Do MK Dons Deserve Respect?

Do MK Dons deserve respect? Some people think so and their numbers appear to be growing. John Still, the manager of Dagenham & Redbridge, was interviewed by Sky prior to last Saturday's final round of matches in League Two. If his side went up through the play-offs, Still said, they could potentially face five trips to big clubs next season. He then ticked off the names – the three sides relegated from the Championship, plus Leeds and MK Dons. In the event, Still was to be denied his wish as Dagenham lost their vital final game to Shrewsbury. It could be that being the manager of Dagenham & Redbridge, an entity assembled from the parts of four clubs, may give you an odd perspective on what constitutes a proper football team. But Still's outlook is far from unusual, as we may get to see over the next couple of weeks.

Scunthorpe will acquire temporary fans around the country tonight when they take on MK Dons in the first leg of their League One play-off, just as Shrewsbury did when they played the team widely known as "Franchise" at the same stage, but one level further down, two years ago. Shrewsbury's manager at the time, Gary Peters, had played for Wimbledon in the 1980s and spoke out against the club's relocation to Milton Keynes in the build-up to the match. This was a rare case of a football insider expressing their opposition to the Dons' existence. When Peters' team went on to win the tie, some optimists may have wondered if it would be the beginning of a slide into obscurity for Milton Keynes – surely the local interest in the club, whipped up by an expensive PR campaign, wouldn't be sustained over a long spell at the fourth level? Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to find out as Paul Ince's side easily won promotion last year.

It may still be the case that the club will go into decline if they get stuck at the third level but right now they are only three games away from the Championship. At least one influential football writer would love to see them step up and he invokes the dreaded "political correctness" in explaining why their critics are wrong. Patrick Barclay of the Times is a former resident of Milton Keynes, which is now apparently "a proper football town", their club contrasted with Wimbledon who "could never pull a crowd". It will be interesting to see how Sky's commentary team describe the club during their play-off coverage but I'm prepared to bet that we will hear a lot more about this notion that MK Dons are now a club in their own right who are gaining acceptance within football. This is a virus that urgently needs to be contained. Come on Scunthorpe, or Millwall, or Leeds.

If you supported Wimbledon and they left to Milton Keynes would ity be seen as okay to support a different London club? Just wondering what the regulars thought.

I love the town Milton Keynes

I don't have a problem with them. At the end of the day, although I don't like glory supporters and that, Wimbledon were going bust. At one point as a Premiership club they took 17 away fans to a game. You can't survive with such a low level of support - they had to move or let the club go bust, so they took the best of two bad decisions.

I don't have a problem with them. At the end of the day, although I don't like glory supporters and that, Wimbledon were going bust. At one point as a Premiership club they took 17 away fans to a game. You can't survive with such a low level of support - they had to move or let the club go bust, so they took the best of two bad decisions.

And supporters of MK Dons definitely don't deserve all the abuse they get for supporting their local team.

I miss the old Wimbledon. Best match I ever went to was when we beat them 6-2 at Selhurst. MK Dons seems a bit weird and I find it funny how the people of Milton Keynes feel some sort of pride for them. It usually takes decades.

I think it's a moot point that Wimbledon were going bust. They might have slid down the leagues, but eventually they'd have found a home and a level and carried on, their glory days part of their history and heritage. They were a small club on a massive crest. Under normal circumstances, admin, a couple of relegations and a return to lower league football. I presume that the 17 fans was during the boycott too.

Also, I disagree that the club going bust would be worse than moving. Clubs go bust all the time. Recently, I can think of Halifax and Scarborough. Both of these have had successful pheonix clubs in the lower leagues. One such pheonix club, Aldershot Town, was recently promoted to the football league. Rather have a pheonix club in the non-league than the knowledge that a town with money stole my league position.

Do Milton Keynes have any other football team? If not.. Then you've got to hand it to the clubs football fans, instead of supporting a club like man utd etc (glory hunting) they have went for there local team (be it a new team) but if they have other clubs around them then i find it wierd.