Milton Keynes Dons' Bowl plans will improve concert facilities

"Anything that we do to the Bowl will improve it’s opportunity to host events"
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Plans to build MK Dons' training ground at the National Bowl will not impact on the venue's ability to hold concerts, Pete Winkelman has emphasised.

The Dons chairman submitted initial plans to Milton Keynes Council just before Christmas for his vision for the facility, which will be the home for the football club's purpose-built training complex. Winkelman hopes to have early phases in place as early as next season for the first team to move from Woughton on the Green where they currently prepare for games.

While the Bowl has not held a concert in several years, and Stadium MK has emerged as a venue for live music after hosting Take That, Rod Stewart and Rammstein in 2019, Winkelman has reiterated his desire to upgrade the Bowl to attract the world's biggest acts.

The National BowlThe National Bowl
The National Bowl

He said: “I want to give comfort to people who think I’m going to ruin it as a concert venue - let me say, categorically, that that is not the case. Anything that we do to the Bowl will improve it’s opportunity to host events.

“You know what I’m like with events in Milton Keynes – if there is a chance to do them, we’ll be right in there to do it. What people have got to understand is the Bowl can only do those very big events and those artists that can sell to that many people, are now going to do festivals and stadium tours – which is what we’re benefiting from with Stadium MK.

“I don’t want to give the false impression that there will suddenly be loads of concerts there but, if there is the opportunity to do a concert there, we’ll be there to do it.”

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