It has been twenty years as the object of scorn for both fans of the former Wimbledon and those from other clubs vehement in their opposition to both the chain of events that led to their formation and the club which emerged. Those who welcomed the newly rechristened Milton Keynes Dons into being and indeed the Football League, as part of an attempt to rejuvenate their new catchment area, must have cause to reflect on how far- or not- they've come since June 21, 2004.
The culmination of Pete Winkelman's crusade/long-term mission to deliver a club to his particular corner of Buckinghamshire- has only recently come to an end as he sold up to a Kuwaiti consortium. Whose first move has been to tempt Scott Lindsay back down into League Two after leading Crawley to promotion, their run to Wembley including an 8-1 aggregate routing of his new employers!
New chairman Fahad Al-Ghanim was quick to introduce himself via an open letter in the Milton Keynes Citizen while also paying tribute to his predecessor.
“I know this will come as a surprise to many of you and represents a great change as Pete has led MK Dons since the club's inception 20 years ago. Let me be the first to reassure you that my ambition is to build on the fantastic foundations already here in Milton Keynes, and to take MK Dons to the next level, both on the pitch and off it. “
The next level, as they see it, clearly being a quick return to League One after the abject relegation of last season, the new owners pulling off something of a coup in securing the services of a man who now has form when it comes to pulling a surprise or two from the hat rather than opting for more of a “name” gaffer, the sort of trap into which many a Football League club has been suckered and quickly paid the price.
Little wonder then that his now- former employers seemed so gutted to wave him goodbye......
"Scott was such a big part of the success we had in the last year or so. We wanted Scott to stay with us, but ultimately he made the decision to leave, which we respect."
All a far cry from the early days of the rise from Wimbledon's ashes, 2004-05 finding them kicking off in League One under Stuart Murdoch, the last man to have managed them as a London club also making the move to Milton Keynes following the drop out of the Championship. Goal difference alone kept them from a second successive relegation as they finished 20th, above only Torquay and Wrexham to ensure that first season proved more than a bit of a damp squib.
Finding themselves a temporary home at the National Hockey Stadium, they would start in front of their relatively new fanbase against Barnsley, Izale McLeod bagging an equaliser nearly ten minutes from the end to make sure they at least pinched a point. Although they wouldn't get a first win until the end of August, Jason Puncheon making sure they took all three at home to Torquay. To say their start proved inconsistent is probably putting it kindly!
But perhaps it's worth pausing to take a look at the work that got them to the point where they were able to even contemplate carrying on once Wimbledon went to the wall, whatever your point of view on what some went on to dub Franchise FC...
Then- Football League chairman Sir Brian Mawhinney's announcement that MK could start the campaign at all, following the original Dons' long spell in the hands of administrators following a takeover by a Winkleman-led group of investors, marked the moment of triumph.
"After a long and precarious period in administration, Milton Keynes Dons Football Club is now in a position to begin building for the future.”, Sir Brian began, though he was unable to resist adding something of a caveat.
"I hope the League's policy of not permitting clubs to begin consecutive seasons in administration helped to focus the attention of all involved."
Central to the ultimately successful bid was Winkleman and partners' desire to build a permanent home for what was, to all intents and purposes, a new club. A 30,000 seater was the target and Stadium MK construction work began in February 2005, its development a key part of the developing Milton Keynes itself, having begun life as a new town in 1967.
Probably sensibly, they concluded that the only pre-Dons team in town, Milton Keynes City of the Spartan South Midlands League, just wouldn't cut it! And so, when the ambitious plan to move in an already established Football League club was mooted, Winkleman calling this a "football frenzy waiting to happen", little wonder it was lapped up.
And by August 2001, the intended new occupants had confirmed their intent to leave the capital following approval from an independent FA commission, which sparked anger from the Selhurst Park terraces and lit the flame for the formation of AFC Wimbledon as a “true” spiritual successor to the rapidly crumbling parent club. In spite of which they still managed to finish a creditable tenth in the Championship, although failure to reach the play-offs spelled the end for Murdoch's predecessor Terry Burton- the man who had overseen their drop from the Premiership. Fourteen years in the top flight ended by a 2-0 defeat at Southampton after he had stepped into the breach following the resignation of Egil Olsen, who had in turn stepped in for Joe Kinnear.
Successive eighth, ninth and tenth place finishes followed in their first three seasons back in the second tier before an abject 2003/04 season, their last in existence finding them finishing rock bottom on just 29 points and the administrators called in in June 2003. They would play their first match at Milton Keynes in the September, their fall compounded by the need to sell any player who could command a transfer fee, including seven goal top scorer Patrick Agyemang- who Murdoch would later reveal he was told not to play in case injury jeopardised any potential transfer, with the club in dire need of funds.
A sorry end indeed, but the new owners of the end product, and indeed the first manager of their tenure, will hope they can in a sense return to where they started at the first time of asking.