Stadium MK

Pete Winkelman, who led Inter MK and the Milton Keynes Stadium Consortium, and subsequently became chairman of Milton Keynes Dons F.C. (2011 photograph)

From the first days of Milton Keynes as a new town, designated in 1967, the Milton Keynes Development Corporation (1967–1992) envisaged a stadium capable of accommodating a top-flight football team.[7][8] What would become Stadium MK was first proposed in 2000 by the Milton Keynes Stadium Consortium or "Stadium MK", led by Pete Winkelman and his company Inter MK Group.[9][10] This consortium proposed a large development in the southern Milton Keynes district of Denbigh North, including a 30,000-capacity football stadium, a 150,000-square-foot (13,935 m²) Asda hypermarket, an IKEA store, a hotel, a conference centre, and a retail park.[11][12][13][14] The plan to build a ground of this size was complicated by the fact that there was no professional football club in Milton Keynes and that the highest-ranked team in the town, Milton Keynes City—based in Wolverton in northern Milton Keynes, and formerly known as Mercedes-Benz F.C.—played in the then eighth-tier Spartan South Midlands League, four divisions below the Football League.[15] The developers could not justify building such a stadium for a club of this small stature.[13][16]

Winkelman, an ex-CBS Records executive and music promoter, had moved to the Milton Keynes area from London in 1993.[17] He attested to a vast untapped fanbase for football in Milton Keynes—a "football frenzy waiting to happen", he said.[18] Critics of this claim pointed to the apparent lack of public interest in Milton Keynes City and the other local non-League clubs,[9][18] and argued that Milton Keynes residents interested specifically in League football already had ample access with Luton Town, Northampton Town and Rushden & Diamonds all within 25 miles (40 km).[9] Winkelman was the only person in Milton Keynes publicly associated with the project;[11] his financial supporters, later revealed to be Asda (a subsidiary of Walmart) and Ikea,[13][19] were kept strictly anonymous.[11]

Opponents of such a move surmised that the stadium was a "Trojan Horse" included in the blueprint to bypass planning rules, and that although the consortium described the larger development as enabling the construction of the stadium, the reverse was the case—Winkelman's consortium, they claimed, had to have a professional team in place right away to justify the ground so the development could get planning permission.[13][16][19][20] David Conn of The Guardian corroborated this assessment. "The whole project was indeed dependent on Asda and Ikea," Conn summarised in a 2012 article, after interviewing Winkelman. "Having seen the opportunity to build a stadium Milton Keynes lacked, and realised Asda did not have a store in the town, Winkelman acquired options to buy the land from its three owners, including the council. Asda would not have been granted planning permission for a huge out-of-town superstore unless it gave the council the benefit of building the stadium. A League club would move up, permission would be granted, then Winkelman would exercise the option to buy all the land, sell it to Asda and IKEA for very much more, and the difference would be used to build the stadium."[19] Conn retrospectively described this as the "deal of a lifetime".[19]

Starting in 2000 the consortium offered this proposition to several Football League clubs, including Luton Town, Crystal Palace, Barnet,[21] Queens Park Rangers,[22] and Wimbledon F.C..[10] Wimbledon F.C., who had groundshared at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park ground since 1991, adopted the Milton Keynes plan after the appointment of a new chairman, Charles Koppel, in January 2001.[23] Koppel said that such action was necessary to prevent Wimbledon F.C.'s going out of business.[10] He announced Wimbledon F.C.'s intent to move on 2 August 2001 with a letter to the Football League requesting approval, stating that Wimbledon had already signed an agreement to relocate and "subject to the necessary planning and regulatory consents being obtained" intended to be playing home games at a newly built stadium in Milton Keynes by the start of the 2003–04 season.[24] The proposed move was opposed in most quarters;[24] the League board unanimously rejected Wimbledon's proposed move in August 2001.[24] Koppel appealed against this decision, leading to a Football Association (FA) arbitration hearing and subsequently the appointment of a three-man independent commission by the FA in May 2002 to make a final and binding verdict.[25] The League and FA stated opposition but the commissioners ruled in favour, two to one.[26][27]

Wimbledon F.C. hoped to move to Milton Keynes immediately, but as the new ground was yet to be built an interim home in the town would have to be found first. The first proposal, to start the 2002–03 season at the National Hockey Stadium in central Milton Keynes, was abandoned because it did not meet Football League stadium criteria. While alternative temporary options were examined—Winkelman suggested converting the National Bowl music venue[28]—Wimbledon F.C. started the season at Selhurst Park and set a target of playing in MK by Christmas 2002.[29] A group of Wimbledon F.C. fans protested by setting up AFC Wimbledon, to which the vast majority of Wimbledon F.C. fans switched allegiance, in June 2002.[30] A temporary stadium in Milton Keynes proved difficult to arrange and Wimbledon F.C. remained in south London at the end of the 2002–03 season. Koppel announced a plan to convert the National Hockey Stadium for football and play there from the start of the 2003–04 season until the new stadium was built.[31]

