Wimbledon get the go ahead for Milton Keynes

Wimbledon's first home match in Milton Keynes will go ahead on September 27th after the Football League granted the Dons permission…

Wimbledon's first home match in Milton Keynes will go ahead on September 27th after the Football League granted the Dons permission to use the National Hockey Stadium.

The ground had already satisfied safety criteria following an inspection this week, but League lawyers spent most of today examining the small print in the club's tenancy agreement before the final all-clear was given.

It means the Division One team, who have been sharing Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park since 1991, will take on Burnley at their new venue a week tomorrow.

Football League head of communications John Nagle said in a statement: "Having inspected the stadium at length during the course of this week and having assured ourselves that the appropriate contractual arrangements are in place, the Football League are satisfied that the National Hockey Stadium is a suitable venue to stage League matches.

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"Therefore the League have authorised the club to play at the stadium from September 27th, subject to them receiving the appropriate safety certificate.

"This should give the club the opportunity they have sought to establish themselves within the Milton Keynes area and help resolve their financial difficulties so they can hopefully exit administration in the near future."

The League agreed the facilities at Milton Keynes meet the required standards to stage league football, but wanted clarification over "a number of outstanding issues" relating to documentation surrounding the club's tenancy at the stadium.

Predictably, Wimbledon's joint administrators were delighted with the news.

A statement from Andy Hosking and Nick Wood, partners at Grant Thornton, read: "We are pleased to have received confirmation from the Football League, subject to production and confirmation of certain conditions within the sublease between the National Hockey Foundation and Inter MK Limited, that the National Hockey Stadium has been sanctioned for use as the home ground of Wimbledon Football Club - subject to the safety certificate being issued by the local authority.

"We have received assurances that subject to certain works being completed the safety certificate will be awarded.

"Having consulted with Stadium MK consortium we are confident that they will complete all necessary works to satisfy the safety authorities in time. "Therefore we are pleased to announce that the first game at the Hockey Stadium will be against Burnley on September 27.

"We have appointed the Stadium MK consortium as ticket agents on behalf of the club and they will be issuing information on ticket sales in due course and they continue to assist the administrators on a number of other matters primarily in relation to the club eventually exiting administration."

Hosking added: "I am pleased that all the arrangements are now in place for the move to Milton Keynes.

"It has been a very difficult time for all the people involved with Wimbledon - the players, staff and the fans and I would like to thank them all for their support and patience throughout the last three months.

"Of course I also acknowledge that there will be a significant number of fans in the Wimbledon area who will be disappointed with the move and I am cognisant of their disappointed at this news.

"Nevertheless the survival of Wimbledon FC is our paramount concern."