MK boss Paul Ince: capable of attracting experienced men
It baffles me that so many people in football have it in for the MK Dons.
I'm only too well aware of the trouble our foundation caused, and to tell the truth I've got nothing but admiration for what the guys at AFC Wimbledon are doing. And yes, they are welcome to reclaim their history and trophies - most MK fans realise it isn't ours to have.
But try to look at it from our point of view here in Milton Keynes. The town is only forty years old, and like all the other new towns in England it never got a proper professional club off the ground for one reason or another - partly due to the fact that most of its inhabitants were ex-Londoners who were inevitably supporters of Arsenal or such like. Civic pride is something that has never really had the chance to grow as organically as it has in older towns and cities, and those of us born and bred in MK were desperate for the chance to support a team in our own town - it's just that no-one seemed to want to set one up properly.
I can understand that people resent that we didn't start MK Dons in the semi-pro leagues and work our way up. But for us, that's happened - it's done - and we and everyone else just have to deal with it. The founders of MK Dons may not be true football folk but we are - what is not in doubt is our dedication to the club and in that sense we are just like any other football fan, from Hartlepool to Torquay.
This season we have a brand new stadium and are already getting crowds of 7000 plus. And with experienced players like Colin Cameron and Kevin Gallen brought in by Paul Ince to go with our promising youngsters, I think we should go up. Who knows, eventually we might become just another football club.
20th August 2007
