Stadium MK facts for kids

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Stadium MK
Construction
Moo Camp
View of the stadium's north and east stands in 2016
Full name	Stadium MK
Location	Denbigh, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, England
Coordinates	52°00′34″N 00°44′00″W / 52.00944°N 0.73333°W / 52.00944; -0.73333
Public transit	Bletchley Milton Keynes Central
Owner	Inter MK
Capacity	30,500 all-seated (expandable to 45,000)
Record attendance	30,048 Rugby World Cup 2015 Fiji vs Uruguay
Field size	105 m × 68 m
Surface	Desso GrassMaster
Broke ground	17 February 2005
Built	2007
Opened	29 November 2007 (first game 18 July 2007)
Architect	HOK Sport (now Populous)
Main contractors	Buckingham Group Contracting
Tenants
Milton Keynes Dons (2007–present) Milton Keynes Dons Women (2018–present)

Stadium MK, frontage

Stadium MK is a large football stadium located in Milton Keynes, England. It was designed by Populous and first opened in 2007. This stadium is the home ground for the EFL League Two team Milton Keynes Dons and the FA Women's National League South team Milton Keynes Dons Women. In 2022, Stadium MK also hosted several exciting matches during the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 tournament.

The stadium currently has two levels of seating, holding 30,500 fans. It can be made even bigger, up to 45,000 seats, by adding a third level. This is why the roof is so high! The playing field uses a special type of grass called Desso GrassMaster.

The original plans for the stadium complex also included an indoor arena, called The Marshall Arena. This arena was meant to be the home for a professional basketball team, the Milton Keynes Lions. However, plans to build shops that would help pay for the arena were put on hold. This meant the Lions didn't have a home, and they eventually moved to London.

Besides football, Stadium MK also hosts rugby union games. For example, Saracens and Northampton Saints have played important matches here. The stadium was also chosen to host three matches during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Many famous music artists like Take That, Rammstein, and Imagine Dragons have performed concerts at Stadium MK too.

Building the Stadium

Early Plans for a Stadium

Pete Winkelman, who helped create Stadium MK and the Milton Keynes Dons football club.

Back in 1967, when Milton Keynes was first planned as a new town, people hoped it would one day have a stadium for a top football team. In 2000, a group called the Milton Keynes Stadium Consortium, led by Pete Winkelman, proposed building Stadium MK. Their plan included a 30,000-seat football stadium, a large Asda supermarket, an IKEA store, a hotel, and other shops.

At the time, Milton Keynes didn't have a professional football team big enough to fill such a large stadium. The local team played in a much lower league. This made it hard to justify building such a big stadium.

Pete Winkelman, who used to work in the music industry, believed there were many football fans in Milton Keynes who just needed a team to support. He said there was a "football frenzy waiting to happen." Some people disagreed, pointing out that local teams didn't attract many fans. Winkelman's financial supporters, later known to be Asda and Ikea, were kept secret at first.

Some people worried that the stadium was a way to get permission for the large shopping developments. They thought the stadium was needed to get approval for the shops, rather than the shops helping to build the stadium. It turned out that Asda and Ikea needed the stadium project to get permission to build their large stores in the area. This deal helped fund the stadium's construction.

Wimbledon F.C. Moves to Milton Keynes

Starting in 2000, Winkelman's group offered their stadium plan to several football clubs. Wimbledon F.C., a club that had been sharing a stadium in London since 1991, decided to move to Milton Keynes in 2001. The club's chairman said this move was necessary to save the club from going out of business.

Many people, especially Wimbledon F.C. fans, were against this move. The Football League also rejected the idea at first. However, an independent group later approved the move.

Wimbledon F.C. wanted to move right away, but the new stadium wasn't built yet. They needed a temporary home in Milton Keynes. After some challenges, the club started playing at the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes in September 2003.

In 2004, Pete Winkelman's company, Inter MK Group, took over Wimbledon F.C. and changed its name to Milton Keynes Dons F.C. (or MK Dons). The club also got a new badge and team colours.

MK Dons continued to play at the National Hockey Stadium while Stadium MK was being built. Construction on Stadium MK began in February 2005. The stadium hosted its first match in July 2007. Just a few months later, on November 29, 2007, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened Stadium MK.

Stadium Attendance Records

Even though the MK Dons moved to a bigger stadium, their average attendance was less than half the stadium's capacity for a while. For example, in the 2008–09 season, the average attendance was about 10,550. However, attendance has grown over the years.

On March 29, 2014, a record 8,943 away fans from Wolverhampton Wanderers came to a game, making the total attendance 20,516.

The highest attendance ever for a football match at Stadium MK was 28,521. This happened on September 25, 2019, when MK Dons played against Liverpool in the EFL Cup. Before that, the record was 28,127 for an FA Cup match against Chelsea in 2016. Even earlier, 26,969 fans watched MK Dons famously beat Manchester United 4–0 in 2014.

The overall record attendance for any event at Stadium MK is 30,048. This was set during a Rugby World Cup match between Fiji and Uruguay on October 6, 2015.

Men's Football at Stadium MK

Milton Keynes Dons

The MK Dons played their first game at the new 22,000-seat Stadium MK on July 18, 2007, against a young Chelsea team. The stadium was officially opened by the Queen later that year. MK Dons is the main team that uses the stadium, and many of the facilities, like the club shop, are designed for them.

International Matches

Stadium MK has hosted two matches for the England under-21 team.

On November 16, 2007, England beat Bulgaria 2–0 with 20,222 fans watching.
On March 31, 2009, England won 7–0 against Azerbaijan.

