MK Dons -- aka Milton Keynes Dons Football Club -- is a rather odd club. Most English football clubs were founded in the 19th or early 20th century, usually in large cities. But MK Dons was founded in 2004 in Milton Keynes in semi-rural northern Buckinghamshire, not an area that has a very strong professional footballing reputation. Milton Keynes was established as a new town in 1967 as a "London overspill" settlement half-way between London and Birmingham. It did not have a major football club until 2004, after things went wrong in far-away Wimbledon.

Wimbledon, a district of southwest London, was home to Wimbledon Football Club, formed in 1889, and nicknamed "the Dons." The club had a lacklustre history until the 1970s when their successes led them to being elected to the English Football League. The team rose to greater success in the 1980s, and then the problems started. The stadium Wimbledon had used since 1912 was deemed unsuitable for a First-Division club on safety grounds. The club tried ground-sharing with neighbouring clubs, but it had become homeless.

In 2001, after rejecting several local sites, the club announced its intention to move to Milton Keynes, about 100 km (60 miles) by road from Wimbledon. The suggestion was hardly popular among the locals, but the Football Association gave permission and so the move went ahead. They took their nickname, the “Dons,” with them and tacked it into on to the initials of their new location, MK. The club was reborn.

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