Dons’ chief executive told the Citizen more needs to be done to keep fans on site

Getting fans to Stadium MK earlier before games and to stick around afterwards too is a key priority for MK Dons.

With attendances around 7,500 this season, chief executive Neil Hart admitted making the matchday experience more enjoyable, encouraging fans to spend more time around the ground is something the club has to work on.

Fan zones are becoming more prominent at grounds up and down the football pyramid, with areas and activities catering for all ages and demographics.

Hart highlighted the Arena behind the ground and the ballroom behind the dugouts as key areas the club has to make better use of to make every matchday a reason to spend the day at MK1.

“We have to do more,” he admitted. “For lots of clubs, that is the norm for them. At my previous clubs, we’d have big attendances and two big fan-zones open, where you’d have activities, the community trust doing a variety of things.

“Every matchday is an occasion, and we need to get to that.

“It’s hard to do that in with a crowd of 7,000-8,000 in a 30,000 seater stadium. But when it’s more populated, it’s busier and there is more going on, we have to provide more facilities for people to do pre-match, because we want it to be more than 90 minutes.

“We want people to come here, socialise, be with their family and friends, whether it’s having a beer, fun activities or a bite to eat, we want to cater for everyone. We have to grow the 12-3pm matchday experience, and we have to do more of that. We’ve got to use the Arena and the ballroom more where we can.

“If we can get into League One and be competitive, I think growing those crowds will grow organically and naturally.”