DATES VISITED THIS GROUND
15/11/2005 - MK 2 Lincoln City 1 (FA)
8/1/2007 - MK 2 Lincoln City 2
There is a lot of controversy surrounding the MK Dons regarding their
previous incarnation as Wimbledon. I'm not going to get into the whole history of it but many people will refuse to go to
the MK Dons on the pure principle that they are viewed as a "franchise". It's one of those touchy subjects that will always
be debated. But I'll be honest, I couldn't give a fuck about the whole situation.
Anyway, this was
probably the only chance I would ever get to visit the National Hockey Stadium due to the Dons moving grounds again soon (as
it turns out, they were relegated and we went there in the league the following year), so there was no chance I was going
to miss this opportunity. Upon arriving at the ground after a relatively easy journey, we took a small trip to the club shop.
Even on the way around to the shop, just being outside of the stadium made it feel like you weren't going to watch a football
match. We eventually made it to what is apparantly a club shop. It's safe to say that it wasn't stocked up at all, the only
decent thing about it being the shirt-naming facility being in view, meaning that it is likely you could get your name done
then.
One thing that's
curious about MK Dons is the surrounding area that contains both a McDonalds and a Burger King, within 20 metres of each other.
Do not go into the Burger King, every staff member in there treats away fans as if we were living on the street and certain
MK Dons fans came over and started bullying a group of children in City shirts, including knocking over their drink. Completely
out of order.
We eventually did
manage to get into the ground and to be fair, the continued feeling of not being at a football match continued. The main stand
is a rather tall structure where green and grey seats just seem to have been randomly inserted into the stand and it
is definatly not pleasing to the higher, however, it looks as though it would provide a good view of the action. The stand
opposite this was an exact replica but without a roof and in similar fashion to City's Echo stand, only ran for 1/3 of the
pitch.
The away end and
it's opposite were almost identical. They were both temporary seating stands that were identical height and provided a great
view of the action, however, the difference being that the home end was given a roof whereas the away end was uncovered.
As with most uncovered
stand, creating an atmosphere was difficult but could be easily createable with a decent following. MK Dons atmosphere can
the "Cowshed" stand behind the goal and to be fair, they did make a bit of noise despite an apparantly lack of numbers consistantly
singing, although they did go very quiet when we scored.
Overall, I must
say that I am mixed about the MK Dons, although there are a few good points, such as the view, there are many negatives, such
as the incidents in Burger King and the feeling that football shouldn't be played here really spoils the day. I seriously
doubt I will ever visit for a random game but if you live nearby, then it could be worth a short trip to see a match.
