MK Dons 6.08.11

HOW TO GET THERE

CAR
The stadium is situated at Denbigh North, just off the A5, south of Central Milton Keynes and just north of Bletchley. It is adjacent to a Retail Park with ASDA and IKEA, so expect some traffic congestion. For those familiar with MKs grid road system the ground is on V6 Grafton Street on the junction with H9 Groveway.

Leave the M1 at Junction 14 and head towards Milton Keynes. Go straight over the first roundabout and at the next (where there is a Total Garage on the corner) turn left onto the V11 Tongwell Street. Proceed across one roundabout and at the next turn right onto the H8 Standing Way (A421). Continue alone the Standing Way going across a number of roundabouts. On reaching the Bleak Hall Roundabout turn left into the V6 Grafton Street. At the next roundabout, turn right and the stadium entrance is further down on the left.

Please note that the stadium is not near to the centre of Milton Keynes. If you do get lost follow directions to Bletchley and/or IKEA.

PARKING

There is a large car-park at the ground with 2,000 spaces at the stadium and these cost £5 per vehicle. Otherwise you can park in the Denbigh West industrial estate. After passing the stadium entrance on your left, turn right at the next roundabout, called Granby roundabout, and then take the next turn left, and immediately left again onto the industrial estate called Denbigh West. Pedestrian crossings towards ASDA will allow access back towards the ground. On our last visit to the Stadium MK there was a lot of fans choosing to park in this area and there seemed to be a lot of units allowing parking for a small fee.

TRAIN
Bletchley Station is the closest to the ground, but still a good 30-40 minute walk away. As you come out of the station walk left and then left again when you hit the main road. This will then take you under the railway bridge. You will then come across a roundabout next to a pub, called the Park Hotel. Turn left at this roundabout onto Saxon Street and follow this road, which will pass the Bus Station and the Enigma Pub. Eventually you will see the ground in the distance. There is also a match-day bus costing around £1.

Milton Keynes Station is a long-way from the ground and not at all within walking distance. If you do end up here get a match-day bus to the ground for £1, grab a cab or even get a train to Bletchley.

PUBS/FOOD

The Enigma Tavern- Located halfway between the train station and the ground on Saxon Street. This is a large family/food pub, with a beer garden and play area. Prices on our last visit were very cheap at around £2 per pint. They do a large range of food, which is also reasonably priced. The pub has no longer got Sky Sports but does have a friendly feel to it. Service on a previous visit was fairly slow, but more because about 40 thirsty people walked in at the same time for the 2 bar staff to deal with.

Park Hotel- This pub again offers cheap pints at just over £2 and has Sky Sports on a big-screen. We used this pub after the game a couple of years ago and it had a welcoming feel to it. The South East Poolies will be using this pub prior to the game this season and they have kindly agreed for us to hold our meeting here at 12.30.

Beacon- Go through the industrial estate next to the ground and follow the path next to the large fishing lake. The pub is located in an idyllic setting over-looking this lake, but unfortunately does not embrace this location. The pub is modern looking, devoid of character and offers only limited food. It does not have many home fans drinking here, probably because they know of many better places. This is also the place where I was bitten by a Horsefly a couple of years ago, resulting in a trip to A&E the following day as my hand had swollen to such a state that I could not move my fingers! You have been warned!

Red Dot Bar- This is a new bar that has been built into a hotel at the ground. Away fans are apparently welcomed if they cover their colours and the pub also shows Sky Sports. I have never used this pub previously so I cannot comment on its quality, but experience tells me that club-built venues like this are generally functional, but expensive and in your face in terms of memorabilia.

There are plenty of chain/theme pubs in the Centre of Milton Keynes for after the game. These include a couple of Wetherspoons/Lloyds and All-Bar-One. There are no real tradition pubs in this area and as in the general MK Theme, everything is ‘functional’.
You can also get a beer in the ground in a special bar area built into the back of the stand. These come at a cost in excess of £3 for a standard lager/beer.

There is a great concourse in the ground which is located level with the back of the lower tier of seating. This is open meaning that you can watch the game while you queue for food/drinks (non-alcoholic). They offer the standard football food, which is a disappointment after trips to Rochdale and Yeovil! There is not much around the ground in terms of take-away food, so a pub meal may be the best option or what is on offer in the ground.
 

STADIUM MK- Capacity 22,000 (all seated)
The Stadium MK divided opinion on our last visit. Some feel that it is a smart stadium with impressive facilities, where as others thought that it was quite ugly and having a continental ‘concrete bowl’ kind of feel. Whatever your opinion there is no doubting that it is functional and a big improvement on the Hockey Stadium. Only the lower-tier is currently open, as the top-tier does not yet have seating in place. This will apparently happen when demand requires it and will raise the capacity to around 30,000.

Away fans are located in the North East Corner, with around 3,000 seats allocated. Fortunately they now section this off meaning that around 250 fans doesn’t look like 25, like it did previously. The seats are large and cushioned, leaving you in no doubt as to the money spent (£50m). The view is excellent, but there is very little atmosphere in the ground. The concourse facilities are amongst the best I have come across, being located at the top of the stand and open, meaning you do not miss a minute of the action(!).

The rest of the ground is exactly the same as the away corner except for the Main Stand on the west side. Instead of an upper-tier this stand has a directors/executive area, which again does not yet have seating, although I would still send them up there!

SAFETY
You should have no problems here, as the club has a real friendly/family feel to it. Everyone has opinions about how the club came to be in Milton Keynes. Whatever these are, the people of the town are NOT the ones responsible and there are quite a few fans that did support Wimbledon originally.

SOUTH EAST POOLIES
The South East Poolies will be holding a club meeting in the Park Hotel prior to the game, at around 12.30. This is expected to last for around 30 minutes and will cover issues including; membership, social events, fixtures and funds. Members and non-members are invited to the meeting and memberships will be taken on the day for anyone wishing to join. Once this has finished most members will be hanging around in order to watch the live game before heading to the game

PRICE