MK Dons Spent a Season Going Nowhere in League Two. It Took Two More Years to Turn It Around

These accounts cover the 2023-24 season, in which Milton Keynes Dons competed in League Two without threatening the play-off places, continuing a run of mid-table finishes since the club's relegation from League One in 2021.

Turnover fell by around 18% to close to £6m, one of the sharper declines of any club in the division that year, reflecting falling attendances and reduced commercial income as MK Dons settled into a longer stay in the fourth tier than the club's history as a Championship side might have suggested.

A pre-tax loss of around £3m for the period added to net assets already in deficit by around £13m, a legacy of the club's rapid rise and subsequent decline since its formation in 2004 following the controversial relocation from Wimbledon.

Staff costs of around £5m against turnover of £6m show a wage bill roughly proportionate to income, a sign of careful, if unambitious, financial management during a season with little to play for beyond mid-table safety.

A quiet, drifting season in League Two gave little indication of the promotion push that would eventually follow, two years further down the line, once the club found its way back toward the top of the table.