The club’s 20-year problem could be coming to a head

Talks are underway between MK Dons and local authorities about finally acquiring the rights to build a state of the art training ground at Woughton on the Green.

The club have used the council-owned playing fields since moving to the city over 20 years ago, with former owner and chairman Pete Winkelman over the years seeking various venues to host something more permanent.

Since the Kuwaiti consortium took over at the helm in 2024, they have invested in improvements to the Woughton grounds, with planning permission finally granted to allow the club to install fencing to protect multi-million pound training pitches from public use.

However, players are still forced to spent much of their days at Stadium MK, with no changing or showering facilities, lecture theatres or gyms available to them at their training ground.

Speaking at the club’s fan’s forum, CEO Neil Hart confirmed talks are ongoing with the council to begin a more significant acquisition of land at Woughton to build a facility to house the first-team, something he believes is imperative in making the club ready should they continue to climb the footballing pyramid.

“We’re at a crossroads now,” he said. “What’s the next step for Woughton? We need to formalise our usage down there. The site is leased by our community trust and the club sub-let it. For the club to invest further in Woughton, we need the site to come into the control of the group. We’re having those discussions with the council.

“We’ve got to provide that building and place of work for the players. None of us like that the players have to report to the stadium and then travel into the training ground to deliver all their needs.

“There has been a multimillion pound investment at the training ground which has seen two Premier League quality training pitches installed and protected by temporary fencing and we’ve now secured planning permission for it all, 18 months on. There is a bureaucratic process in the UK which is frustrating, which is why it has taken us so long to get through it. But we’re pleased to be coming to the end of it.

“A training ground is imperative if you’re serious about climbing the football pyramid. We’ve got to have a high quality training centre for the players to go and do their work, and we don’t have that at the moment.

“We’re absolutely committed to solving the training ground problem this club has had for 20 years and I definitely think we’re heading in the right direction.”

Sporting director Liam Sweeting added: “Woughton is a good site, but we need to relocate the first-team to be there. There are so many benefits of the first-team being based next to the pitches they train on. I’d urge the council to support us in these conversations as quickly as possible.”