Luton visit MK Dons as old grievance over Wimbledon move resurfaces

Luton Town travelled to face MK Dons at Stadium MK in a League One match on Saturday (12:30 BST), reopening a bitter local dispute that stems from Wimbledon’s controversial relocation to Milton Keynes in 2003 and a 22-year gap since the clubs last met in Milton Keynes.

The clubs sit only about 20 miles apart but have rarely played each other, in part because promotions and relegations kept their league paths apart; the last time MK Dons hosted Luton was in November 2004 at the former National Hockey Stadium. Supporters do not regard the fixture as equivalent to Luton’s traditional animosity with Watford, yet many Hatters fans retain deep resentment over what they view as a franchise-style move and a betrayal of a club and its community.

Luton supporters voiced that anger in personal terms. "I don't dislike Milton Keynes, I dislike what they stand for," said Mike Fanning, a Luton Town fan. "They're a franchise and that's not what football is about. "It's a working men's game, about a club and its community and it matters. It can't be taken away. You can't up sticks and go elsewhere because someone wants you to." He added: "We could have been the MK Hatters," and recalled being at school during the demonstrations that followed.

The prospect of relocation to Milton Keynes is not new in Luton’s history. The club faced severe financial problems in the 1980s and there were serious proposals to move and become 'MK Hatters', a concept the Football League initially approved in 1983. Denis Mortimer, Luton's chairman at the time, believed the move could attract new fans, but mass protests, marches, a petition and boycotts led to the plans being abandoned. "I was on the action committee to fight the move to MK back in the 1980s," said Luton fan John Pyper. "We could have lost our club, but we fought the decision of our then directors to take the offer to move to MK. We boycotted games back then. "I was so upset when they took a club to Milton Keynes in the end. Why didn't they set up their own club using their own different towns and villages within their own vicinity?"

MK Dons supporters say they have learned to absorb the hostility. Jon Scudamore, who went to the last Milton Keynes meeting in November 2004, said: "MK Dons have had this directed at us for 22 years. "We have grown used to it and grown hard because of it. "The Luton fans will understand that. Luton have been through some hard times and I have the greatest respect for them. But we MK fans are solid." Manager Paul Warne has briefed his squad on the club's history, saying: "I don't think anything that happened 20-odd years ago has anything to do with my players," and adding: "Having thousands of fans from Luton helps my team because our fans will turn up and sing against them which makes for a great atmosphere."

The fixture prompted calls for a boycott from one supporters' group, yet more than 6,000 Hatters fans planned to travel to Stadium MK, a decision the club's travelling supporters have respected even as many pledged not to spend money there. "It's down to the individual," said Kevin Rouse of Loyal Luton Supporters group. "As a committee we will not go. It burns very deep and we will not recognise them (MK Dons). "But there is no right or wrong in this."

The League One meeting at Stadium MK kicks off at 12:30 BST on Saturday, and Warne summed up his view of the match by saying: "It's probably, weirdly, a perfect game for us".