Wimbledon Football Club relocated to Milton Keynes in September 2003, 16 months after receiving permission to do so from the Football Association on the basis of a two-to-one decision in favour by an FA-appointed independent commission. The move took the team from south London, where it had been based since its foundation in 1889, to Milton Keynes, a new town in Buckinghamshire, about to the northwest of the club's traditional home district Wimbledon. Hugely controversial,. "51. The proposal has met with considerable opposition, and not just from the WFC fans. ... Respected football writers in our national press were generally supportive of the Football League's decision [to block the move]. ... A Parliamentary All Party Committee ... is opposed. ... Merton BC is opposed to the move and believe a stadium can be built in Merton ... the Football Association, the Football League, the FA Premier League and the Football Conference Ltd have all provided statements which ... weigh against permission being granted for a move of this nature and distance. ... [M]ost of the hundreds (over 600) of communications we have received have argued against the proposal. They have generally been from individual WFC fans. 57. Supporters' associations and individual fans from many other clubs and people from as far afield as the United States, Australia (Wimbledon Supporters Downunder), Russia and Norway have also expressed similar views." the move's authorisation prompted disaffected Wimbledon supporters to form AFC Wimbledon, a new club, in May (30th) 2002. The relocated team played home matches in Milton Keynes under the Wimbledon name from September 2003 until June 2004, when following the end of the 2003–04 season it renamed itself Milton Keynes Dons F.C. (MK Dons).
