27 replies to this topic

[mahoosive]

http://news.bbc.co.u...ll/15636043.stm

It's been announced that the land around the stadium will finally get the shopping complex it wanted, and that in turn will finance the stadium in getting the seats on the upper tier to make it into full capacity.

Two issues though...
One, the article doesn't mention the completion of the arena (where Collectormania has been wanted to be held in)
Two, they want the seats to be in place by the start of next season, so presumably when Collectormania is due to be held, the place will be pretty much a building site?

Anyone have any further info?

[BeatrixKiddo88]

They want to build more when they have not even finished the other stuff they started?

[Daniel]

Well, atleast its a start. Anything to get it somewhere else than that awful stadium concourse.

I wouldn't hold my breathe on it been finished anythime soon though.

[mahoosive]

BeatrixKiddo88, on Nov 8 2011, 10:42 PM, said:

They want to build more when they have not even finished the other stuff they started?

I think the biggest problem was the money ran out... I know they had planned the shopping park earlier but had companies pull out in the recession.

[BeatrixKiddo88]

mahoosive, on Nov 9 2011, 01:30 AM, said:

BeatrixKiddo88, on Nov 8 2011, 10:42 PM, said:

They want to build more when they have not even finished the other stuff they started?

I think the biggest problem was the money ran out... I know they had planned the shopping park earlier but had companies pull out in the recession.

I mean the inside of the arena thats been un-built for years. If they have enough money to start new projects now, why not finish that first then move on?

Daniel, on Nov 9 2011, 12:21 AM, said:

Well, atleast its a start. Anything to get it somewhere else than that awful stadium concourse.

I wouldn't hold my breathe on it been finished anythime soon though.

Oh, that wont mean we wont be on the concourse. We used to be in a shopping area and they kicked us out. Might be the same with this one. Its why we need the arena finished FIRST.

[Ophelia]

BeatrixKiddo88, on Nov 9 2011, 01:31 AM, said:

mahoosive, on Nov 9 2011, 01:30 AM, said:

BeatrixKiddo88, on Nov 8 2011, 10:42 PM, said:

They want to build more when they have not even finished the other stuff they started?

I think the biggest problem was the money ran out... I know they had planned the shopping park earlier but had companies pull out in the recession.

I mean the inside of the arena thats been un-built for years. If they have enough money to start new projects now, why not finish that first then move on?

Daniel, on Nov 9 2011, 12:21 AM, said:

Well, atleast its a start. Anything to get it somewhere else than that awful stadium concourse.

I wouldn't hold my breathe on it been finished anythime soon though.

Oh, that wont mean we wont be on the concourse. We used to be in a shopping area and they kicked us out. Might be the same with this one. Its why we need the arena finished FIRST.

I think they own the land and they would have had received some sort of revenue from shops built there which would have financed the completion of their buildings.
Some shops pulled out due to the recession and from what I've heard some have had trouble getting planning permission because the MK Shopping Centre have put in objections claiming it will take business away from them.

[BeatrixKiddo88]

And the reason we had to leave the centre was for some odd reason they thought loads of people who wouldnt normally come to MK being around their shops REDUCED business and stopped them trading...


...hmmm, I think the water needs to be checked in MK.


I love the Dons hotel and and love MK being on the concourse. Still my fav event each year.

[Ian Barker]

With CM18 only a couple on montsh away now, I thought I'd ask the question with regards to location once more.

I'm sure by now the guys will know whether we'll be blowing in the wind again on the concourse.

I need to know whether i need to delay stowing my artic weather gear until after CM.

[dwarfbabe]

It's likely to be out on the concourse again so pack your warm clothes.

[Daniel]

If there is no word on any expansion completion, it probably will be in the concourse again .

[BeatrixKiddo88]

If I see the stadium finished in my lifetime, I'll eat a load of printer paper...

[Corinne_Brown]

As the dates are a little later than usual, it might be warmer? You never know!  

[whatadom]

Being a Wimbledon fan I hoped never to attend this venue given that this stadium exists because of the destruction it caused to a community in South West London.

The McDons stadium was built as a property deal so that ASDA could built a store. In order to build such a complex a football stadium had to be integrated for planning permission to be granted. The person to benefit from the building of this complex is none other than Peter Winkleman (I'll let you go to the AFC Wimbledon forums to find out what I normally refer to Winkie as.)

Seeing as most football clubs make huge losses every year there isn't really much impetus to finish the stadium, Winkie has mainly benefit finically from other parts of the complex i.e. The building of ASDA and IKEA.

I do have a very genuine question though.

