MK Dons

If ever there was a club born in controversy, it’s Milton Keynes Dons. I was listening to a Grimby podcast the other day and the host wouldn't even say their name. For some, they represent something unsavoury about modern football. Yet, to stop thinking there would be to do Milton Keynes, a city of over a quarter of a million people, a huge disservice.

But, of course, to understand their badge and identity, you do firstly need to rewind to South London and the collapse of Wimbledon FC.

Wimbledon were known as the Dons, short for their home district of Merton (Wimbledon being part of the old Borough of Wimbledon and Merton). The “Crazy Gang” upset Liverpool to win the 1988 FA Cup final, one of the great shocks of Wembley. But the money dried up, Plough Lane was abandoned, and the club eventually relocated to Milton Keynes in 2004.

The move tore Wimbledon in two. Fans left behind formed their own Phoenix club – AFC Wimbledon – who rose rapidly through non-league back into the Football League (and currently sit a league above MK). Meanwhile, in Buckinghamshire, the relocated side were rechristened as Milton Keynes Dons, carrying part of the old name north with them.

To say they still carry quite a stigma is an understatement. Although today they have established themselves as a solid League Two, sometimes League One, side, they have financial backing from their owner Fahad Al-Ghanim – one of Kuwait's, and therefore the world's, richest men. Incidentally, he also owns Kuwait SC, that country’s most successful club – and the new home for former Ipswich Town captain, Sam Morsy.

Wimbledon’s old badge had proudly carried a double-headed Roman eagle – taken from the London Borough of Wimbledon’s coat of arms – which had embraced it as a hat tip to the legend that Julius Caesar himself had camped with his army in the area during his invasion of England. That heritage is reflected in the MK badge today, where the Roman numerals MMIV (2004) feature to keep the legacy alive.

At the initial inception of the new team in MK, the first proposed logo was an eagle’s head with an italic M and K forming the feathers and beak of the animal. This design was ditched in favour of the current badge.

The current logo is actually an M sitting atop an upturned K. I have to admit – before I read that I didn’t actually see it – I just saw a sort of chevron-looking badge. But once you’ve seen it, you can never unsee it.

Look closely at the MK Dons badge and you’ll also spot a red dot. This is actually part of the town’s identity – and was used in marketing materials for Milton Keynes at the time the club moved there. In Milton Keynes, the red dot is everywhere: there’s a Red Dot bar, a Red Dot hotel, and even the matchday programme is called The Red Dot.

I occasionally glance at scores and think it is supposed to represent a red card being awarded during the game – which would make MK a very dirty team indeed.

To understand the linear, streamlined badge as it is today you need to understand Milton Keynes itself. Created in 1967 as the boldest of Britain’s post-war new town projects, Milton Keynes was designed with grid roads, linear parks, and modernist architecture. It swallowed up older towns – Bletchley, Wolverton, Stony Stratford – and dozens of villages.

Scratch the surface and you find a much deeper history: the village of Milton Keynes was recorded in the Domesday Book as Mideltone (meaning middle farmstead), later becoming Mideltone Kaynes after the Norman lords, the de Cahaignes. So the name may sound modern, but it stretches back centuries.

Milton Keynes is also home to some heavyweight institutions: Bletchley Park, where the Enigma code was broken; the Open University, Britain’s pioneering distance-learning institution; and even Red Bull Racing, just to underline the modern, fast-paced image.

Now, I actually want to propose a post-factual reading of the badge’s meaning. Much like a GCSE student is encouraged to find meaning in a novel when the curtains in a room are blue – despite the author having absolutely no intention behind it whatsoever…

So in that spirit, isn’t the badge’s meaning quite obviously tied to Milton Keynes’ Open University?

Created in 1969 by Harold Wilson’s Labour government, the idea was to open up university education to the general public who otherwise would never be able to afford it. Courses could be completed remotely and part-time, and lectures were broadcast late at night on BBC radio. It was an inspired idea, and over two million students have graduated from it since its creation. It has a solid claim, alongside the NHS, to be one of Britain’s post-war wonders.

So let’s look again at the badge. The M and the K clearly make the shape of an open book – while the nickname inherited from its Wimbledon roots – The Dons – well, come on, this is perfect for a university.

If this is EXACTLY what it is supposed to be anyway, then please let me know – but I can’t find reference to this being the case on any website, including the club’s own.

Another suggestion is the circular background pattern - one website suggests this is simply to represent a football... surely a missed opportunity? Milton Keynes is famous for its roundabouts (more than 130!). Is this an acknowledgement? Who knows.

So there we have it. Born in controversy, acknowledging the Roman roots of its inherited legacy and showcasing the grid systems, minimalist architecture, and bold inclusivity and educational ambition of a brave new post-war world – MK Dons have, if the narrative is told right, a superb claim to be treated as equals within the English Football League.

Up the Open Uni Dons.