One way or another, this is going to be a season that’s something different at MK Dons.

The day before MK Dons’ season opener against Bradford City at Stadium MK will go down in the club’s history as the day that, after 20 years running things, Pete Winkelman has elected to sell the club, with a Kuwait consortium acquiring the club and associated businesses including the stadium.

It means that, regardless of what happens on the pitch in the 2024/25 season, this is the start of something new at Stadium MK, and that over the next 8 months in parallel to what will likely be another fast and frantic season of football, we will also be learning along the way what the new look MK Dons will look like as an off-pitch operation.

As it is, all of that is to come, and there is still plenty of football to be played alongside to preview for the new season up ahead.

The 2024/25 season will see MK Dons in League Two after just coming up short in last season’s automatic promotion race and then crashing in the play-offs.

On multiple occasions this pre-season, the goal has been stated the Dons want this season to end with the promotion that proved just out of reach last year, something which was likely the case for both the now-outgoing and incoming ownership groups.

The aspiration is that with a pre-season of Williamson and his methods in the Dons’ system allied to a new playing squad signed to his specifications that they would be able to build on what worked last season.

It was easy to forget in the aftermath of the Crawley play-offs debacle that ended the Dons’ hopes of promotion, but the MK Dons team Williamson inherited last October really did not look like a side capable of mounting a promotion push, and enough was clearly demonstrated over the course of the first 5 or so months that they could’ve pulled it off.

As a result, the pressure on Williamson is to show that he can put a promotion winning team together and that in the punishing slog of a 46 game League Two season, MK Dons can pull off the promotion they crave. Even moreso if the team is going to continue it’s habit of going wrong in the play-offs.

The team that Williamson will field for the first game of the season will feature many changes from that one against Crawley. Seven of those who started that second leg are out the door, including stalwarts like Warren O’Hora and Daniel Harvie, who were two of the last players leftover from the Dons side that nearly won promotion to the Championship in 2022, while top scorer Max Dean found the lure of European football with Belgian side Gent the right project to move on for.

Curiously, two of that Crawley side will now feature for MK Dons. Liam Kelly, who impressed a lot of people in Crawley’s late push for promotion, will stay in League Two after moving to Milton Keynes following Crawley’s post-promotion firesale, while the Dons also picked up Laurence Maguire after Harry’s brother was released by a Chesterfield team who Crawley borrowed Maguire from last season.

Kelly and Maguire are two of a range of outfielders who have impressed onlookers, hence why MK Dons feature highly in a lot of people’s promotion picks for League Two.

In defence, a new look is coming around. Sam Sherring joins after two impressive seasons at Northampton, Luke Offord arrives after captaining the Dons’ fellow play-off side Crewe, and Nico Lawrence arrives from Southampton on loan, with the defender choosing the Dons on the recommendation of ex-Dons boss Russell Martin, with Jack Tucker and Dean Lewington still in the fold.

With loanees Jack Payne and Lewis Bate opting to go elsewhere, Kelly and experienced ex-Premier League midfielder Tom Carroll join up to boost the midfield ranks, for which youngster Callum Tripp – also capable of playing at wing-back or in midfield – is tipped to be a potential first team contender.

Although Alex Gilbey and Stephen Wearne impressed as attacking midfielders last season, Tommy Leigh’s arrival from Accrington is seen as another coup and as another option in this area. It remains to be seen if such a role could be found for Jonathan Leko, although a long-term injury means he will be out for the first few months of the season.

Connor Lemonhaigh-Evans and Joe Pritchard also look like they can provide options down the right of Williamson’s preferred 3-4-2-1 system, with the Dons having looked to aggressively remodel.

With Dean off to Belgium, the man who looks set to inherit the question for where the goals are coming from is Callum Hendry, who had a roughly 1 goal in 3 game strike-rate for Salford City. Matt Dennis’ impressive form in pre-season means he could also be an option as an alternative, while Ellis Harrison looks set to again be a Plan B.

One area where MK Dons had question marks last season was in goal, with all of Craig MacGillivray, Nathan Harness, Michael Kelly and Filip Marschall used at various points but none exactly laying down a convincing marker.

Stepping up is the 24-year-old Canadian Tom McGill, who has signed from Brighton and Hove Albion after a summer which saw him called up as a Canadian back-up for the Copa America. How quickly he can hit the ground running in a first season as a number one could be one area that determines if MK Dons can hit the ground running.

Certainly, Williamson will want to see his team be prepared to go straight away, starting with a clash with a Bradford side now managed by ex-Dons boss Alexander and who some also think are a possible promotion chaser as well.

Many have tipped MK Dons to again challenge near the top end of the league, and it’s something the new people with the purse strings will be hoping can be achieved on their first try.

Naturally, the league is set to be as frantic and competitive as ever, with plenty of teams thinking they’ve got what it takes to get themselves into League One for this time 12 months from now. On paper, MK Dons have what it takes to get into such a mix, but now we have to see if this strong look on paper can be backed up with performances on the grass.