MK Dons (white shirts) playing at the National Hockey Stadium during the 2004–05 season

Wimbledon F.C. entered administration in June 2003.[32] After the club missed a deadline to invest in renovations to the Hockey Stadium,[33] confusion arose as to whether Wimbledon F.C. would move and where they would play if they did.[34] The administrators arranged a return to Selhurst Park.[35] With the move threatened and the club facing liquidation, Winkelman made "the life-defining decision", to quote Conn, "of taking it on himself".[19] He secured funds from his consortium for the administrators to pay the players' wages, keep the club operating, and pay for the necessary renovations for the National Hockey Stadium to host League football.[33]

After hosting the first few home matches of the 2003–04 campaign at Selhurst Park, Wimbledon F.C. played their first match in Milton Keynes in September 2003.[36] A company voluntary arrangement was put together in March 2004 under which Winkelman's consortium would take Wimbledon F.C. out of administration, reportedly using a holding company called MK Dons.[14] The Football League threatened to expel the club if the takeover were not completed by 31 July.[37] Winkelman's Inter MK Group brought Wimbledon F.C. out of administration in late June 2004 and concurrently announced changes to its name, badge and colours.[38][39] The new name was Milton Keynes Dons F.C. (commonly shortened to MK Dons).[39]

Milton Keynes Dons continued to play at the National Hockey Stadium while the development including the new ground was constructed in Denbigh. Asda paid Inter MK £35 million for its section of the site, IKEA £24 million.[19] Ground was broken on the stadium in February 2005.[40] In December 2005 MK Dons set a target of playing at the new ground by January 2007;[41] in February 2007 they revised their proposal to a 22,000-seater stadium ready in July of that year, with provision for expansion to 32,000 (it had originally been intended to seat 30,000).[42] The new ground, Stadium mk, hosted its first match in July 2007.[43] Four months later, on 29 November 2007, it was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.[44]

The club's first stadium was the National Hockey Stadium, which was temporarily converted for football for the duration of the club's stay. Their lease on this ground ended in May 2007.

On 18 July 2007, the club's new 22,000 seater stadium hosted its first game, a restricted-entrance event against a young Chelsea XI.[51] The stadium was officially opened on 29 November 2007 by the Queen.[52]

The Dons are the stadium's main tenant and most frequent user, with all the amenities built within the stadium (such as the club shop) are designed for the club's benefit.

Although Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the stadium in November 2007,[52] it hosted its first game on 18 July 2007, a match against a Chelsea XI, which resulted in a 4–3 win for the home side.[51] Later in July an England Legends XI took on a World Legends XI in a match in memory of the late England footballer Alan Ball.[53][54][55]

It has hosted two England under-21 internationals. The first was a 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification Group 3 match against Bulgaria's under-21s on 16 November 2007. The hosts beat the visitors 2–0 with Mark Noble scoring twice (on the tenth minute and the seventeenth minute) and James Milner scoring on the twenty sixth minute with 20,222 in attendance. The other was an international friendly against Azerbaijan's under 21s 31 March 2009. The hosts thrashed the visitors 7–0 with Kieran Gibbs scoring twice and single goals from Michael Mancienne, Craig Gardner and Jack Rodwell as well as own goals from Elcin Sadiqov and Elvin Mammadov with 12,020 in attendance.[56]

On 5 June 2010, the stadium hosted a full international friendly; Ghana beat Latvia 1–0 in their last warm-up before the World Cup in South Africa.[57]

In December 2009, the English FA awarded 'Candidate Host City' status to Milton Keynes. Had England won the bid, Stadium MK would have hosted some games. For this to happen, the stadium capacity would have had to be increased to 44,000.[58] However, on 2 December 2010, FIFA decided not to award the World Cup to England.

