Pete Winkelman

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Pete Winkelman
Winkelman, Pete.jpg
Born (1957-11-09) 9 November 1957 (age 67)
Penn, Wolverhampton, England [1]
NationalityBritish
Occupations

Peter John Winkelman is the former chairman and owner of English association football club Milton Keynes Dons and former managing director of holding company Inter MK Ltd, which was involved in the development of the Denbigh North district of Milton Keynes. [2]

Contents

He is most widely known as having facilitated the controversial relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes and being responsible for their subsequent rebranding as 'Milton Keynes Dons F.C.' [3]

Early career

His earlier career was in pop music production, as a CBS executive. [4]

Involvement in football

Winkelman grew up as a supporter of his home town club, Wolverhampton Wanderers before his eventual involvement with Wimbledon and ultimately Milton Keynes Dons. [1]

In 2001, in a deal facilitated by Winkelman, the Wimbledon FC board of directors decided to relocate the club to Milton Keynes, around 60 miles from its south London home base. [5] The club, which went into administration in 2003, [6] played their first match in Milton Keynes in September, controlled by an administrator. [7] At the end of the season, the club was bought out by a consortium led by Winkelman, who became the club's chairman. [8] The new board relaunched the club as "Milton Keynes Dons FC", also giving the side a new all-white strip and a new club crest. [9]

In August 2024, Winkelman sold the club to a Kuwait-based consortium, with Fahad Al Ghamin replacing him as chairman. [10] This ended his 21 year association with the club as owner.

Personal life

He is married to wife Berni. [11] Winkelman moved to Milton Keynes in 1993, [12] establishing Great Linford Manor (a 17th-century mansion) as a recording studio complex. [4] The house was originally the manor house of Great Linford, a village and district of Milton Keynes. [13]

Honours

In June 2013, Winkelman was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Milton Keynes-based Open University "to mark his contribution to education through the world of professional football". [14] On 12 November 2015, Milton Keynes Council awarded him the council's highest ceremonial honour, the Freedom of the Borough of Milton Keynes. [15]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linford Manor</span> Mansion converted into a recording studio in Buckinghamshire

Linford Manor, also known as Great Linford Manor, is a seventeenth-century mansion or manor house converted into a recording studio complex in Great Linford, a district in Milton Keynes, England. It is now owned by Pete Winkelman who is chairman of Milton Keynes Dons football club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Linford</span> Civil parish in Milton Keynes, England

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Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in 2004, following Wimbledon F.C.'s controversial relocation to Milton Keynes from south London, when it adopted its present name, badge and home colours.

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The name Milton Keynes City Football Club currently refers to a grassroots youth and adult football club based in Milton Keynes. It also refers to two defunct English football clubs, both of which were non-League sides based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. The first, Bletchley Town FC, changed its name to Milton Keynes City in 1974, and used the name until its dissolution in 1985. The second, originally called Mercedes-Benz, became MK City in 1998, and retained the name until its own demise in 2003, coinciding with the relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes.

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Stadium MK is a football stadium in the Denbigh district of Bletchley in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Designed by Populous and opened in 2007, it is the home ground of EFL League Two side Milton Keynes Dons and FA Women's National League South side Milton Keynes Dons Women. In 2022, the stadium hosted several matches during the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes</span> Relocation of sport club

Wimbledon Football Club relocated to Milton Keynes in September 2003, 16 months after receiving permission to do so from the Football Association on the basis of a two-to-one decision in favour by an FA-appointed independent commission. The move took the team from south London, where it had been based since its foundation in 1889, to Milton Keynes, a new town in Buckinghamshire, about 56 miles (90 km) to the northwest of the club's traditional home district Wimbledon. Hugely controversial, the move's authorisation prompted disaffected Wimbledon supporters to form AFC Wimbledon, a new club, on 30 May 2002. The relocated team played home matches in Milton Keynes under the Wimbledon name from September 2003 until June 2004, when following the end of the 2003–04 season it renamed itself Milton Keynes Dons F.C..

