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The MK Dons are flying high in League One under Roberto Di Matteo, on course for automatic promotion to the Championship thanks to a coaching, backroom and playing staff with Chelsea connections.
But their likely rise to the second tier of English football has come only after a
long and painful fall caused by the franchising of a club and the alienation of its original fans.
At the end of the 2002-03 season (which was the first season after the relocation was announced), Wimbledon went into administration. They were a boycotted club with a tiny remaining following, lodging at Selhurst Park.
In 2003-04, during which they relocated to the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes, they were relegated to League One, then changed their name and continued to struggle, under Danny Wilson, in a temporary home. In 2005-06, they fell to League Two.
Martin Allen stabilised them in 2006-07 and Paul Ince oversaw promotion to League One in 2007-08, when the long-planned move to the new 20,000-seat stadium:mk finally happened.
Di Matteo was hired last summer. Good results have taken MK Dons to second place and attracted average crowds approaching 10,000.
Di Matteo's staff include former Chelsea colleagues Eddie Newton (assistant manager) and Ade Mafe (fitness coach), as well as striker Tore Andre Flo, whose shirt number, 35, matches his age.
The club also has two young defenders on loan from Stamford Bridge, Carl Magnay, 20, and Shaun Cummings, 19.
Midfielders Jemal Johnson and Luke Chadwick have pedigrees in Manchester United's youth system.
- INDEPENDENT
