MK Dons v AFC Wimbledon: Fans can decide - Erik Samuleson
- Published
AFC Wimbledon chief executive Erik Samuelson says it is up to the club's fans to decide whether they want to attend their FA Cup tie at MK Dons.
The second round match will be the first meeting between the two sides since AFC were formed in 2002.
He told BBC London 94.9: "We are owned by the fans. It's not for us to tell the fans whether they should go or not.
"We always knew the game was going to happen some day. It's a matter of personal choice."
AFC Wimbledon were formed 10 years ago after permission to allow the old Wimbledon FC to move to Milton Keynes was granted by a Football Association-appointed independent commission., external
The move took place in 2003 and Wimbledon were renamed the Milton Keynes Dons a year later.
The League Two side are due to meet with police on Friday to discuss safety and security arrangements for the game.
"We've always said that come the day we were drawn to play them, we'd play them," Samuelson added.
"The best thing we can do is to send our fans to the game in the safest way we can.
"It's for us to make sure, if they do go, that we look after their safety as best we can."
Current MK Dons chairman Pete Winkelman was involved in the move to Milton Keynes and led a consortium that bought Wimbledon from Norwegian owners in 2004, one year after the move.
This week, Winkelman said he was "not proud" of the way his club came into being after moving the club away from south west London.
But Samuelson says that no-one from the club will shake Winkelman's hand at the Cup tie as they will not accept hospitality in the MK Dons boardroom next month.
The decision was made earlier this year following a meeting of the supporters' trust which owns AFC.
"Some months ago I went to the directors of the Dons Trust, the parent board of the club," Samuelson explained.
"I said, 'Some day we will be drawn away to Milton Keynes. What do you want to do?'
"After a long discussion by the owners, they decided they would not accept hospitality on the day of the game.
"They instructed the football club board not to go too.
"The fans are deciding they don't want us to go into the boardroom. Therefore, there will be no hand to shake."
Samuelson says he would rather celebrate AFC's achievements than concern himself with focusing on their first meeting with MK Dons.
"What we ought to do as a football club is concentrate on the positive," Samuelson said.
"Ten and a half years ago, after what happened, we were on Wimbledon Common with no team and a bunch of trialists.
"Since then we've got our own stadium [Kingsmeadow], we are hopeful of moving to a new stadium back on Plough Lane and we are established in the Football League.
"I want to concentrate on celebrating our success and the wonderful job everyone has done and not worry about any other team.
"We have never been in the third round. I'd rather focus on how well we've done and whether we can do something we've never done before."
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