Dons finally get the nod to build training ground at the National Bowl

MK Dons could finally be preparing for games on their own training ground by the end of the year after they were granted planning permission to begin work on the National Bowl.

Plans date back to 2019 when Dons were originally given the rights to the long-since unused concert venue to home their bespoke training facility.

Initially, the club will build two full-sized pitches and four training grids in the Bowl, with plans expected later for buildings such as changing rooms, offices and concert facilities to make the venue the home of the first-team.

A statement from MK Dons read: “While there is still some additional legal work to complete, this is great news for MK Dons and means we are on track to be on site by the end of 2023.

“This is the first phase of the club’s relocation of the training ground to the National Bowl, which will see us install two full-sized grass football pitches and four training grids on the plateau of the Bowl.”

Since moving to Milton Keynes in 2003, the club has been training at Woughton on the Green - a public playing field. Chairman Pete Winkelman has long since been trying to allocate land and planning permission to begin the facility, but until now those plans have been superceded and pushed down the pecking order.

Land at Cosgrove was tipped to home the training ground, as was the car-park at Stadium MK behind the restaurants, while there were also talks of land at Tickford Fields, near Newport Pagnell, being used. Eventually, a deal was struck to use the Bowl as a multi-purpose facility, keeping the option to use it as a concert venue.

Initial plans for the Bowl were submitted in late-2019 but delays caused by covid lockdowns meant movement on them was slow going. There were also stumbling blocks along the way - objections from cycling clubs using the National Bowl delayed the procedure, forcing Dons to rethink their plans once more.

But plans were once again submitted and have finally been given the go-ahead.

Rock giants Muse will play the Bowl in the summer, with work expected to begin after that.