“I’d love more people to come out and support us, but we’ve got to connect with them”

Battling at the sharp end of the League Two table is reflecting in MK Dons’ average attendances this season, but more still needs to be done to get more people through the turn styles.

After a miserable campaign last time out, when the side limped to a 19th place finish, the attendance average tumbled to 7,025.

But thus far, with Dons currently sat fifth in League Two, the average across the ten home matches in League Two so far sits at 7,442, an improvement of 417 compared to last year. And away support for the team has been excellent too, with several sell-outs on the road.

“We have a fantastic stadium but we should have more people here,” said CEO Neil Hart. “The numbers are increasing, and I’m really pleased with that.

“We’re 700-800 season tickets up on last season, we’ve seen hospitality grow, we’re seeing Club Red grow and I think that growth will continue if we keep competing at the top end of the table, and once you get into the second-half of the season, you see an upturn in attendances.

“I’d love more people to come out and support us, but we’ve got to connect with them.

“It won’t happen overnight, it takes years. I’d like to sit here in maybe five years' time, maybe we’re watching Championship football and we’ve got 20,000 in the ground regularly.”

Half-season tickets are currently on sale, and the club has offered schools in Milton Keynes the opportunity to offer up one to a student in a bid to help continue to grow the fanbase.

“We’ve got to be clever with our marketing,” Hart continued. “The signs are good. I like what we’re doing from a pricing point of view, and we’ll have offers for games coming up.

“We’ve given one or two half-season tickets to every school in the city, so we’re hoping it connects us better and starts that journey again. We’re doing what we can, and it is a really big focus of mine. We’re seeing growth, but we want more.”