MK Dons have been taken over after Pete Winkelman sold the club to a consortium based in Kuwait lead by Fahad Al Ghanim.
The takeover lead by Al Ghanim is of both Milton Keynes Dons Football Club and the wider Stadium MK Group, formerly known as the Inter MK Group.
The takeover sees Winkelman leave after over 20 years of involvement with the club, starting with the move that saw Wimbledon FC relocate to Milton Keynes in 2003 and rebrand as MK Dons in 2004.
Winkelman had run the club since 2004, taking the team out of administration and overseeing the team’s move to the 30,000+ capacity Stadium MK venue in 2007.
The announcement came nearly 20 years to the day since the club’s first game as MK Dons, which came on the opening day of the 2004/05 season on 7th August 2004 against Barnsley.
In a statement, MK Dons said both club and stadium group will be debt-free after the deal received EFL clearance to proceed.
The statement read, “After almost exactly 20 years at the helm, Pete Winkelman has today passed on the torch of leading Milton Keynes Dons Football Club and the wider Stadium MK Group to a Kuwait-based consortium led by Fahad Al Ghanim.
“The deal, which leaves the club and stadium group debt-free, has now been ratified by all parties following clearance from the EFL.
“Winkelman’s decision has not been taken lightly and is led by a desire to see MK Dons compete at the very highest level of English football, while also ensuring both the football and stadium assets remain together.
“Fahad Al Ghanim is an entrepreneurial businessman leading a Kuwait-based consortium. Fahad has worked across many sectors, including banking, investment, automotive and real estate and his family are the owners of Kuwait SC, one of the most successful football clubs in the Middle East.
“Fahad first attended a game at Stadium MK over a year ago and has since demonstrated a relentless determination to identify how he could help improve the club, as well as the capabilities to invest significantly in MK Dons and the City of Milton Keynes as a whole.
“The consortium has the opportunity to reignite a significant sporting dream for Milton Keynes, offering great hope and optimism for what the club can achieve in the future.
“In the short term, the new ownership group are keen to allow Pete Winkelman the moment he deserves to reflect on his legacy and say goodbye as Chairman to all MK Dons supporters this weekend.”
Local charity Willen Hospice has announced it will be holding a closing down sale at its shop at The Point in Central Milton Keynes throughout the whole of August.
The Willen Hospice shop at The Point opened in 2022 as a temporary retail opportunity for the charity. During this time, the shop has helped raise more than £500,000 for the charity alongside the other Hospice outlets based there.
Willen Select opened last year, and the charity’s online stores, eBay, Depop and Vestiaire Collective were also housed in The Point.
The charity have now confirmed that their services are now being relocated to their donation centre in Kiln Farm and that they will now be vacating The Point altogether.
The sale is on now and staff expect stock to move very quickly. Shoppers are encouraged to visit The Point store on Midsummer Boulevard to bag a bargain early. The sale will help to reduce stock levels, while also raising much-needed funds for the Hospice’s care and support services for local patients and their loved ones affected by life-limiting illness.
Leila Blaize-Smith, the Hospice’s Retail Commercial Manager, said, “We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to trade in a prime city centre location. The Point shop has given us so many opportunities, including transforming our space into a Gala Dinner venue for the evening and experimenting with a music shop, Off the Record, which was so successful that it was relocated to larger premises at Midsummer Place. Most importantly, the shop has helped us to raise vital funds for the Hospice so we can continue providing our specialist care free of charge for our local community, both at the Hospice and in patients’ own homes around the city.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our incredible team of staff and volunteers at The Point store for their dedication and hard work over the years. This shop, and the significant amount of money it’s raised for the Hospice, wouldn’t have been possible without them.”
The closing down sale will last until the end of August.
Milton Keynes City Council have announced details of a by-election in September for the Bletchley East ward.
One councillor slot for the ward has opened up after the resignation of Emily Darlington, who resigned on August 1st.
Darlington, who previously one of the ward’s councillors, was recently elected as a Labour MP for the Milton Keynes Central constituency and she has chosen to focus on her duties as a Parliamentary MP.
As a result, a by-election will now be held on Thursday 12th September 2024 to elect a new councillor for the seat.
Polls will be open between 7am and 10pm, with a result to be declared within 24 hours of the polls closing.
Under the rules, MK City Council have provided a timetable for those who wish to stand for election and those who intend to vote.
Nominations open today (07/08) and will run until a deadline of 4pm next Thursday (15/08), with a publication of nominated candidates to be released at 4pm the next day.
Voters that wish to register to vote have until 27th August to do so unless they are already registered. Anyone already registered to vote will be sent a poll card towards the middle of August.
People who are unsure if they are registered to vote can call Milton Keynes City Council on 01908 254706 to check.
The final deadline to apply for a postal vote is Wednesday 28 August at 5pm. MK City Council will have information on their website for how to apply to obtain the right to vote by post.
The final deadline to apply to appoint a proxy is Wednesday 4 September at 5pm, and the person appointed as a proxy will need to either visit the allocated polling station to vote or apply for a postal vote before 5pm on 28 August.
Rydell High returns to Milton Keynes Theatre this week with the UK tour of Grease The Musical.
This is a fresh version of the show based on the original 1971 Chicago production which came before the more familiar movie version so there are a few differences – the T Birds are the Burger Palace Boys and it’s Sandy Dumbrowski rather than Olson. It’s also possibly a bit edgier and grittier where the movie was toned down.
While there are no big celebrity names this time, the cast are superb with an outstanding professional debut from Hope Dawe as the perfect Sandra D, alongside Marley Fenton as Danny Zuko who manages to bring a real depth to the character.
There are some sensational dance routines with the entire cast perfectly in sync in some complex choreography, notably Greased Lightning and the dance contest scene. The pace is great with barely noticable scene changes and a constant string of familiar songs that sound great with the live band – although the Born To Hand Jive sequence lacks the extreme hand jiving of previous productions.
Joe Gash gives a great performance as radio DJ Vince Fontaine, with the perfect blend of slick and sleazy, and the understudies who are taking on many of the roles of the Pink Ladies and Burger Palace Boys do a great job.
From start to finish, it’s hard to fault this show and it’s easily the best production of Grease that’s come to Milton Keynes Theatre.
Grease is at Milton Keynes Theatre from Mon 5 Aug – Sat 10 Aug 2024
The MotoGP bike racing series will change its Silverstone event to a May timeslot for 2025.
Silverstone hosted the British round of the championship last weekend, which saw Enea Bastianini take a double victory in both the sprint and feature race.
With the 2024 edition completed, Silverstone and MotoGP have now confirmed a change to the schedule for the British Grand Prix MotoGP races for 2025, which will now take place in a May timeslot.
The races had held an August timeslot since 2013, initially in a late August position around the August Bank Holiday in England before moving to an early August position in the calendar in 2022.
Silverstone have announced the race weekend at the circuit will now take place between 23rd and 25th May 2025, which will see it held as the first of what the circuit calls its three major events in the form of the British Grand Prix F1 race in July and the Silverstone Festival in August.
The event has been noted by some as moving the British MotoGP event to the same weekend as two of world motorsport’s prestige events in the form of F1’s Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy 500 in the USA.
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, said in a statement, “It’s a fabulous venue and the racing here is always fantastic. We’re really happy to be able to confirm when we’ll be returning to Silverstone next season, and to celebrate the British GP at a different time of year.”
Stuart Pringle, Chief Executive Officer at Silverstone, added, “Our fans won’t have to wait so long for their next British GP fix and we’re already working on putting together another great weekend of MotoGP action, live music, jaw-dropping stunt shows and much more.”
