Our next venture into the world of football stadia comes via a trip to 'Stadium MK' and home to Championship club Milton Keynes Dons. Built in 2007 for just over £50m, it's a stadium ready and waiting for the young footballing town to get on board.
Holding 30,5000 Stadium MK is in every way built for the Premier League. The flaws and obstructed views of the character-filled, but often unpractical features of an historic ground, are replaced with a focus on comfort and uninterrupted viewing for the spectator. Character comes with time and MK Dons are young, they've very much got that on their side. Executive boxes running throughout, spacious concourses, large screens and leg-room-a-plenty accompanying padded seats, what Stadium MK lacks in old school passion it more than makes up for in quality.
Critics suggest Stadium MK lacks atmosphere due to the club's new fanbase and amount of empty seats on show but this stadium is built for the top and MK Dons are growing club and their ambition is matched with a facility that could host a Premier League season tomorrow. Stadium MK is held up with pillars of progression, each holding up their own part of a football club built for the future. Build it, and they will come.
A modern look from the inside and out, Stadium MK's striking roof is unmistakable from the outside, standing tall above the ground to allow more natural light to hit the pitch. Close to the pitch, enclosed from the elements, a fulll house would have this place rocking, just ask the 28,000 that turned up for their recent FA Cup defeat to Chelsea, there's potential to fill this stadium and that's got the owner thinking big.
No expense has been spared on the design and finishings of Stadium MK, typified by the tiled exterior which adds an alternative dimension to the future of football stadium architecture. Built as much for the fans satisfaction as it is for the players – MK Dons have a spectacular stadium in a growing community. People of Milton Keynes, over to you.
