The opponent: Franchise FC
Ok, I will be the first to admit I have no particular love for Milton Keynes, not just the football club but the area in general doesn’t really do much for me. But it really is the founding and existence of the club that bothers me. “I did a deal that was wrong and the owners [of Wimbledon at the time) were wrong. I'm not proud of the way football came to Milton Keynes”. Those were the words spoken at the start of the year by the owner of Milton Keynes FC, Pete Winkelman. Now Winkelman is an interesting character it must be said. Its easy to for English Football fans to sling the accusation that US sports entities are nothing but franchises. They forget Milton Keynes FC if they do so, a club that cynically exploited the financial troubles of another to buy its way into the English Football League and move it 56 miles away. I know we all have our own opinions on the way Milton Keynes were formed, some don’t give a shit, and some do. For me, the only thing the Wimbledon of old and the current Milton Keynes share is empty seats, and that’s about it.
My first time travelling to Milton Keynes was when they turned out at the hockey stadium. The temporary seating was an odd set up, although free parking at the nearby McDonalds was a winner. The one thing I am sure that Milton Keynes did take from the old place to the new Stadium MK was the announcer that seems to enjoy hearing himself and his choice of music at decibels associated with that of a tornado taking off. The newish stadium is impressive in many ways, the way it came about not so impressive, Asda and IKEA had done a deal with the devil and I hope it comes back one day to bite them on their respective corporate arses.
There are many good things about Milton Keynes and a lot of specific statistics speaks volumes for how the town of a similar size to our own has gained a massive 41’000 in population in just 10 years! Like ourselves, Milton Keynes have applied unsuccessfully on several occasions to gain city status, and some 9 years ago John Prescott announced plans to double the population of Milton Keynes to some 440’000 by 2026. I would imagine in the last 9 years Lord Prescott managed to double the size of his waistline without any struggle. Milton Keynes is not awash with A List celebrities, the most recent famous folk being Olympic Gold medallist long jumping ginger Greg Rutherford, half decent golfer, Ian Poulter, Winkleman himself and everyone’s favourite English Table Tennis Champion, Andrew Baggaley.
What are they saying about us? “...join Brentford in the deluded, annoying, arrogant type of fanbase list.
http://thetownend.com/index.php?topic=51199.0If MK is a horrible place to go to then what the hell is Swindon? They charge more to sit in a shitty away end and the town is crap too. My dad has lived in MK and Swindon and he said there is no comparison. People in glass houses really shouldn't throw stones”.
http://www.concreteroundabout.co.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7411Franchise Last 6 – LWLWWD (currently 10th in League 1 on 61 points, having played 2 less games than the teams in 7th, 8th and 9th)
The Threat – Dean Bowditch currently leads the way this season with 12 goals, Ryan Lowe is a couple behind on 10. Izale McLeod is now back on the scene at Franchise, despite them already having a penalty taker.
The irrelevant stats – Franchise have played 21 of their 41 games at home so far this season with a decent enough record, having won 11, drawn 5 and lost 5. They have only failed to score at home 3 times so far this season and have kept 11 clean sheets. Interestingly, they score 26% of their goals between the 30 and 45th minutes.
Head to Head – We have met on 14 occasions in their illustrious 9 year history, and we have won 6, drawn 3 and lost 5 times.
The Odds – It would seem the bookies just about fancy us to win this (as they often have in recent games. Franchise 9/5 Draw 12/5 Swindon 7/5 (Sky Bet). I quite fancy a draw HT and Swindon Ft at 11/2 with Bet Victor.
The Son Says – A 1-0 victory awaits us.
The Prediction – I am going for a 2-1 away win with goals from A.Rooney and Darren Ward in front of 7’248 Franchisees, plus 710 travelling from Wiltshire and beyond.
And Finally – Milton Keynes is the name of one of the villages that were in the original designated area of the new "city" of Milton Keynes. This had the name Mideltone (middletown) in the Domesday Book and by 1422 the name of Kaynes had been added after the feudal family name Cahaignes.
