And so Winkelman set about making his dream a reality and embarked on a project that had never been undertaken quite so radically before ? trying to persuade a struggling football team to uproot and relocate to a new home. The basic concept of this idea caused enough controversy in itself as the thought of a club casting off its history, fan base and tradition for pastures new was a concept English sport had not encountered, let alone football.



Nevertheless, talks were instigated with Barnet, Luton Town and Queens Park Rangers in a bid to convince them that their footballing futures lay in Milton Keynes. These negotiations were unsuccessful but Winkelman later contacted Charles Koppel, chairman of then Wimbledon FC, who was already considering finding a new home for his team. Wimbledon had ground shared with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park since 1991 and had been hitherto unsuccessful in securing the use of a new ground after leaving their original home of Plough Lane in Merton.

Following Wimbledon's relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 1999/00 season, speculation was rife that the owners were considering moving the club as far afield as Belfast, Cardiff and Dublin in order to generate support and increase revenue for the club's ailing finances. However, after talks with Winkelman, Koppel and his board were adequately convinced that a move 56 miles north was the better option. Despite the fans fury, the board pressed ahead with the idea and, although initially being rejected by the Football Association, on May 28 2002 the move to Milton Keynes was finally approved.

Wimbledon FC moved to their new home at the National Hockey Stadium in the summer of 2003, and hopes were high that the team could shake off all the recent controversy and embark on a successful season. However, the following season did not go quite to plan. In a sporting horror story, Wimbledon were relegated from what used to be known as the First Division with the joint second most defeats ever in a league season during a campaign that was beset by on and off-field problems. The team, with debts of over ?20 million, was run by administrators and players were continually being sold in a bid to raise much-needed cash.

Yet, in the spring of 2004, salvation arrived for what looked like a doomed project when Winkelman bought the bankrupt club from the administrators and set about making wholesale changes.

In June 2004 Winkelman re-named the club the Milton Keynes Dons FC, changed the home strip to all white and also introduced a new badge. In an unprecedented sporting shake-up, the MK Dons had finally got their own identity.

A new era had truly begun.