When I was in France last week, French rugby fans were reported to be bemused by the suburban provincialism they encountered when they had to go to Milton Keynes for their game against Canada.
When I was in France last week, French rugby fans were reported to be bemused by the suburban provincialism they encountered when they had to go to Milton Keynes for their game against Canada.
But the very fact that rugby world cup games were being held there says something about the success that has been secured by the new city. The old joke was that its name was a compromise between monetarism and Keynesianism, taking the first name of Chicago economist Milton Friedman and the surname of Aston Villa supporter Maynard Keynes. In fact, it was the name of a village in the area.
The idea of Milton Keynes as a football city is something of a contradiction in terms, as is evident from the latest posting in the ‘football city’ series from the excellent two unfortunates blog. Many fans in the area support London clubs or nearby Luton Town. When Rushden & Diamonds were at the peak of their success, a substantial slice of support came from Milton Keynes.
Of course, as the blog author points out, Milton Keynes may give people what they want: uncomplicated, apolitical consumerism. However, there is a lot of local indifference or even hostility to MK Dons.
Attendances are very dependent on away support, higher in the Championship, while home support has been slow to build and compares unfavourably with economically deprived areas like Barnsley. When I hear MK Dons fans interviewed, they often seem rather bland and uncommitted, but perhaps that is a defence mechanism against criticisms of ‘Franchise FC’.