On June 5, 2010, the stadium hosted a full international friendly match. Ghana played against Latvia and won 1–0. This was Ghana's final warm-up game before the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Tottenham Hotspur Games

In 2014, there were talks about Tottenham Hotspur, a Premier League club, possibly using Stadium MK temporarily. This would have happened while their own stadium, White Hart Lane, was being renovated.

Many Tottenham fans were not happy about the idea of playing home games in Milton Keynes. However, the Premier League said they wouldn't mind if Tottenham shared a stadium temporarily. Tottenham eventually played one game at Stadium MK against Watford, with 23,650 people attending.

Women's Football at Stadium MK

FA Women's Cup Final

On June 1, 2014, Stadium MK hosted the final of the 2013–14 FA Women's Cup. In this match, Arsenal defeated Everton 2–0.

Milton Keynes Dons Women

Since the 2018–19 season, the MK Dons women's team also uses Stadium MK as their home ground. They share the stadium with the men's team. This makes them one of the first clubs in the country where both the men's and women's teams share the same main stadium.

UEFA Women's Euro 2022

Stadium MK was chosen as one of the venues for the UEFA Women's Euro 2022 tournament. It hosted several group stage matches and a semi-final:

July 8, 2022: Spain beat Finland 4–1 (16,819 attendance).
July 12, 2022: Denmark beat Finland 1–0 (11,615 attendance).
July 16, 2022: Germany beat Finland 3–0 (20,721 attendance).
July 28, 2022: Germany defeated France 2–1 in the semi-final, with 27,445 fans watching.

Women’s International Matches

Date	Home	Away	Result	Attendance	Stage
8 July 2022	Spain	Finland	4–1	16,819	UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Group B
12 July 2022	Denmark	Finland	1–0	11,615	UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Group B
16 July 2022	Finland	Germany	0–3	20,721	UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Group B
21 July 2022	Germany	France	2–1	27,445	UEFA Women's Euro 2022 Semi Final
1 July 2023	England	Portugal	0-0	26,267	Friendly

Rugby Matches

Premiership Rugby

Saracens was the first club to host a Premiership rugby match at Stadium MK on May 10, 2008. They played against Bristol Rugby because their usual home ground was being used.

Northampton Saints also started playing some of their home games at Stadium MK, especially for bigger matches. They played against Saracens in April 2015 in front of a record 27,411 fans. Northampton Saints continued to host one game per season at the stadium between 2014 and 2017.

European Rugby Champions Cup

On January 24, 2011, the Northampton Saints rugby club announced that their 2010–11 Heineken Cup quarter-final match against Ulster would be held at Stadium MK. This was because their home ground, Franklin's Gardens, was too small for major European games.

The Saints beat Ulster 23–13 in front of 21,309 supporters. This win helped them reach the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup, which they also played and won at Stadium MK.

On January 21, 2012, Northampton Saints played another European match at Stadium MK against Munster. Even though Saints lost, the game set a new stadium record attendance of 22,220 at the time.

Rugby World Cup 2015

Stadium MK was chosen as one of the venues for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. The stadium's capacity could be increased to 32,000 for these matches. It hosted three games:

October 1, 2015: France beat Canada 41–18 (28,145 attendance).
October 3, 2015: Japan beat Samoa 26–5 (29,019 attendance).
October 6, 2015: Fiji beat Uruguay 47–15. This game set a new stadium attendance record with 30,048 people watching.

Concerts and Other Events

German band Rammstein performing at Stadium MK in 2019.

Stadium MK is also a popular venue for large concerts:

Date(s)	Artist	Tour	Support act(s)
8 July 2011	JLS, Olly Murs	N/A	Alexis Jordan
23 May 2019	Take That	Greatest Hits Live 2019	Rick Astley
4 June 2019	Rod Stewart	Live in Concert 2019	Johnny Mac & The Faithful
6 July 2019	Rammstein	Europe Stadium Tour 2019	Duo Jatekok
19, 21, 22 May 2022	My Chemical Romance	Reunion Tour	Placebo, LostAlone, Aviva, Barns Courtney, Cassyette, Starcrawler, Charlotte Sands
18 June 2022	Imagine Dragons	Mercury Tour	Mother Mother, Lola Young
30 May 2024	Take That	This Life on Tour	Olly Murs

The stadium has also been used for other events:

It was part of Milton Keynes' 50th birthday celebrations in 2017.
Jehovah's Witnesses have held their yearly conventions here.
The sci-fi convention Collectormania took place at the venue from 2009 to 2013.
The UK's Strongest Man competition was held at the stadium in 2021 and 2022.
The yearly Milton Keynes Marathon starts and finishes inside the stadium.

Naming of Stands

The South stand of Stadium MK is known as the Cowshed by Dons fans. This is because Milton Keynes is famous for its Concrete Cows. This nickname was also used for the home end at the Dons' old stadium.
The North stand is sometimes called "The Boycott End." This name came about after AFC Wimbledon fans planned to boycott a game against MK Dons in 2012 but then changed their minds and brought over 3,000 fans to the match.
The side stands are simply named after their direction: East and West.

Stadium Location and Transport

Location in Milton Keynes

The stadium is in the southern part of Milton Keynes, near the A5 and A421 roads.

Nearby Facilities

Around the stadium, you can find a 'Double Tree' hotel and a shopping area. This area has stores like Next, Primark, and Marks & Spencer. There are also restaurants like Nando's, TGI Fridays, and Prezzo, plus a 16-screen Odeon cinema. A large Asda supermarket and an IKEA store are also nearby.

Getting There

The closest train stations are Bletchley and Fenny Stratford, both about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) away. Milton Keynes Central station, which is about 2.6 miles (4.2 km) away, has more train services. Shuttle buses connect these stations to the stadium. Parking at the stadium is limited, and there are strict time limits on parking near the shops on match days. For very big events, the National Bowl is sometimes used for extra parking.