FIMBA students visit the home of MK Dons
Students from the Football Industries MBA (FIMBA) programme recently travelled to Milton Keynes to visit the home of MK Dons FC.
The cohort was hosted by Andy Cullen, Executive Director at MK Dons, who gave a fascinating talk about the controversial history of the club and how it emerged from the demise of Wimbledon FC and relocated to Milton Keynes with a new state of the art stadium built in 2008.
Andy explained how important the club was in helping to create an identity within the new town and provided an overview of the business model, which includes a hotel and events arena in the stadium, that helps generate income to support the club. It was useful for students to find out about the interesting business model and a number of them felt they could learn from it in relation to operating football clubs in their home countries.
After hearing about the business model, students had a tour of the stadium including the control centre where they had a talk about safety in football grounds. The tour finished with a talk from the first team manager Dan Micciche - the first FIMBA graduate to become a league football manager.
Grace Murgatroyd, FIMBA student, commented on the trip, "The visit to MK Dons stadium was a great day. It was extremely beneficial to see a League One club with such impressive facilities. By building the stadium as part of a complex, the investors of the club have created an alternative business model to support the team financially and future proofed the club for success. The highlight of the trip was the presentation from the first team manager, a FIMBA alumni. It was inspiring to hear his success story and it provided motivation for the group to envisage where they could be in the future."