MK Dons explain how they plan to boost attendances and improve the atmosphere at their games in a 30,000+ capacity stadium.
They currently get in 8,460 fans on avergae, but for their win against Harrogate on Saturday, they had 23,456 watching on, the club letting fans claim tickets for FREE.
CEO Neil Hart said: “We’re all so excited for Community Day, and while it was a bit of a gamble, the incredible uptake and enthusiasm from the people of Milton Keynes has already been a huge success.
“We’ve never engaged with the city so proactively before, and I’m absolutely delighted at the overwhelming positive response.
“I’d like to sincerely thank all the staff at Stadium MK for pulling everything together for what promises to be a truly special day tomorrow.
“We can’t wait to see you, so get down here early, soak up the atmosphere, and enjoy everything live football has to offer!”
A day we’ll never forget.
Thank you, Milton Keynes. 🫶#COYD pic.twitter.com/D9RXYASJ9k
— Milton Keynes Dons (@MKDonsFC) March 9, 2026
Unbelievable scenes today. 🤩
Thank you all for the support! 🫶#COYD pic.twitter.com/Xdco6XA77h
— Milton Keynes Dons (@MKDonsFC) March 7, 2026
Club CEO Neil Hart’s strategy includes innovation such as school programs and non-football events to build ownership, while other free-ticket promotions in other leagues have seen a boost in merchandise sales by over 30%.
He said, per MK Citizen: “I can’t think of any other club other than us who could do this. I could not imagine doing this at my former clubs, there would be no need to, but here there is. We have to do something. It’s a litmus test for us.
“We saw a club in Germany do something similar, Fortuna Dusseldorf, who also have a big stadium and are nowhere near filling it.
“We’re a unique club with a unique opportunity. If you’re a Walsall, Grimsby or a Bolton, you don’t have this problem. Harrogate’s CEO was shocked we were giving them away for free.
“Here, I believe we have to think about things differently. If we do something differently, take some risks, maybe we get a better outcome in terms of how we engage with the city, how we get more people to watch football here. It might be interesting to see how it pans out financially for us.”
On potentially more days like Saturday: “It depends how it goes. We need to assess the data afterwards, but I would like to make it a permanent fixture. We’re not a team with hundreds of years of history so we have to think differently, we can’t just rely on the fanbase that is always there, we have to build it. We’ve got fans who follow us through thick and thin, but it’s about building on that.
“You go to Walsall or Cambridge and see less than 10,000 in there, but the grounds are buoyant, loud, you feel it. You put that in Stadium MK and it’s a library because of the size of the place and it looks bad on the broadcast.
“If people can come and see a good match, see us win, enjoy the things we have going on around the ground and maybe we can hook a few more in.”
Promotion is also ‘critical’ for MK Dons this season, with CEO Neil Hart saying ahead of the weekend’s game, as per MK Citizen: “I’d be lying to say if it was anything other than critical,” said Hart. “If we don’t go up, life, football goes on, we’ll kick off another season in League Two but none of us want that. We want the club to go up, to be competitive and to go from there. That’s the objective.
“Fahad and the owners didn’t buy this club to stay in League Two, I didn’t join to stay in League Two, Paul Warne didn’t come here to be in League Two. We want to move forward as a collective.
“There is no reason why, with all the things we have put in place this season, where we are now and what we believe we can do before the end of the season we cannot do that.
“We’re unbeaten in ten, we look strong, resilient, aggressive, organised and that serves us well. Paul Warne has come in and done a really good job. We’re third with everything to play for and we’re still on course to achieve our target.
“This is the fun part of the season, and we’ve got a big eight weeks ahead of us. Every game and every point is critical and we’ll have to do everything we can to get over the line.”
🎫 Free tickets attracts 23,465 ‘fans’ — but will MK Dons win over locals?
Over two decades after controversial relocation from Wimbledon to Milton Keynes, the League Two ‘club from nowhere’ has bold plans to boost attendances
Read more ⬇️https://t.co/zGbcrt9mRD
— Times Sport (@TimesSport) March 9, 2026
Twitter users reacted as MK Dons explain how they plan to boost attendances and improve the atmosphere…
@SiWheeler78: Now drop the Dons and have a name that reflects Milton Keynes over theft and football franchising. This ridiculous charade of hanging onto it has gone on long enough, stop the antagonism and have a name that reflects the community.
@Dons04R: Shock, terrible replies in the original post. Stink of jealousy because their clubs havent got a pot to piss in. God forbid a football club makes a game more accessible in a era where prices are through the roof.
@JMGinMK: Got laugh at the sad comments from the haters trolling this thread. How many clubs in the EFL would offer free tickets to ALL fans for a league match. And yes its sold out (capacity is set by the advisory group). Making league football accessible for ALL 👏
@stevedarney: Can’t stand MK (like most) – but … making football accessible for all and rallying the local community is something to be commended on. Fair play. I obviously hope they lose, but hope all the kids, families and the community enjoy the day. 23K is some effort 👌🏼 …
@fatboyscum: Mental that people are slagging this off. Everyone knows the ‘history’ of MK dons with what happened to Wimbledon etc. but at least now they’re trying to actually connect the club with the community and bring in a new generation of fans.
@Fordamous: Like the club or not, this is an incredible gesture to the community during a time when prices rise everywhere and it becomes no longer a working man’s game 👍👍👍👍
@DaveDeeney11: Great idea, get people in the ground most will buy food/drink and some will come back regularly
@The_Real_Roy82: It was great to see all the newbies, young and old! And from what I was hearing, we may get a few returns. I think it was a great day, massive kudos to the club. #UpTheDons
@lisajspearman: Oh now that was a fun day. Great work at the TIFO – and cleaning it up afterwards- who knew it was so wet on the front row ??? Oh result was OK too! #COYD @MKDonsFC
Great turnout @MKDonsFC for MKD community day with over 23k in attendance 👊 The support is definitely growing & the atmosphere starting to improve – hopefully many of the younger fans will follow their local club over choosing PL football on the TV 🙌🫡 @NTT20Pod @OfficialMKDSA https://t.co/ezTLqLa796 pic.twitter.com/Nzsdwm4TK9
— Football Travels (@footballtravs) March 8, 2026
