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Past photos of a purpose-built sports stadium in Central Milton Keynes will bring back a flood of memories for many residents.

The multi million pound building was built in1995 as the new national field hockey stadium.

It had an artificial grass pitch, a covered main stand that ran the length of the pitch, and a smaller open stand.

The national hockey stadium once stood proudly in Milton Keynes city cente

Built with a capacity to seat 4000 people, it was later extended to take a crowd of 9,000.

The stadium was used by England Hockey as their national pitch for just eight years. In 1997 it was used as the venue for the FIH Men's Junior World Cup and in the year 2000 it hosted the the FIH Women's Qualifying Tournament for the Sydney Olympic Games.

But then, in 2003, a consortium led by Pete Winkelman bought the struggling Wimbledon Football Club – and the hockey stadium became their first base

Local people remember going there to watch football matches, especially after Wimbledon FC was rebranded to become MK Dons in 2004.

The hockey stadium could seat up to 9000 people in Central Milton Keynes

However, three years later the new Stadium MK was completed, with the capacity to seat more than 30,000 fans. Ad in the of summer 2007, the Dons moved there - leaving the hockey stadium empty and the biggest white elephant in the city centre.

It stood unused for two years until finally, in the winter of 2009, it was earmarked as a site for the headquarters of the new Network Rail – one of the city’s biggest employers.

The stands are buildings were demolished and building began in 2010 of Network Rail’s Quadrant:MK. Just five minutes’ walk from Milton Keynes Central Rail station, it was the ideal location for the thousands of workers.

Quadrant:MK opened in 2012 and is now one of CMK’s most landmark buildings.

Today Network Rail's Quadrant MK building stands in place of the demolished hockey stadium in the city centre

This week photos of the old stadium were published on the popular Milton Keynes Past and Present Facebook page, where they prompted a string of comments.

One member wrote: “Such a waste – it was built for a international hockey tournament and had not outlived its useful lifecycle.”

Another said: “I played hockey there once. Like playing football at Wembley!”

Who remembers this multi million pound building that once stood proudly in Central Milton Keynes?