Express & Star

Black and gold day of delight for Wolves fans at MK Dons

They were told to come and party and they made it into a day to remember.

Published

Those 8,943 Wolves fans packed the away end at stadium:mk will be able to say in years to come 'I was there at MK Dons'.

Some had travelled by train as early as 6am, others boarded the dozens of coaches and mini buses that formed a snaking convoy down the M1 and thousands more travelled down in cars with Wolves scarves trailing out of their windows.

Many will have woken up yesterday with sore heads but proud that they were part of a day never to be forgotten.

They combined to make a carnival atmosphere and an amazing spectacle as Milton Keynes' ground was turned into a mini Molineux for the day with one end of the ground swathed in gold and black.

Such a momentous day couldn't pass without a victory and the fans even got the result they wanted as Wolves won 1-0 against the club owned by Wolverhampton-born Pete Winkelman.

Winkelman joined in the fun and invited his old friends and football team-mates from St Chad's School Steve Burns and John Kennedy to the game and was pictured on the pitch with them before the game.

But the day had to belong to his boyhood team, and even the goal was scored by a Wolves fan.

Substitute Liam McAlinden, a 20-year-old striker born and bred in Cannock whose family and friends were in the crowd, completed a fairytale journey from lifelong supporter to hero by heading the winner nine minutes from time.

Wolves' amazing support – their biggest travelling following for an away league game since 12,000 at Albion in December 1990 and higher than the Dons' entire average home attendance – formed part of a 20,516-strong crowd, which set a new record for the ground.

Many wore their replica gold shirts, some draped their flags over the balconies, some let off gold and black balloons and other tossed beach balls in the air.

With an alcohol ban in place for away fans and no pubs nearby, many fans stopped off at the ASDA by the ground to buy cans of beer and drank them in the sunshine.

But there was no trouble and their numbers, colour and noise were well received by the home fans in a good natured atmosphere.

Dons fans chanted 'is that all you take away?' in a jokey reference to Wolves' record-breaking support, the biggest ever at stadium:mk.

Head coach Kenny Jackett was bowled over at the size of the support who made the 86-mile journey on Saturday.

After the game, all players and staff walked the width of the pitch and applauded the fans for their support.

And Jackett said: "The fans made feel like a home game for us and that's a great testament to them.

"They backed us all the way through and the atmosphere at the end was fantastic and showed the potential of the club, which is considerable.

"I want to thank all our supporters who went because not only did they all make the journey, but they also drove us on to get that victory."

Wolves fanatic Richard Ralph, 43, from Coven, who co-organised social media campaign '#10k2mk' which encouraged the mass exodus to MK Dons, said: "It was a brilliant day and it showed what fantastic support the club has got.

"And the team did their bit by getting the right result."

Wolves' victory – their 12th in their last 14 games – left them 10 points clear of third-placed Leyton Orient at the top of League One.

They now need just 10 points from their final seven games to clinch automatic promotion and play bottom club Stevenage away tomorrow night.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.