Extra time and extra special hospitality - a great night out in Milton Keynes

FA Cup 2nd Round Replay

Tuesday 13th December 2016

Milton Keynes Dons 3 Charlton Athletic 1 (after extra time)

If there is a more friendly club than MK Dons in the Skybet EFL I would be amazed. The hospitality I was shown last night was astonishing. I was fed, met the players in the dressing room before the match, had my pic taken with the match officials on the pitch, chatted with the first team coach Scot Neil MacFarlane, met the Head Groundsman and the Chief Exec, given a free ticket and given a photo opportunity with Dons boss Robbie Neilson.

Giving Robbie some advice before the match

Actually I am not sure that the photo op with Robbie was supposed to be part of the deal but like the prolific MK Dons striker Dean Bowditch I took my chance when it came along. A football match also took place. This is how the evening panned out.

Pre match communications

I am now an established contributor on the two main MK Dons face book pages and it is through this medium that my project was brought to the attention of the club. Tim Lèe from marketing made contact and I was afforded the incredible hospitality that I will describe later. I also joined the Charlton supporters fb group and received a lot of info on their current plight from Twitter 9/10

Enjoying the Stadium Tour with Tim Lee before the match

Pre match pint

My pre match pint was in the luxurious surroundings of Club Gold in the Stadium. A decent pint of Tetleys 7/10

Programme

MK Dons produce a very good programme and the quality of the photography is particularly noteworthy. It is really impressive that they managed to include so much coverage from Saturday's game with such a short turnaround before last nights match. A great interview with the weekend's match winner Dean Bowditch. Also a brief mini feature on my Road to Wembley from Scotland .. Thanks guys 9/10

Ground

Stadium MK is a hugely impressive football stadium. At present it is not a great fit with the stage of development that the Dons are at, but that is another story. The ground holds 30000, is all seated and every seat is padded and affords a great view of the action. The pitch has been attractively sunken in to the landscape and is 9 metres below road level, giving the impression of a Roman amphitheater. The hospitality and catering areas are all integral to the design rather than being an afterthought as they are at many grounds 10 / 10

Atmosphere

In the words of my new pal Dons fanatic Colin Butler the first half had the feel of a pre season friendly. There is a problem generating a vibrant atmosphere when there are less than 4000 fans in a ground that holds 30000. The Cow Shed end did their best with some good vocal encouragement and an enthusiastic drummer thumping away but it was hard work. The Charlton fans did not turn up in big numbers either and I noted there were more Spennymoor fans in the away end when the Moors were in Milton Keynes a month ago. 5/10

Scottishness

All of a sudden Millton Keynes seems to be a suburb of Glasgow. The entire management team at Stadium MK are now Scots. New boss Robbie Neilson has been joined in Milton Keynes by fellow countrymen new assistant manager Stevie Crawford and very recently appointed first team coach Neil MacFarlane. It was great to catch a few words with Neil last night.

The self effacing Neil MacFarlane 

I told Neil I was a Hearts fan and remembered him playing for the Hearts. "playing badly for Hearts" he replied . .... "no, I remember you having some good games" ... "you must have a good memory" he responded. Good luck to all 3 in this new adventure for them.

In addition to the recent arrivals there are two Scots players who are on the staff at Stadium MK. Connor Furlong is a Scottish youth international making his way through the ranks with the Dons and I was able to catch up with him last night.

Connor Furlong: A young Scot with a big future ahead of him

Jack Hendry played for Partick Thistle in the Scottish Premier League before signing for Wigan Athletic. He is still only 20 and is currently on loan at Stadium MK. He was named as a substitute last night.

Jack be nimble Jack be quick: Scot Hendry pacy and skillful

After 60 minutes Jack came on to play at centre back. With extra time needed he was required to play for an hour and the premature reincarnation of Alan Hansen never put a foot wrong.

