RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO – Wimbledon FC
DATE – Tuesday 6 April
KO TIME – 7.45
THE GROUND – the National Hockey Stadium, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire – click here and here for maps of the area – the red circle near the middle shows where the ground is.
As you can see from the first map link above, the roads in Milton Keynes use a grid layout: and have both a name AND a number – eg “H6 Childs Way”; an ‘H’ road runs horizontally (west to east) and a ‘V’ road runs vertically (north to south). And yes, it’s true that the town has a lot of roundabouts, to facilitate the grid road system. Better than traffic lights every five minutes – you’ll only come across traffic lights if you venture right into the central shopping/business area and the ‘magic roundabout’ next to the Hockey Stadium.
Milton Keynes is in Buckinghamshire, about 45 miles north of London and close to both the M1 (jcn 14) and the A5 London road. The town centre is approx two miles west of the M1.
Away teams’ supporters are allocated around 1,200 seats in the west stand (behind one goal). Only one of the four stands at the Hockey Stadium is covered and the west stand isn’t the one – so if it rains, you’ll get wet.
Tickets are now on general sale, subject to availablilty – £20 adults, £10 OAPs, £1 children (if child’s ticket bought with at lease one adult ticket)
GOING BY CAR?
Travelling from the north east, get yourself onto the A1/A1M southbound; just after you pass junction 45 (for the A64 Leeds/York road) you’ll see signs for the M1 – so take the M1 southbound. You join the M1 at jcn 48 and you need to stay on it until you reach jcn 14 (just after Newport Pagnell service area).
(If you’re travelling southbound and come up against any jams on the M1, you can leave the motorway at jcns 18 or 17 and take the A5 southbound into Milton Keynes, or leave at jcn 16, 15A or 15 instead and follow the signs to Milton Keynes from there. If you’re a southern-based mackem travelling north up the M1 and get stuck in heavy traffic, leave at either jcn 9 and take the A5 northbound or jcn 13 and take the A421 (second exit off the slip road) following signs for Milton Keynes).
If you’re a southern-based Mackem travelling northbound, use the M1 up to jcn 14 or the A5 until you see the signs for “Central Milton Keynes” (not “Milton Keynes South” or “Milton Keynes North” as those exits put you into a different part of town).
Leaving the M1 at jcn 14, take the third exit onto H6 Childs Way.
Pass the coachway on your left then at the next roundabout take the third exit onto H5 Portway.
Stay on this road, going straight over at the first eight (yes, eight) roundabouts.
At the 9th roundabout turn left and you’ll see the Hockey Stadium off to your right – but you should see the brown tourist signs with a football on from very soon after leaving the motorway.
If you’re driving down from Sunderland it takes a shade over three hours.
PARKING
You shouldn’t have any problem getting parked: there are bays around the stadium, outside ‘Staples’ office supplies shop and Travelodge (over the main road from the stadium) and in the immediate area, outside most of the nearby offices, or in the parking area outside the front of the adjacent railway station and loads more spaces around the back of the rail station.
There’s a small retail park behind the stadium which may let you park there but don’t quote me on that.
Almost all parking in Central Milton Keynes is pay and display – but as this is an evening fixture, the restrictions end at 6pm and the traffic warden vultures should’ve dispersed by then. However if you’re arriving before 6pm, be very careful where you park – look carefully for signs mentioning parking permits and avoid ’em like the plague or you might end up with a hefty fine (“CS” means permits for people who are car-sharing, “H1” or “H2” are permits for local health authority employees – none of the permits are an alternative to buying a pay and display ticket before 6pm).
GOING BY TRAIN?
Travelling from the north east, the 1.06pm Virgin service from Newcastle gets you into Birmingham New St at 4.39pm, then change for the 5.15pm Virgin service which gets into Milton Keynes at 6.19pm.
Or the 1.56pm GNER service from Newcastle gets you into London Kings Cross at 5pm. Either catch the Tube or get a cab across town to London Euston then the 5.45pm Virgin service will get into Milton Keynes at 6.20pm.
Come out of the station front doors and turn sharp left, walk through the tunnel under the glass-fronted office building in front of you (Phoenix House), along the pathway so that the multi storey car park is on your left, and the stadium’s in front of you and just off to the right – you really can’t miss it!
Unfortunately there are no trains that will get you back to the north-east the same night.
South-east based Mackems need to travel up from London Euston on the west coast mainline – the journey takes 35 – 45 mins on a fast Virgin train, or 50-60 mins on a slightly slower Silverlink County train.
For full timings and fare details, see the National Rail website.
”I’M A MACKEM, FLY MEEEEE”
Scots based Mackems can fly to Luton Airport with Easyjet, Dublin mackems can fly to Luton with Ryanair – then catch the hourly Virgin coach service to MK station for an extra £2.50.
From the north-east, you could fly to Stanstead from Newcastle…but it’s a bugger of a journey across to MK involving the M25 and M1 – the M25 in late afternoon/early evening can be a nightmare.
