Post by chrish on Jan 3, 2010 2:07:48 GMT
I decided to make the 48 mile trip up the road to Milton Keynes this afternoon to take in the 3rd Round FA Cup tie between MK Dons and Burnley.
It was my first trip to Milton Keynes since our awful 3-2 defeat there a few seasons back in the National Hockey Stadium when we threw a commanding 2-1 lead away and then lost due to awful defending, weak refereeing and Les Freres knobheads Martin Allen and Adrian Whitbread doing their level best to referee the game from the touchline.
I know it's not to everyone's taste to actually give any money to MK Dons as many believe that the club shouldn't exist in the first place. But I quite liked the idea of watching AFC Wimbledon play on Friday and MK Dons on Saturday. Besides, I've wanted to see the new stadium for a little while now.
I have to say that the stadium is very nice indeed. There's parking for over 2000 cars in the Stadium car park and there's also parking in the industrial park across the road. There's also the car parks of the nearby ASDA Wal-Mart Superstore and an IKEA which are probably used for the football on the quiet. There's also a KFC and a McDonalds nearer to the stadium if you fancy a Rat Burger before the game. The car parking is a little steep at 5 quid but for a first visit I decided not to risk any clamping fees by parking in ASDA on the sly. MK Dons fans seemed to park there but then their wives and daughters were dispatched to the shops whilst the husbands and sons went to the football. Quite handy I reckon.
As for the ground itself. I happily bought a ticket for the Burnley end from a booth near the away for cash. £19 quid to get in. You scan your ticket into a reader and the electronic taps you gently on the arse to notify you that should be moving through the gate. Once inside there is a huge concourse area where you can see the ground, eat, drink and mingle before the match. It reminded me of the Salzburg's Red Bull Area and the Allianz Arena in Munich. The toilets were very swish as well. Meat and Potato pie (with diced potato chunks) and a bottle of Coke (with the bottle top on!!) were bought for £4.20.
The seats are a bit like the ones a Wembley. Big, padded and very comfortable with a ton of leg room. The viewing area is superb and the PA is deafening but only annoying when the failed local DJ talks the usual modern day pre-match bollocks.
At the moment the Stadium:mk holds 22,000. The second tier doesn't have any seats yet. Capacity will rise to 30,000 if these seats are installed. If they get the World Cup games there is the capacity to install another tier to bring capacity up to 45,000.
Two players remain from the starting line from that 3-2 match three seasons ago. Skipper Dean "Annie" Lewington and that blatant cheat Aaron Wilbraham.
The game wasn't a bad one. Burnley dominated for long periods and passed the ball around with aplomb. The pick of their players were Chris Eagles who seems to have re-kindled his career after leaving Old Trafford after loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday, Watford and NEC Nijmegen. He's quick, incisive and is an excellent passer. His main trick seems to be dribbling in from the wing into the middle and then playing a killer through ball which he did to create their second goal. Steven Fletcher signed from Hibs for 3 million quid is very hardworking and very skillful. He won the penalty which was dispatched by 38 year old Graeme Alexander (Burnley's Chris Hargreaves) and produced a top drawer finish to score the second from an Eagles pass. Andre Bikey is big and strong but he's better off doing the simple things and Brian "The Beast" Jensen is a man mountain of a goalkeeper. Scottish midfielder Kevin McDonald looks like a very decent player as well.
For MK Dons. The two stand out players were Jermaine Easter and centre half Dan Woodards, once of Chelsea, Exeter and Crewe.
I get the impression that the Burnley fans are a bit nervous about losing Owen Coyle to Bolton. There were several songs sung about the manager by their fans who wanted some reassurance that from Coyle that he's staying at Turf Moor. The mood was summed up perfectly from a guy 2 rows back who shouted "Don't go to Wanky Wanderers, Owen"! I hope he doesn't. I wonder if Mark Hughes fancies the Horwich hot seat?
But the real question. Does Milton Keynes deserve a crack at hosting World Cup games? I think it does to be honest with you. The Stadium is excellent as is the supporting infrastructure. We shouldn't really hold it against Milton Keynes. Every decent sized Town should have a football team to support.
