MK Dons could face AFC Wimbledon in grudge match

MK Dons could face AFC Wimbledon in grudge match

Published Nov. 7, 2010 8:55 p.m. ET

The FA Cup second-round draw has thrown up a potential meeting between MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon, the breakaway team formed after the original Wimbledon was allowed to relocate to Milton Keynes.

Both sides must first contest first-round replays, with AFC facing Ebbsfleet and MK Dons taking on Stevenage.

AFC Wimbledon was established in 2002 when 1988 FA Cup winner Wimbledon Football Club - nicknamed the Dons - was allowed to move 70 miles (110 kilometers) north from its original base in a southwest London suburb of the same name and start its new life in Milton Keynes.

Fifth-tier side AFC would have home advantage for a meeting with MK Dons at its Kingsmeadow ground later this month.

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But AFC hopes the situation doesn't transpire, given the lingering acrimony toward the Milton Keynes side.

''Most people know the way that Milton Keynes obtained their football club,'' AFC said in a statement. ''It was wrong then and it is still wrong now, which makes this fixture very painful for us.

''However, when we entered the FA Cup we understood that this might happen and we will go about our business professionally and complete the fixture. But we would have preferred that it hadn't happened.''

The Dons, who play in the third tier, have tried to downplay any bitterness.

''It's potentially a fantastic tie that will inevitably draw a lot of attention, but both sides still have difficult replays to win before the second round can even be contemplated,'' MK Dons chairman Pete Winkelman said.

AFC has secured four promotions since its formation and is now in the Conference Premier, which is one step below League Two - the fourth and lowest professional division.

Another club created due to fan disenchantment, FC United of Manchester, was drawn to play either Brighton or Woking in the second round after beating Rochdale on Friday.

Victory in the second round would take the semiprofessional side to the stage when the top teams, including record 11-time winner Manchester United, enter world football's oldest knockout competition.

FC United was formed as the Glazer family was completing its leveraged takeover of Manchester United in 2005, burdening the club with a debt which stands at around 750 million pounds ($1.2 billion).

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