In late 2014, it was reported that Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur were in negotiations with MK Dons over a temporary groundshare at Stadium MK for a season, during renovations at Spurs' White Hart Lane ground.[59] According to press reports, Tottenham proposed to play most home matches in MK and a small number at Wembley Stadium.[60] The idea of playing home matches in Milton Keynes, even temporarily, was largely unpopular with Spurs fans.[61] The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust stated in September 2014 that it would have "serious issues" with such an arrangement.[62] In a London Evening Standard poll of 206 Tottenham fans two months later, 71 (34%) said they would attend home matches at Stadium mk if the club played there temporarily, while 135 (66%) said they would not.[63] The Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore stated in July 2015 that the Premier League would have no objection to Tottenham groundsharing temporarily—either with MK Dons or with Chelsea at Wembley—but to defend "the integrity of the competition" would not allow Tottenham to play home matches at more than one location in the same season.[64] Two months later, the FA chief executive Martin Glenn indicated that he supported the idea of clubs playing temporarily at Wembley while their grounds were redeveloped.[65]

Spurs eventually ended up playing a game at Stadium MK[66] against Watford in front of 23,650 people[67] a fixture supported by former MK Dons player and Milton Keynes local Dele Alli.[68]

On 1 June 2014, the stadium hosted the 2013–14 FA Women's Cup final.[69] Arsenal defeated Everton 2–0.[70]

As of the 2018–19 season, MK Dons women's team share Stadium MK as their home stadium with their male counterparts, Milton Keynes Dons – one of the first clubs in the country to share a stadium between both men's and women's teams of the same club.[71]

The stadium has been shortlisted to be a host venue for the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.[72]

Saracens were the first club to host a Premiership rugby match at Stadium mk when Bristol Rugby visited on 10 May 2008, away from their regular Vicarage Road ground, due to Watford F.C. playing at home in the 2008 Championship play-off semi-final. It provided a grand stage for Rugby World Cup 2003 winner Richard Hill's 288th and last appearance for the men in black. A last-minute try from Kameli Ratuvou ensured Hill's 15-year club career finished on a winning note.[73]

On 30 December 2012, Saracens hosted Northampton Saints for a regular season match at Stadium MK, while their new stadium at Barnet Copthall was still being built. The Saints hosted Saracens in April 2015 before a record 27,411 crowd, as a Premiership game and additionally as a preparation exercise for the stadium's hosting of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.[74] Northampton hosting games at Stadium MK became a regular occurrence and Saints hosted at one game a season at the stadium between the 2014–15 and 2016–17 seasons.

On 24 January 2011, the Northampton Saints Rugby union club announced that their 2010–11 Heineken Cup quarter final match against Ulster would take place in the stadium, because their Franklin's Gardens ground is too small to meet the minimum 15,000 seats demanded by the organisers.[75]

The Saints had previously indicated that they might play future major games at Stadium MK as their proposal to expand Franklin's Gardens using an enabling (ASDA supermarket) development had encountered planning difficulties.[76]

Accordingly, their quarter-final match was played at the stadium on Sunday 10 April 2011 in front of a (then) stadium record crowd of 21,309 supporters[77] who witnessed the Saints (the 'home' side for the day) beat Ulster 23–13.[78] This secured for the Saints a place in the semi-final of the Heineken Cup where they went on to beat USA Perpignan, again at Stadium MK.[79]

On 21 January 2012, Northampton Saints played their final 2011–12 Heineken Cup pool match at Stadium MK against Munster. Saints were defeated 36–51 but the game set a new stadium record attendance of 22,220.[80]

On 8 October 2012, the organisers of the 2015 Rugby World Cup announced that the stadium was one of 17 to be short-listed for detailed appraisal, leading to the final choice of 12 stadiums to be announced in March 2013[81] It was officially announced as a venue for the 2015 Rugby World Cup on 2 May, and with the venue capacity to expand to 32,000, it hosted three fixtures. The first was a Pool D match between France and Canada on 1 October 2015 with France winning 41–18 with 28,145 in attendance.[82] The second was a Pool B match between Samoa and Japan two days later with Japan winning 26–5 with 29,019 in attendance.[83] The third and final was a Pool A match between Fiji and Uruguay three days later with Fiji winning 47–15 with new stadium attendance record, with 30,048 in attendance.[84]

There is a hotel, shopping complex, restaurants and a cinema adjacent to the stadium.

The nearest railway stations are Bletchley and Fenny Stratford. Both of these are about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) away from the stadium. Milton Keynes Central station, about 2.6 miles (4.2 km) away, has more intercity services. Milton Keynes Central and Bletchley are on the busy West Coast Main Line to London, the West Midlands and the North-West; Fenny Stratford is on the quiet Marston Vale Line to Bedford. There are shuttle bus connections from the Central and Bletchley stations. Car parking beside the stadium is limited and expensive: time limits on parking outside the shops are strictly enforced on match days. On special occasions, the National Bowl is used for overflow parking.