans to expand the league to 94 and assuming that neither club wish to apply to join the English non-League and try for successive promotions, then buying – or being given - a franchise looks the best option.
Woolwich Arsenal in the early 20th century, Wimbledon in the early 21st. I promise you won’t have to wait as long for the next. But who will it be……?
Thanks to both Badger Atkins and MK Gould for their balanced contributions - Ed
The camera shy MK Gould (left) with his minder Photographic contributions courtesy of Casey Jones
