Football Season Guide

MK Dons suffered a massive fall from grace in just one year. From going into the last day of the 2021/22 season with a chance of automatic promotion to the Championship, they were relegated to League Two on the final day of the 2022/23 campaign. Liam Manning, who took the club into the play-offs after a 3rd place finish in 21/22, was sacked in December after a poor start to the season which saw 13 defeats from their opening 20 league matches. Mark Jackson was his replacement, having never been a head coach at any club. Despite a decent start, the appointment of the rookie manager proved to be failed experiment in the end, as the club went down and Jackson was promptly relieved of his duties. Dons chairman Peter Winkleman took full responsibility for the club's demise and admitted he would adopt a less risky approach to appointing the next man in charge. Graham Alexander, who has a lot more experience in club management, has been brought in ahead of the new season. While the managerial changes haven't helped, many Dons fans consider last summer's transfer activity to be one of the main factors for the club's plummeting fortunes. Relegation certainly won't make it any easier in terms of recruitment. Big names like Will Grigg, Josh McEachran and Bradley Johnson have departed. The more pragmatic attitude from Winkleman appears to have extended to the incoming transfers. Alex Gilbey, who made more than a century of appearances for the Dons in a successful three year spell, has returned to the club. Defensive midfielder MJ Williams joins having previously been a part of a Bolton side that achieved promotion from this division. Right-back Cameron Norman arrives having been named Newport County's player of the season for 22/23. All three are experienced campaigners in and around this level, but more may be required to get MK Dons back to where they want to be.