As an AFC Wimbledon fan I feel absolutely disgusted by attending this venue because of the links to my previous club Wimbledon FC. Is there much of an MK Dongs presence at the stadium, in terms of staff, players and club representatives?

I've spoken to the organisers about this and they tend not to know. Can anyone who has been to the venue before let me know about the presence of the franchise is? (franchise being the MK Cons)

[BeatrixKiddo88]

I've never noticed anything at all.

Sometimes they have young people doing the sunday practice on the pitch, thats about it.

The whole point of the dates is that they miss any matches or anything big at the stadium.


So yeah, I wouldnt let any football politics rubbish effect your enjoyment of the event.

[dwarfbabe]

I agree with BeatrixKiddo.

What you need to be thinking about is that this event has great guests, lots of stalls selling all kinds of memorabilia and a fantastic atmosphere. Why let a bit of football politics spoil that for you?

[whatadom]

The guests do look great but please understand my POV and how I utterly detest that particular football club and club officials as a result of moving from Wimbledon 60 miles away to Milton Keynes and thus becoming a franchise. As a result I do not wish to supply any money to the football club or the stadium.

Thankfully I have been told there is no entrance fee (no money going to the club) and that the only thing I really have to worry about is purchasing food within the stadium.

Which I plan to avoid doing at all costs.

Apart from all that I'm looking forward to it, there appears to be some great guests on the weekend.

[dwarfbabe]

There's both an Asda and McDonalds within yards of the stadium. Depending on how much you want to spend, there's also the hotel.

I always try to avoid buying food in the stadium as well.

[fifi]

Loved sitting and watching the kids playing footie last year :)  Mind you, woud rather not be walking around in a wind tunnel but the parking is easy and free, so not all bad. It's the guests sitting still who sometimes turn blue!!

whatadom, on Apr 3 2012, 12:41 PM, said:

The guests do look great but please understand my POV and how I utterly detest that particular football club and club officials as a result of moving from Wimbledon 60 miles away to Milton Keynes and thus becoming a franchise. As a result I do not wish to supply any money to the football club or the stadium.

Thankfully I have been told there is no entrance fee (no money going to the club) and that the only thing I really have to worry about is purchasing food within the stadium.

Which I plan to avoid doing at all costs.

Apart from all that I'm looking forward to it, there appears to be some great guests on the weekend.

Asda is def the best bet for food and just a stone's throw away.  I usually have a big breakfast at the hotel then don't bother about food all day..just take a bottle of water with me (that's a bit expensive too!).  Can't wait to meet Nichelle Nichols.

[BeatrixKiddo88]

Wow...it's just a game lol

And yeah, lots of cheaper food around the place. Always go to KFC or McDs and go to asda to supply our hotel room.


And you cant really avoid them getting any, I'm sure SM has to pay them a little something to be there. If not awesome! More money for guests for us.

[TommyT]

BeatrixKiddo88, on Apr 3 2012, 04:38 PM, said:

Wow...it's just a game lol

Except it's not, is it? Aside froma little local history being uprooted and destroyed, you had perhaps 10,000 or 15,000 Wimbledon fans who used to gather together twenty or thirty times a year to indulge in something they all enjoyed and indulge a sense of camaraderie and shared experience and "togetherness", of being like-minded souls  who "got it" and weren't ousiders  or "different" for those few hours of a Saturday afternoon. And as well as firm friendships there were also casual friendships and nodding relationships and all sorts in between. Sound familiar?
Think of perhaps 10 or 15 thousand people going to several signing events every year, mainly for the main attarction, but also meeting up with old friends and acquaintances and shooting the breeze. Suppose somebody stopped all the events you could go to - wouldn't you feel aggrieved?
Plus of course moving the football club had a more tangible effectr on the local environment. As well as tearing a big whole in the "local fabric", people also lost their jobs. I'm sure that not all of the ground staff and tea ladies and cleaners and office support and the people that did the laundry and everything else at a football club upped sticks and moved off up the M1. And I'd guess the local printers who did the match programmes and posters and various other things probably had to let or two of their own staff go. Ditto the people who did the catering supplies  and all the other things a sizeable football club consumes. And the pubs around the ground that did good business, and chippies and newsagents. It's not just a game, it was an entire business that was uprooted, and some of the people that worked there lost jobs, and some other local businesses who serviced the club and its supporters would have lost jobs too.
It may be many things, but in this case it's most definitely not "just a game".
That said, I'm not sure the original poster's almost rigid determination to maintain complete "sanctions" is entirely proportionate, but hey, it was his club not mine. In summary, whilst the OP might seem a little extreme, there's more than just a "game" to it, IMHO.