The 2007–08 season was the fourth season of competitive association football in the Football League played by Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, a professional football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Their fourth-place finish in 2006–07 and loss to Shrewsbury Town in the play-offs meant it was their second successive season in League Two. After the closure of the National Hockey Stadium this was the first season where the MK Dons played home fixtures at Stadium mk. The season ran from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008.
Paul Ince, starting his first season as Milton Keynes Dons manager, made nine permanent summer signings. After the eighth round of League Two fixtures the MK Dons reached first place and occupied this spot in thirty-seven of the remaining thirty-eight game weeks; they ended the season as champions of the twenty-four-team 2007–08 Football League Two. MK Dons also won their first national knockout competition, with a 2–0 victory over Grimsby Town at Wembley Stadium in the 2008 Football League Trophy Final. They lost in their opening round match in the 2007–08 FA Cup, and were eliminated in the second round of the Football League Cup.
Thirty-one players made at least one appearance in nationally organised first-team competition, and there were sixteen different goalscorers. Defender Dean Lewington missed only two of the fifty-five first-team matches over the season. Mark Wright finished as leading scorer with fifteen goals, of which thirteen came in league competition and two came in the Football League Trophy. Keith Andrews won the Football League Two Player of the Year Award.
Background and pre-season
The 2006–07 season was Martin Allen first season as manager of Milton Keynes Dons, after Danny Wilson was sacked at the end of the 2005–06 season for failing to save the club from relegation to League Two. Having been second come the start of 2007, the team finished in fourth-place in the 2006–07 Football League Two – one point below an automatic promotion place; this meant that the team participated in the League Two play-offs. MK Dons were beaten 2–1 on aggregate by Shrewsbury Town in the play-off semi-final. In May 2007 Allen moved on to manage Championship side Leicester City after both clubs had negotiated a compensation package.
Ahead of 2007–08, MK Dons released Adolfo Baines, Lee Harper, Junior Lewis, Nick Rizzo, Jamie Smith and Oliver Thorne. Players sold were Paul Butler to Chester City, Dominic Blizzard to Stockport County, Gary Smith to Brentford, Izale McLeod to Charlton Athletic and Clive Platt to Colchester United. Milton Keynes Dons made nine summer signings, those being goalkeepers Nathan Abbey from Brentford and Willy Guéret from Swansea City; defender Jude Stirling from Peterborough United; midfielders Colin Cameron from Coventry City, Luke Howell from Gillingham, Alan Navarro from Macclesfield Town and Mark Wright from Walsall; and forwards Drewe Broughton from Chester City and Kevin Gallen from Queens Park Rangers.
Summary and aftermath
On 29 September 2007 Milton Keynes Dons reached first place and stayed there for the rest of the season except for one game week. The lowest position the club occupied was 19th after the first round of fixtures. For the first time in their history, the MK Dons had a better record away than at home in the league. The team won 18 matches, drew three and lost two away, compared to winning 11, drawing seven and losing five at home. Dean Lewington recorded the highest number of appearances during the season, appearing in 53 of the MK Dons' 55 matches. Mark Wright was the Dons' top scorer in the league and in all competitions, with 11 league goals and 15 in total. Three other players, Keith Andrews, Lloyd Dyer and Aaron Wilbraham, reached double figures.
As a result of their promotion the Milton Keynes Dons returned to Football League One after two seasons in League Two. Prior to the club's return to League One, the MK Dons released Drewe Broughton, Matt Carbon, Sam Collins, Liam Kelly, Jake Livermore and Kieran Murphy, while Mustapha Carayol, Lloyd Dyer and Gareth Edds left on their own accord for Torquay United, Leicester City and Tranmere Rovers. New players to join were midfielders Flavien Belson from FC Metz, Peter Leven from Chesterfield and Florian Sturm from FC Vaduz.
Competitions League Two
Final table PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts1 Milton Keynes Dons (C,P) 46291078237+45972 Peterborough United (P) 46288108443+41923 Hereford United (P) 462610107241+31884 Stockport County (P) 462410127254+18825 Rochdale 462311127754+2380 Source: Sky Sports