Anyway a few pictures from the game.....
It was my first trip to Milton Keynes since our awful 3-2 defeat there a few seasons back in the National Hockey Stadium when we threw a commanding 2-1 lead away and then lost due to awful defending, weak refereeing and Les Freres knobheads Martin Allen and Adrian Whitbread doing their level best to referee the game from the touchline.
I know it's not to everyone's taste to actually give any money to MK Dons as many believe that the club shouldn't exist in the first place. But I quite liked the idea of watching AFC Wimbledon play on Friday and MK Dons on Saturday. Besides, I've wanted to see the new stadium for a little while now.
I have to say that the stadium is very nice indeed. There's parking for over 2000 cars in the Stadium car park and there's also parking in the industrial park across the road. There's also the car parks of the nearby ASDA Wal-Mart Superstore and an IKEA which are probably used for the football on the quiet. There's also a KFC and a McDonalds nearer to the stadium if you fancy a Rat Burger before the game. The car parking is a little steep at 5 quid but for a first visit I decided not to risk any clamping fees by parking in ASDA on the sly. MK Dons fans seemed to park there but then their wives and daughters were dispatched to the shops whilst the husbands and sons went to the football. Quite handy I reckon.
As for the ground itself. I happily bought a ticket for the Burnley end from a booth near the away for cash. £19 quid to get in. You scan your ticket into a reader and the electronic taps you gently on the arse to notify you that should be moving through the gate. Once inside there is a huge concourse area where you can see the ground, eat, drink and mingle before the match. It reminded me of the Salzburg's Red Bull Area and the Allianz Arena in Munich. The toilets were very swish as well. Meat and Potato pie (with diced potato chunks) and a bottle of Coke (with the bottle top on!!) were bought for £4.20.
The seats are a bit like the ones a Wembley. Big, padded and very comfortable with a ton of leg room. The viewing area is superb and the PA is deafening but only annoying when the failed local DJ talks the usual modern day pre-match bollocks.
At the moment the Stadium:mk holds 22,000. The second tier doesn't have any seats yet. Capacity will rise to 30,000 if these seats are installed. If they get the World Cup games there is the capacity to install another tier to bring capacity up to 45,000.
Two players remain from the starting line from that 3-2 match three seasons ago. Skipper Dean "Annie" Lewington and that blatant cheat Aaron Wilbraham.
The game wasn't a bad one. Burnley dominated for long periods and passed the ball around with aplomb. The pick of their players were Chris Eagles who seems to have re-kindled his career after leaving Old Trafford after loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday, Watford and NEC Nijmegen. He's quick, incisive and is an excellent passer. His main trick seems to be dribbling in from the wing into the middle and then playing a killer through ball which he did to create their second goal. Steven Fletcher signed from Hibs for 3 million quid is very hardworking and very skillful. He won the penalty which was dispatched by 38 year old Graeme Alexander (Burnley's Chris Hargreaves) and produced a top drawer finish to score the second from an Eagles pass. Andre Bikey is big and strong but he's better off doing the simple things and Brian "The Beast" Jensen is a man mountain of a goalkeeper. Scottish midfielder Kevin McDonald looks like a very decent player as well.
For MK Dons. The two stand out players were Jermaine Easter and centre half Dan Woodards, once of Chelsea, Exeter and Crewe.
I get the impression that the Burnley fans are a bit nervous about losing Owen Coyle to Bolton. There were several songs sung about the manager by their fans who wanted some reassurance that from Coyle that he's staying at Turf Moor. The mood was summed up perfectly from a guy 2 rows back who shouted "Don't go to Wanky Wanderers, Owen"! I hope he doesn't. I wonder if Mark Hughes fancies the Horwich hot seat?
But the real question. Does Milton Keynes deserve a crack at hosting World Cup games? I think it does to be honest with you. The Stadium is excellent as is the supporting infrastructure. We shouldn't really hold it against Milton Keynes. Every decent sized Town should have a football team to support.
Anyway a few pictures from the game.....