During the 2003–04 English football season, Wimbledon F.C. competed in the First Division. This was Wimbledon's last season before changing its club name to Milton Keynes Dons after being given permission by the Football League.

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Milton Keynes Dons Football Club is an English association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire that has competed in the English Football League since the team was founded. The club found itself in League One after Wimbledon F.C. relocated to Milton Keynes in 2003. The club gave back Wimbledon's trophies to the London Borough of Merton in 2007, and since then, officially, the club is considered to have been founded in 2004. The MK Dons currently compete in League Two as of the 2023–24 season.

The rivalry between AFC Wimbledon and Milton Keynes Dons arose from the formation of both clubs following the relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to Milton Keynes, and is mainly rooted in the use of the term "Dons." On relocation of Wimbledon F.C., AFC Wimbledon was formed claiming to be the successor to what fans saw as the death of their club. After the near bankruptcy of Wimbledon F.C., the newly formed Milton Keynes claimed its history, silverware, and the term "Dons"; the silverware was subsequently returned to Merton Council but the continued use of "Dons" is seen by AFC fans as disrespectful of their heritage. For many years the two clubs played at different levels of English football, with the first competitive fixture between them taking place on 2 December 2012 - a second round FA Cup meeting in which the two clubs were drawn against one another, resulting in Milton Keynes dons defeating AFC Wimbledon 2–1.

Relocation of association football teams in the United Kingdom is a practice which involves an association football team moving from one metropolitan area to another, although occasionally moves between municipalities in the same conurbation are also included. For relocations in other sports see Relocation of sports teams in the United Kingdom; for relocations in other parts of the world see Relocation of professional sports teams.

The 2024–25 season is the 21st season in the history of Milton Keynes Dons Football Club and their second consecutive season in League Two. In addition to the domestic league, the club will also participate in the FA Cup, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy.

References

  1. 1 2 "MK Dons Pete Winkelman supremo wants Wolves in Championship too". www.expressandstar.com. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2022. Multi-millionaire Winkelman, who hails from Penn...
  2. ↑ "New stadium underpins soccer strategy" (PDF). SteelConstruction.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2007.
  3. ↑ "MK Dons sold by Pete Winkelman to Kuwait businessman in takeover". BBC. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  4. 1 2 From Wimbledon to Winkelman, a crazy new journey - The Observer Sunday 30 March 2008
  5. ↑ Parker, Raj; Stride, Steve; Turvey, Alan (28 May 2002). Report of the Independent Commission on Wimbledon F.C.'s wish to relocate to Milton Keynes (PDF). The Football Association. pp. 9–10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  6. ↑ "Wimbledon go into administration". The Daily Telegraph . London. 6 June 2003. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  7. ↑ Pryce, Robert (29 September 2003). "Wimbledon's happy ending is pure Hollywood". The Guardian . London: Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "Wimbledon to change name". BBC. 21 June 2004. Retrieved 5 June 2009.
  9. ↑ "Wimbledon become MK Dons FC". The Guardian . London: Guardian News and Media. 21 June 2004. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  10. ↑ "Consortium led by Fahad Al Ghanim completes acquisition of Milton Keynes Dons Football Club and the Stadium MK group from Pete Winkelman". Milton Keynes Dons FC. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  11. ↑ "Pete Winkelman speaks to Pulse Magazine". Pulse Magazine. 4 August 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  12. ↑ "Pete Winkelman". SEMLEP . Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "About Great Linford Manor Park". Milton Keynes Parks Trust.
  14. ↑ MK Dons chairman receives Honorary Doctorate from The Open University The Open University June 6th, 2013.
  15. ↑ VIDEO: Pete Winkelman - ‘the man who made MK a world-renowned name’ - given Freedom of the Borough Milton Keynes Citizen, 12 November 2015


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