The success of the day has prompted talks for a similar event next season

The free ticket initiative which saw around 20,000 fans watch MK Dons earlier this month is set to return again next season.

The club offered free tickets for the game against Harrogate Town, and fans were treated to a thumping 4-1 win for Paul Warne’s side as they continued on their hunt for automatic promotion.

Of the 23,000 tickets dished out for the game, around 8,000 of them were new registrations - fans who had not bought tickets since 2015 where the club’s records reach back to.

Dons chief executive Neil Hart, who arrived at the club in September 2024 from Bolton Wanderers, said the success of the day filled him with pride and that plans are already bubbling behind-the-scenes to replicate it in the future.

“Community day was great,” he told the Citizen. “From my point of view, I really enjoyed it. I was quite emotional, I’d never seen that volume of people at the stadium. Even though I’ve come from a world where I was used to seeing it week-in, week-out, to see it here was special.

“We got 8,000 new datasets who had never been before or not been since 2015, so that was really pleasing too.

“We’ve had so much good feedback, the football was good and people went away feeling positive. Hopefully we’ll get some new young supporters for life. It’s hard to price the reward of that game, but I think it was a huge success.

“It’s something we’d like to do more of in the future, and we’re looking to do more of that next season. I’d like to introduce one or two more community days, I just thought it was wonderful for the community.”