MK Dons

The MKDSA has responded to a letter that was sent to the Football Association by the Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association (WISA).

WISA's 'Open Letter' was sent after the recent announcement that Milton Keynes had been selected as a 2018 candidate host city.  WISA expressed their dismay at this decision and was urging other supporters to send their views to the FA and was published on the WISA web site (http://www.wisa.org.uk/cgi/l/articles/index.cgi?action=show&id=601).  A copy of which is also available at the bottom of this article.

The response by the MKDSA was by letter to Simon Wheeler Chair of WISA with a copy also sent to the Football Association, England 2018 Ltd and Milton Keynes Dons FC.

We have also made the FSF aware of our feelings regarding this matter as it is obvious to us that WISA are in clear breach of the Accord that was signed in 2006.

MKDSA reply letter dated 30th December 2009:

Dear Simon

We note with regret your recent open letter to the Football Authorities regarding the naming of Milton Keynes as one of the potential host cities for England’s World Cup bid (http://www.wisa.org.uk/cgi/l/articles/index.cgi?action=show&id=601).

We are saddened that Wimbledon Independent Supporters’ Association (WISA), have decided to act contrary to the spirit of the Accord that was signed between the Football Supporters’ Federation (FSF), WISA, Milton Keynes Dons and the Milton Keynes Dons Supporters’ Association (MKDSA) in 2006. We note that the accord was signed by WISA after an overwhelming democratic vote from amongst the AFC Wimbledon supporters, of 1023 in favour and 23 against.

We would specifically draw your attention to the following part of the accord:

16. The FSF and WISA confirm that they do not expect MKDFC to implement the recommendations of the FA Appeal Commission relating to maintaining links with South London, and would support moves by the club to develop its identity as a new club within Milton Keynes.

Milton Keynes Dons have teamed up with partners from within our region to develop a winning bid that satisfies the criteria laid down by the 2018 Bid Committee. The bid allows the Milton Keynes Dons to further develop the club’s identity, not only within Milton Keynes but also on a national scale, and as such WISA’s public comments are directly opposed to the accord, currently lodged with the FA, which all parties signed.

In the context of the wider fans movement, WISA’s public statement can only be seen as detrimental to the fantastic advances of organisations such as the FSF, who brokered the deal between all parties. Your open letter to the FA is in direct contravention to the signed agreement that is lodged with the FA. What message regarding the integrity and trustworthiness of supporters’ organisations do you think that this ill thought out act will transmit to the Football Authorities?

Whilst we understand that there will be an element within your supporter base that will object to anything Milton Keynes related, we would ask that you remind them of the following from the Accord:

17. In promoting the approval and acceptance of this accord all parties to it accept that there is no solution which will completely satisfy all concerned and that all parties have made some compromises to achieve this position which represents the best way forward in all the circumstances.

I am proud that the Milton Keynes Dons, MKDSA and the FSF have all kept honourably to the accord and would remind you that it is in the wider interests of supporters that WISA sticks to its democratically arrived at agreement. The object of the accord was to draw a line, learn lessons and move on. It’s time that this was put into practice by all parties.

Yours sincerely

John Brockwell
Chairperson
Milton Keynes Dons Supporters’ Association

Cc -
Mr Ian Watmore, Chief Executive, The Football Association
Lord Triesman, Chairman, The Football Association
Mr Andy Anson, Chief Executive, England 2018 Ltd
Mr Pete Winkelman, Chairman, Milton Keynes Dons FC

Letter ends.
Please note, the reason for the delay in publication is that we think it’s good manners to let the other party read the letter addressed to them before making it public.

WISA's Open Letter

Issued: 24/12/2009 03:12:23

To: Mr Ian Watmore, Chief Executive, The Football Association
Lord Triesman, Chairman, The Football Association
Mr Andy Anson, Chief Executive, England 2018 Ltd

Dear Sirs,

The Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association (WISA) is dismayed to discover that Milton Keynes has been selected as a 2018 candidate host city. WISA is particularly disappointed that the Football Association’s own ambiguous processes have once again given support and credibility to football franchising and the dangerous precedent that it could have set in English football.

I do not need to remind you that the Football Association and the Football League both opposed Wimbledon FC’s relocation to Milton Keynes. But negligence by the Football Association -- the same Association responsible for England’s 2018 World Cup bid -- and by the Football League, in failing to act with due diligence, resulted in Wimbledon FC’s then owners forcing independent arbitration via the threat of legal action. By choosing to avoid legal action through the appointment of an independent three-man commission, and effectively handing this commission the authority to make the final decision in this matter, both the Football Association and Football League abdicated their responsibility to uphold the rules governing the location of football clubs.

The latest misguided decision by the Football Association, in choosing Milton Keynes as a 2018 candidate host city, has successfully managed to undermine the foundations of England’s 2018 World Cup bid. WISA remains mystified as to why the Football Association has once again decided to so publicly punish Wimbledon supporters, renewing the hurt and pain caused by the shameful decision of the Football Association Commission to allow Wimbledon FC to relocate to Milton Keynes, a decision which at the time seemed certain to destroy another community’s football club.

Jim White, writing for The Times, correctly asserted: “And now the 2018 bid committee have gifted Winkelman and MK that place in the football firmament he promised eight years ago. Meanwhile, in Wimbledon they must be looking on in astonishment at the glittering rewards of theft”.

By selecting Milton Keynes as a 2018 candidate host city, the Football Association has sent out a clear message to the world that it is willing to reward a town that has an unequivocal lack of ambition, appetite and understanding of football. The residents of Milton Keynes quite simply failed to develop and nurture their own football club. Instead, they effectively leap-frogged the entire pyramid structure of English football. Thanks to the decision of the three-man commission, Milton Keynes were handed a team which at that point was in the (then) Division One, without having had to go through the normal process of developing a club that advances on merit by the accepted method of scoring more goals and winning more games than its opponents.

In a word, they cheated. And cheating has no place in football. Yet by this latest decision, the Football Association has condoned an act of thievery which strikes at the very integrity of the game.

There is considerable irony in the Football Association’s inclusion of Milton Keynes as a 2018 candidate host city for a competition that is designed to demonstrate to a global audience the enduring appeal of the “beautiful game”, while promoting fair play.

Sadly, the Football Association has now pronounced it acceptable for a town which stole another community’s football club to be considered part of the footballing elite in this country. In doing so, the Football Association has abandoned its duty to act as a custodian of the game.

Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association strongly urges the Football Association to remove Milton Keynes from the list of candidate host venues for the 2018 World Cup.

Yours sincerely,

Simon Wheeler
Chair, Wimbledon Independent Supporters Association