The losses incurred in MK Dons' first year of Kuwaiti ownership revealed
The first year of the Kuwaiti ownership group resulted in a heavy loss
The first year of MK Dons’ new ownership suffered an operating loss of £9.1 million, their accounts have revealed.
The group's turnover was £20.6m in the period with the group ultımately producing a loss after taxation of £5.4m.
MKD HoldCo Limited’s accounts from June 2024 to June 2025 oversaw the Kuwaiti consortium’s takeover of the club from previous owner Pete Winkelman and the subsequent year.
The accounts revealed the group, led by Fahad Al Ghanim, paid £59.5 million for Stadium MK Group, which includes the football club, hotel, surrounding car parks and radio stadium MKFM. It also cleared a £5.1 million debt of previous bank loans taken by the group.
During the period, the hotel made £9.77 million, while the football club made a little under £5 million (£4.96m). A further £4m was made from events at the stadium and the arena, while the car parks made £1.14m.
On the field, Dons struggled despite spending big on players to help them out of League Two following their failed play-off campaign the previous campaign. As the side limped to 19th in the division, they hired and six months later fired head coach Scott Lindsey, spent big on midfielder Dan Crowley from Notts County and brought in boss Paul Warne to steady the ship.
The new owners also spent £2.1 million on upgrading the Woughton on the Green training pitches and the Stadium MK playing surface, while £2.96 million was made from ‘disposal of player registrations’ which is understood to include the sell-on clause for Matt O’Riley after his move from Celtic to Brighton in August 2024, and the fee for striker Max Dean to KAA Gent a month earlier.
During the period, matchday revenue dropped by three per cent, while hotel occupancy dropped two per cent.