The Dons are the newest club in the Football League hose offical history only dates back to 21 June 2004, nine months after the then Wimbledon F.C moved to Milton Keynes.
Milton Keynes Dons is legally a continuation of Wimbledon FC, however after negotiation with the Wimbledon Independent Supporters' Association, mediated by the Football Supporters Federation, the club agreed to return the trophies and memorabilia of Wimbledon F.C. to the London Borough of Merton and to make no claims on the history of Wimbledon F.C. thereafter. This step was taken in part to ensure the recognition of the Milton Keynes Dons Supporters Association by the Football Supporters Federation.
The history of MK Dons begins in the late 1990s with Pete Winkelman a music promoter and resident of Milton Keynes. Winkelman had a vision to build a FIFA-compliant new stadium complex in the town, providing a sporting & events centre. The core to this project was to base a professional football club at the stadium.
As such Winkelman began approaching football clubs within a reasonable radius of the town who were struggling to gain consent to redevelop their stadia. These included Barnet, Luton Town and Queens Park Rangers. These initial approaches were unsuccessful, however, in Wimbledon , he found a club with owners who were already looking for a new base. He persuaded the directors that a move 56 miles (90 km) north to Milton Keynes might give them the financial boost they wanted. Most of Wimbledon's fans as well as the Football League were against such a move.
On 28 May 2002, despite over a year of fan protests against the idea, the Football Association authorised the move to Milton Keynes. On 5 June 2003, Wimbledon went into financial administration with debts of more than £20 million.
During the 2003-04 season, Wimbledon FC was run by the administrators and many of the team's players were sold. At the end of a dismal season, the club was relegated to League One. During the summer of 2003, the National Hockey Stadium was converted for use as a football stadium, and in September 2003, Wimbledon FC moved into the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes. In spring 2004, to ensure that the idea of permanently basing a football team at the proposed stadium complex became a reality, Winkelman bought the near-bankrupt club from the administrators, although the owning of the club was never the original intention.
When the 2004-05 season began, the team were still being managed by Stuart Murdoch but he was replaced by Danny Wilson and they avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth. The following season, the Dons struggled all year, were relegated to League Two and manager Danny Wilson was sacked.
Wilson's successor for 2006-07 was Martin Allen and they finished fourth before suffering a shock play-off defeat to Shrewsbury, which meant Allen departed to take over at Leicester City. Paul Ince took over as manager and they beat Grimsby Town to bring home the first silverware in the club's history - the Johnstone's Paint Trophy - before securing the League Two title.
Ince's short stay ended when took charge at Blackburn Rovers and Roberto Di Matteo was unveiled as new manager on July 3.
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