Homepage > 0405 > Articles

MK Dons Supporters Association

There has been some reports in the media recently that the supporters club of the MK Dons (formerly Wimbledon FC) have been refused entry to the Football Supporters Federation.

According to BBC Three Counties:

"The National Council of the Football Supporters Federation (FSF) have decided that MK Dons supporters will have to wait until June this year to find out whether they will be accepted into the organisation.

The MK Dons Supporters Association's (MKDSA) application to join the FSF caused heated discussion when it was put before the FSF's regional branch last November, and now, the National Council has recommended that the decision should be deferred to the organisation's National Conference in June, rather than be made at the National Council level."

The BFCSA is a member of the FSF and we are sending delegates to the June Conference. Below we reproduce an article from a recent copy of 'The Supporter' (the magazine of the FSF) which explains some of the background to this issue and outlines a motion which will be put to the Conference for members to vote on.

From 'The Supporter'

The football authorities have not acted to introduce rule changes to prevent any recurrence of the 'football franchising' which allowed the former Wimbledon FC to move to Milton Keynes. There has been some criticism of the decision to give space in the last issue of this magazine to the views of the MK Dons supporters, as well as to those of the AFC Wimbledon fans. I think the editor was right to do so because it is important that these debates are held openly and honestly, and that we do not try to censor the views of those who we may disagree with.

This issue has been on the agenda of our National Council following receipt of a membership application from the MK Dons Supporters' Association. The National Council decided that this significant decision should be taken by Annual Conference and decided to table the following self-explanatory resolution at Conference:

Conference notes the membership application from the Milton Keynes based MK Dons Supporters' Club. It reaffirms its total opposition to football franchising and the decision to move the former Wimbledon FC away from its community. It believes that those in Milton Keynes who wanted a Football League Club in their City should have put their energy and resources into supporting Milton Keynes City FC, which has now ceased to exist, in an attempt to rise up the football pyramid, just as the old Wimbledon FC and other clubs did, and as AFC Wimbledon are now attempting to do.

It believes that acceptance into FSF membership at this time of a new Milton Keynes based MK Dons supporters organisation is likely to be used for publicity purposes by that Club and its Chairman in a way which is damaging to the interests of the FSF, and would send out completely the wrong message about the acceptability of football franchising before we have won the battle to ensure that this can never happen again. It further believes that such acceptance would be highly divisive within the FSF and would not show appropriate support to the valued member organisations who have been heavily involved in the fight against football franchising, some of whom have directly been the victims of it. Therefore, in line with objectives (a), (b) and (e) of the FSF, it declines the membership application at this time.

Conference notes that in their own minority report to the Football Task Force, the football authorities said (para.4.1.) "In recognition of the key role a club plays at the heart of the community, the football authorities should introduce rules to prevent a club from disposing of a stadium, or any interest in a stadium without the consent of the FA and/or the relevant league. Consent should only be given to a sale where the football authorities have been satisfied that a suitable alternative has been secured as a long-term home for the club within the community". It deeply regrets that, notwithstanding the above statements, the authorities have not introduced such rules nor made any other rule changes since the approval given to move Wimbledon FC to Milton Keynes to ensure that there can be no further cases of franchising.

However, Conference also recognises that if MK Dons FC survives there may come a time when it would be appropriate to draw a line under this matter and move on, but it believes that this can only occur when the rule changes referred to above have been introduced. It hopes that the MK Dons Supporters' Club will actively support the FSF's campaign for such changes and expresses its willingness to reconsider an application for FSF membership from that supporters' club after such rule changes have been implemented.

BFCSA Committee's position

Please note this article does not necessarily reflect the view of the BFCSA committee. For the record the BFCSA committee have instructed our delegates to listen to the debate on the day and to vote for or against the motion as they see fit. If you have anything you wish to draw to the attention of your association's delegates then please email us on info@bfcsa.co.uk and it will be passed onto them (please quote your membership number).