AFC Wimbledon co-founder wants apology from Mark Bullingham and orders MK to drop “Dons”
AFC Wimbledon co-founder Ivor Heller wants an apology from FA chief Mark Bullingham and orders MK to drop “Dons” from their name.
It comes ahead of the Thursday night meeting between AFC Wimbledon and Milton Keynes Dons, the first meeting since January 2025, when it finished 0-0.
He has demanded for Bullingham to say sorry for allowing the “crime of the century” to occur, while also revealing AFC Wimbledon wanted to be called different name before it got snubbed by the FA.
AFC Wimbledon co-founder claims club wanted to be called different name but were snubbed by FAhttps://t.co/yPldOrmCZl
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) September 16, 2026
As reported by The Sun, Ivor Heller’s letter to Mark Bullingham, reads:
“Dear Mark,
“In 2002, your organisation oversaw the most calamitous decision in the history of our national game. An FA-appointed commission allowed our club, Wimbledon, to be relocated to a town 70 miles away from its natural homeland.
“The decision caused immeasurable hurt to the Wimbledon community, where a football club had played since 1889.
“I am writing now to assure you that hurt has not dissipated. While it may be impossible to turn back the clock, there is still time for you to at least repair some of the damage.
“In the first instance, I would respectfully urge you to consider offering a formal apology.
“There has never been the slightest indication of contrition, regret or remorse – despite the untold misery your commission’s decision caused.
“Something else I find deeply offensive is the fact that they continue to use our historic abridged name ‘Dons’.
“There is simply no logical reason for this: it is deeply offensive, provocative and a constant reminder of your diabolical decision – as well as a continuous cause for tension.
“Forcing the club in Milton Keynes to drop the name Dons from their name would restore some calm and common sense.
“To conclude, the pain your organisation caused on 28 May, 2002, can only be resolved if you have a desire to address the root causes.
“Everybody knows a terrible injustice was served upon our club and a simple apology would be a huge step towards righting that wrong. And returning our abridged name to us, its rightful, natural and historic owners, would be a further step towards a more conciliatory relationship.
“In fact, may I suggest, these modest actions would be in the wider interests of football.
“Yours,
“Ivor Heller,
“Co-founder, AFC Wimbledon”
He also said, as reported by The Sun: “They may as well call themselves MK Coco Clowns, or whatever they want to call themselves. Because it just makes no sense.
“When we first set our club up in 2002, we went to the London FA and asked to be called Real Wimbledon. And we got told a straight no on that.
“Why on earth weren’t MK told a straight no at the time with the Dons? There was absolutely nothing historical to do with Milton Keynes.
“If they want to put it right with Infantino, I think they should get their own house in order first and put right what happened to us.
“I’m not asking to deny them, although I don’t think they should exist, but now they’re there.
“We’re not going to change that. But to put pressure on and to find a way to make that name change would mean that we could all get on and forget about it and crack on with our football lives.
He added: “They’re a city now. I think that would suit them down to the ground. They’re a city that’s known for many roundabouts and fantastic, good for them.
“Milton Keynes FC or Milton Keynes City, that would be better.”
Read so much more of what he had to say, including a video in the article below…
AFC Wimbledon co-founder claims club wanted to be called different name but were snubbed by FAhttps://t.co/yPldOrmCZl
— The Sun Football ⚽ (@TheSunFootball) September 16, 2026
Andros Townsend calls MK Dons a ‘franchise’ during ITV commentary for World Cup match
In 2012, AFC Wimbledon chief executive Erik Samuelson told Sky Sports News: “If (Winkelman) offers me his hand, as long as it’s got a letter in it saying that they agree that what they did was wrong and that they’re going to drop the name Dons, I’ll shake it. Otherwise I think we’ll just move on.
“It’s up to them. I think it reminds them and everybody of how they originated. They really don’t have much to do with Wimbledon but it’s their decision, not mine.
“I’m not going to agitate for it, I think it would be the better thing to do but that’s for them to decide.”
Also in 2012, then MK Dons chairman Pete Winkelman told BBC Look East he wouldn’t drop ‘Dons’ from MK name, but did speak of his regret and not being proud of the relocation, saying it was not “the best idea in the world to move a football club”.
He said in an interview, as per Sky Sports: “Today I stand here hugely proud of the home we have built for football in Milton Keynes.
“But I am not proud of the way this club came to be, and that is very hard for me to live with.
“It might not have been the best idea in the world to move a football club, and as the owner and chairman of a football club now, of course, I understand that.
“But the way people imagine how things happened is so different to the way it actually did.
“We did a deal with Norwegian billionaires and when they were going to move the club to Dublin, perhaps we mistakenly gave them Milton Keynes as an option because I naively thought that might be better.
“The administrator said ‘I’m going to liquidate this football club tomorrow unless you come up with the money to keep it going’.
“The only way I could come up with the money to keep it going was to move it to Milton Keynes.
“Whilst we might have had a controversial beginning, just look at what we have achieved over the last eight years.
“No other football club has this story, the story of Wimbledon FC.
“It’s given birth to the most successful fan-owned club in the country and one of the biggest, brightest new football clubs in the country.
“I hope the rest of football can see that, and I hope people will see the amazing things which have come from Wimbledon FC, ie the two clubs – AFC Wimbledon and the Milton Keynes Dons.
“And it’s not just us that have had success, look at what AFC Wimbledon have achieved. They will face us as a Football League club.
“There has been a lot of water under the bridge and this tie will hopefully enable us all to begin to look forward instead of back.”
In 2018, the EFL dropped charges after AFC Wimbledon refused to use MK Dons’ full name.