COACH
ALS will be running their usual coach service.
STOPPING OVER?
Travelodge (opposite the stadium) tel 0870 191 1698
Holiday Inn (5 mins walk, town ctr) tel 0870 400 9057
Travel Inn (10 mins walk, town ctr) tel 08701 977 184
Holiday Inn Express (short taxi ride away) 01908 681000
Novotel (1.3 miles) tel 01908 322212
SCRAN AND BOOZE
There’s a Chicago Rock Café upstairs from the Bus Station (from the stadium head across to the rail station, you can see the bus station across the car park) so you’ll get food and drink in there. Or if you’re easily pleased, there’s a McDonalds and a Burger King behind the north stand.
There’ll also be the usual burger vans both inside and outside the ground.
There’s a Weatherspoons pub on Midsummer Boulevard where you’ll also get a drink and the usual bar meals (Midsummer Boulevard is the main road that goes up the hill from the railway station to the town centre – come out of the station and you see Midsummer Boulevard stretching ahead of you going uphill); Weatherspoons is on the left hand side of the road behind the Abbey bank HQ building.
Two minutes walk further up that road, you’ll see the Central Business Exchange (known locally just as ‘CBX’) on your right – a big silver/grey office complex – but it also includes another Weatherspoons (‘The Secklow Hundred’), All Bar One, the Slug & Lettuce pub, Marcello’s Italian Restaurant, and there’s a Pizza Express and a Chinese restaurant on the inside.
Another two minutes further up the road in the town centre you’ll see the bright orange EasyCinema – behind there is a Wyevale garden centre then behind that is a Beefeater pub, “The Old Barn” (there’s also a Travel Inn there for anyone wanting to stop over).
Keep walking up Midsummer Boulevard through the town centre shopping area, past Waitrose and you’ll arrive at the Theatre District where as well as the theatre you’ll find the Hogs Head pub, Metro Bar & Grill, TGI Friday, Bella Pasta, Chillies (Indian buffet), Elements (Chinese buffet), Yates’s, Pizza Hut, Taipan (Taiwanese food), Lloyds No 1 Cafebar, Zizzi, the Rat & Parrot and ‘Bar:Me’. This lot is about 15 minutes walk up a gentle hill from the Hockey Stadium, or catch a bus up there, or get a taxi from the queue of them parked front of the railway station.
Even more places to eat if you head off behind the Theatre District to the Xscape – the big building that looks like a spaceship’s landed (you can’t miss it, trust me). Whilst it’s mainly home to an indoor ski slope and 16 screen cinema, there’s also a few more places to eat and drink: the Moon Under Water, ‘Oceana’ nightclub, ‘Mood’ nightclub, KFC, Ask (Italian), McD’s, Frankie & Benny’s, Old Orleans, Dexters Grill, Nando’s, Hagen Dazs, Mid City Lanes 10 pin bowling, the State Fair (slot machines etc) and a comedy club. Again, this lot is about 15 – 20 mins walk from the hockey stadium, or catch a bus or taxi.
So if you’re staying over in the area after the match, or planning to arrive a few hours before kickoff, there’s plenty to keep you amused.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
There’s an ATM at the Abbey bank HQ building over the main road and to the right of the stadium – or there’s no shortage of ATMs in the shopping centre.
IN THE NEWS
The Dons are preparing for the near-certainty of life in the second division by lining up potential signings who they think can do a job for them at that level.
They’ve signed Smoggy midfielder Gary Smith on loan until mid April.
They also have a Mag reject in the form of one Warren Barton…remember him? He’s been playing there this season but recently announced his retirement; but he remains with the Dons as a coach, studying for his UEFA “A” Coaching Badge.
The Dons recently lost several of their top players – Patrick Agyemang went to Gillingham (and scored against us, recently); Nigel Reo-Coker and Adam Nowland went to West Ham in January, and Jobi McAnuff followed in February.
THIS SEASON
Currently 24th of 24:
P36 W5 D3 L28 F28 A73 Pts 18 GD -45
HOME FORM
P18 W2 D3 L13 F14 A31 Pts 9 GD -17
HEAD TO HEAD
We’ve played Wimbledon 9 times in the league: they’ve won 4, we drew two, and Sunderland have won 3.
LAST 6 MEETINGS (all comps)
20/12/03 Sunderland 2 Wimbledon 1 (Stewart, Proctor)
08/04/00 Sunderland 2 Wimbledon 1 (Quinn, Kilbane)
03/01/00 Wimbledon 1 Sunderland 0
12/10/99 Wimbledon 3 Sunderland 2 (Dichio, Ball)(League Cup)
11/05/97 Wimbledon 1 Sunderland 0
07/12/96 Sunderland 1 Wimbledon 3 (Melville)
Credits: Wimbledon FC, Link, Soccerbase, Multimap, The Centre MK, Xscape, MK Borough Council, BBC, National Rail.
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