Plenty of scottishness with the Dons at the moment but no Jocks in the Charlton line up at present 9/10

Entertainment

The match itself was a bit of a slow burner. The first hour or so was pretty dire, despite the two early goals. The standard of football got better as the evening wore on. The Dons first goal was well taken by Powell after good work by Potter. The Charlton equaliser was a smart strike from the edge of the box by ex Dons full back Chicksen after he cut in from the left. Half time 1 1

Neilson used all of his 3 subs within the first 65 minutes but this infusion of new energy tipped the game in the Dons favour. He introduced defender Hendry and attackers Reeves and Agard to the fray and all 3 made important contributions. Reeves in particular was running the show and a vicious, bending dipping shot from his right boot almost gave the Dons the lead after 70 minutes. For Charlton Lookman started to Look  like the The Man and was at the heart of all of the best play from the visitors. He was ably supported by the sub Ajose who blotted his copybook by missing a great chance to steal the tie just before the end of the 90 minutes. Full time 1 1

Second half action as seen from the Cowshed

Extra time was only two minutes old when Reeves struck with a goal fit to grace any football match. Agard made ground on the right flank and played the ball infield. Reeves collected the ball smartly, worked a wee trick on his marker and then sent the ball like a tracer bullet into the top corner of the net from just outside the box. Two minutes later the tie was all over. The free scoring Bowditch was sent clear by Potter and calmly slid the ball wide of the keeper and into the onion bag.

Bowditch is the name - scoring goals is the game !

There was no way back for The Addicks and their cup campaign is over. Final score Dons 3 Addicks 1 6/10

Match day catering

Inevitably, despite the more salubrious surroundings, I had a pre match pie. The steak and ale concoction was mighty fine and being in the corporate hospitality area I had a wee dod of tuna salad on the side! Surprisingly not a prawn sandwich in sight. 8 /10

Value for money

For me personally the rating would be calculated as infinity because as a result of the generosity of the MK Dons my evening's entertainment was completely free. However, the average punter also got good value for money as the Dons reduced the admission price to a tenner. Ten quid to see two good passing teams go head to head in an FA Cup replay was good value 8 /10

The je ne sais quoi factor

Top marks in this category because this was an incredible experience that I doubt can ever be repeated and will live long in my memory. Firstly huge thanks to my new pal Colin Butler for setting the whole thing up. The MK Dons are a much misunderstood club and he has sold his club to me and I am now officially 'The Hearts Don!'

Your blogger and Colin Butler on the pitch before kick off

Thanks also to his mate Nick Hedges who is great company on the terracing. A special vote of thanks also to Tim Lee the Corporate Sales Executive for making it all happen. Colin and Tim had so many surprises in store for me that I thought at one point I was going to be handed a pair of size 9 boots and a Dons strip and told to play on the right side of midfield. Meeting the head groundsman Joe was an honour too and it was fascinating to hear of the new demands made by Robbie Neilson with regard to use of the pitch for training.

Head Groundsman Joe proudly showing off his beautiful pitch

I met so many Dons fans both in the hospitality area and in the 'Cow Shed' and without exception they were committed fans keen to talk passionately about THEIR club. The formation  of the club may be shrouded in controversy but there is no doubt that this new club are proud of who they are, the town that they represent and proud of their growing number of fans. The fans in turn are a great advert for the club. I look forward to joining up with them again in Brighton in early January. 10/10

Overall Road to Wembley from Scotland Rating 81/100 (highest so far)

At this point I have to say goodbye to Charlton Athletic. I have enjoyed my brief sojourn with the Addicks. I especially enjoyed visiting the Valley - a great football stadium. I wish all Charlton supporters good luck in their campaign to bring about a change of ownership at The Valley.

It is onwards  and upwards with the MK Dons now. It is a tall order for them to knock Championship high flyers Brighton out of the FA Cup but under the stewardship of my pal Robbie anything is possible .... keep reading.

Miles on the clock for this match 720
Total miles on the Road to Wembley from Scotland so far 4865