Matches WinDrawLoss +DateOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendancePositionRef11 August 2007 – 15:00BuryHome1–2Andrews7,7401918 August 2007 – 15:00Macclesfield TownAway3–3Andrews, Knight, Cameron2,2571725 August 2007 – 15:00Shrewsbury TownHome3–0Knight, Wilbraham, Dyer7,380101 September 2007 – 15:00RochdaleAway2–3Gallen (2)2,743127 September 2007 – 19:45Notts CountyHome3–0Andrews, Swailes, Wilbraham7,977815 September 2007 – 15:00BrentfordAway3–0Andrews (2), Johnson4,476622 September 2007 – 15:00DarlingtonHome1–0Diallo7,901529 September 2007 – 15:00MorecambeAway1–0Dyer2,68812 October 2007 – 19:45Mansfield TownAway2–1Stirling, Dyer1,98416 October 2007 – 15:00Bradford CityHome2–1Andrews, Swailes7,903114 October 2007 – 13:30Lincoln CityHome4–0Knight (2), Dyer, Wilbraham13,037120 October 2007 – 15:00Hereford UnitedAway1–0Wright3,936127 October 2007 – 15:00Stockport CountyHome0–2 8,29013 November 2007 – 15:00Wycombe WanderersAway1–1Cameron5,92916 November 2007 – 19:45Grimsby TownHome2–0Wilbraham, Wright6,797117 November 2007 – 15:00Chester CityAway2–0Wright, Johnson3,102124 November 2007 – 15:00ChesterfieldHome1–2Wright9,63814 December 2007 – 19:45Dagenham & RedbridgeAway1–0Diallo1,88018 December 2007 – 15:00Accrington StanleyHome5–0Andrews, Navarro, Cameron, Dyer (2)6,917115 December 2007 – 15:00Peterborough UnitedAway2–1Gallen, Andrews10,351121 December 2007 – 19:45BrentfordHome1–1Gallen8,445126 December 2007 – 15:00Notts CountyAway2–1Wright, Johnson5,106129 December 2007 – 15:00DarlingtonAway1–0Johnson5,30411 January 2008 – 15:00Mansfield TownHome1–0Andrews9,58315 January 2008 – 15:00Rotherham UnitedAway1–0Wright5,421112 January 2008 – 15:00BarnetHome0–1 9,881119 January 2008 – 15:00WrexhamAway0–1 4,319126 January 2008 – 15:00RochdaleHome0–1 7,882129 January 2008 – 19:45Macclesfield TownHome1–1O'Hanlon6,48312 February 2008 – 15:00BuryAway5–1Wright (3), Dyer, Gallen2,24119 February 2008 – 15:00Rotherham UnitedHome1–1Gallen9,455112 February 2008 – 19:45Shrewsbury TownAway3–3Wright (2), Gallen5,474123 February 2008 – 15:00BarnetAway2–0Navarro, Dyer2,49511 March 2008 – 15:00Chester CityHome1–0Swailes8,17217 March 2008 – 19:45Grimsby TownAway1–0O'Hanlon4,106110 March 2008 – 19:45ChesterfieldAway2–1Andrews, Dyer3,834115 March 2008 – 15:00Dagenham & RedbridgeHome4–0Wilbraham (2), Dyer, Gallen9,417121 March 2008 – 15:00Peterborough UnitedHome1–1Wilbraham14,521124 March 2008 – 15:00Accrington StanleyAway1–0Wright1,55914 April 2008 – 19:45Lincoln CityAway2–1Regan, Johnson3,89628 April 2008 – 19:45WrexhamHome4–1Swailes, Wilbraham (2), O'Hanlon8,646112 April 2008 – 15:00Wycombe WanderersHome2–2Wilbraham, O'Hanlon12,747115 April 2008 – 19:45Hereford UnitedHome0–0 11,428119 April 2008 – 15:00Stockport CountyAway3–2Wright, Navarro, Andrews8,838126 April 2008 – 15:00Bradford CityAway2–1Stirling, Dyer14,60913 May 2008 – 15:00MorecambeHome1–1Wilbraham17,2501
FA Cup
Matches WinDrawLoss +DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendanceRef10 November 2007 – 15:00First roundCrewe AlexandraAway1–2Johnson3,049
League Cup
Matches WinDrawLoss +DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendanceRef14 August 2007 – 19:45First roundIpswich TownHome3–3 Knight, Bruce (o.g.), Gallen7,49628 August 2007 – 19:45Second roundSheffield UnitedHome2–3 Broughton, McGovern7,943
League Trophy
Matches WinDrawLoss +DateRoundOpponentVenueResultScorersAttendanceRef9 October 2007 – 19:45Second roundPeterborough UnitedHome3–1Wright (2), Cameron5,08713 November 2007 – 19:45Quarter-final (South)BournemouthAway2–0Andrews, Swailes3,2478 January 2008 – 19:45Semi-final (South)GillinghamAway1–1Johnson3,71719 February 2008 – 19:45Area final (South) 1st legSwansea CityAway1–0Johnson10,12525 February 2008 – 19:45Area final (South) 2nd legSwansea CityHome0–1 9,75730 March 2008 – 13:15FinalGrimsby TownNeutral2–0Andrews, O'Hanlon56,618
Player details List of squad players, including number of appearances by competition. Players with squad numbers struck through and marked left the club during the playing season.
Transfers Transfers in Date fromPositionNameFromFeeRef. 5 July 2007 FW Kevin Gallen Free agent Free transfer 11 July 2007 MF Mark Wright Free agent 25 July 2007 FW Drewe Broughton Free agent 1 August 2007 MF Colin Cameron Free agent 3 August 2007 FW Mustapha Carayol Free agent 10 August 2007 GK Nathan Abbey Free agent MF Alan Navarro Free agent 11 August 2007 GK Willy Guéret Free agent DF Luke Howell Free agent 19 August 2007 DF Danny Swailes Macclesfield Town Undisclosed 31 August 2007 FW Jemal Johnson Wolverhampton Wanderers 4 December 2007 DF Matt Carbon Free agent Free transfer 1 February 2008 DF Carl Regan Macclesfield Town Undisclosed MF Craig Dobson Stevenage Borough
Transfers out Date fromPositionNameToFeeRef. 1 July 2007 MF Ben Harding Released MF Gary Smith Released 3 July 2007 FW Clive Platt Colchester United £300,000 9 August 2007 FW Izale McLeod Charlton Athletic £1,100,000 31 August 2007 MF Jon-Paul McGovern Swindon Town Undisclosed
Loans in Start datePositionNameFromEnd dateRef. 15 November 2007 MF Jordan Hadfield Macclesfield Town End of season 25 January 2008 FW John Miles Accrington Stanley End of season
Loans out Start datePositionNameToEnd dateRef. 18 September 2007 MF John Hastings Ebbsfleet United 18 October 2007 28 September 2007 FW Sam Collins Kettering Town Unknown 15 October 2007 DF Sam Page Hendon 15 December 2007 18 October 2007 FW Scott Taylor Rochdale 18 November 2007 26 October 2007 FW Mustapha Carayol Crawley Town End of season 16 November 2007 DF Kieran Murphy 20 November 2007 MF John Hastings Maidenhead United Unknown 22 November 2007 FW Sam Collins Hendon 25 January 2008 FW Drewe Broughton Wrexham April 2008
References
External links
Official Supporters Association website MK Dons news on MKWeb