AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons head in different directions once more

AFC Wimbledon and MK Dons will always live in each other’s shadow, destined forever – or at least for a long while – to be mentioned in the same breath. Both clubs were born of the decision to allow the original Wimbledon FC to be uprooted and moved to Milton Keynes in 2002, since when one has struggled to maintain its status and the other fought to catch them.

Two years ago they stood for the first time on the same rung of the footballing ladder, as MK Dons tumbled out of the Championship while Wimbledon came through the League Two play-offs to secure their sixth promotion. Over the last seven days they have been separated once again: last weekend MK Dons lost 2-0 to Scunthorpe and were relegated; on Tuesday Wimbledon drew at Doncaster to guarantee survival.

“It’s something that’s built up a lot,” says George Williams, the MK Dons full-back and reigning player of the season (he will reign for another year, as this campaign has been so disappointing the prize has not been handed out). “As a player you’ve just got to get on with your job. We’re disappointed to be relegated and it doesn’t matter who finished above us. It’s not focused on any particular team – we’re disappointed we finished below everyone. We wanted to finish top of the pile.”

Erik Samuelson, Wimbledon’s chief executive, sighs when the question is put to him. “We don’t make that comparison,” he says. “It’s the media and, to be fair, fans. My consistent message is we will not have our achievements measured by comparison with anyone else.”

Before the season’s final fixture the clubs are separated by four places and 10 points but their campaigns could hardly have been more contrasting. Wimbledon were among the favourites for relegation, constrained by one of the division’s more humble budgets, while the well-funded MK Dons were expected to challenge for promotion; Wimbledon have had the same manager since October 2012, while MK Dons are on their third since the turn of the year.

“Robbie Neilson had a really good end to last season and that’s why we all had really high hopes for this year and why we were one of the favourites to go up,” says Williams. “It just never got going like it did last season. There were a lot of changes and for one reason or another it didn’t work out.”

Though the club started reasonably, and were mid-table in October, Neilson was sacked in January when they first hit the bottom four. “Dan Micciche came in, which was a bit of a surprise for some people because he didn’t have a lot of experience,” Williams continues. “He did really well with what he had and we started playing really good football. We didn’t get the results but in terms of style of play we’d come on leaps and bounds.”

Micciche was sacked last month, having won three of his 16 games in charge. “I want to apologise to our supporters and the city of Milton Keynes,” said the club’s chairman, Pete Winkelman, who admitted to “two bad managerial decisions”. Keith Millen, Micciche’s assistant, has guided them through the remainder of the season but remains a caretaker; Exeter’s Paul Tisdale is current favourite to take permanent charge.

The curtain comes down on the Dons’ season at Shrewsbury, who with a comparatively minuscule budget have won more than twice as many points and are preparing for the play-offs.

“I think the club, everyone from the players and staff to the fans, are at a real low point right now, one of the lowest points the club’s ever been at,” says Williams. “But you’ve got to face it head on and build an optimism around the place. It’s an opportunity to create something again. It’s a chance to build success here.”

Meanwhile at Wimbledon the board and Neal Ardley, the manager, met on Wednesday to discuss their summer plans. “Because of the stability here players recognise they’re not signing for a manager who next week might be gone,” says Samuelson. “When they stop to think about it, that’s important. Players want stability – they also want good money but they want stability – and that is something we can offer.”

Their campaign ends at Kingsmeadow with a game against Bury and they hope to have only one further full season there before moving back to their original home borough of Merton. Having received planning permission for a new stadium in December, they expect it to be ready midway through 2019-20.

“I regularly say: ‘A football club without ambition, what’s it doing?’ says Samuelson. “When we set up we said our target was to stay in fan ownership, to get into the Football League and to go back home to Merton. We’ve done two of them and we’re on the verge of doing the third. So you start to think, what’s your next target? It was League One and we made it. The next target is the Championship. Let’s get there and see what happens.”