2016–17 Milton Keynes Dons F.C. season

The 2016–17 season was Milton Keynes Dons' 13th season in their existence, and was their first season back in League One, the third level of English football, following relegation from the Championship the previous season.^[2]

Milton Keynes Dons

2016–17 season
Chairman	Pete Winkelman
Manager	Karl Robinson (until 23 October 2016) Richie Barker (caretaker, from 23 October 2016 until 3 December 2016) Robbie Neilson (from 3 December 2016)
Stadium	Stadium MK
League One	12th
FA Cup	Third round
EFL Cup	Second round
EFL Trophy	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Kieran Agard (12) All: Kieran Agard (14)
Highest home attendance	21,545 (vs Bolton Wanderers) 4 February 2017, League One
Lowest home attendance	2,114 (vs Barnet) 30 August 2016, EFL Trophy Group F
Average home league attendance	10,307[1]
Biggest win	5–3 (vs Northampton Town) 21 January 2017, League One
Biggest defeat	1–4 (vs Yeovil Town) 6 December 2016, EFL Trophy R2 1–4 (vs Norwich City U23) 8 November 2016, EFL Trophy Group F
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Along with competing in League One, the club also participated in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy.

The season covered the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.

Competitions

League One

Main article: 2016–17 EFL League One

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
10	Bristol Rovers	46	18	12	16	68	70	−2	66
11	Peterborough United	46	17	11	18	62	62	0	62
12	Milton Keynes Dons	46	16	13	17	60	58	+2	61
13	Charlton Athletic	46	14	18	14	60	53	+7	60
14	Walsall	46	14	16	16	51	58	−7	58

Source: BBC Sport
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored

Matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
6 August 2016 – 15:00	Shrewsbury Town	Away	1–0	Powell	5,452	[3]
13 August 2016 – 15:00	Millwall	Home	2–2	Agard (2)	10,232	[4]
16 August 2016 – 19:45	Bradford City	Home	1–2	Upson	8,166	[5]
20 August 2016 – 15:00	Rochdale	Away	1–0	Wootton	2,176	[6]
27 August 2016 – 15:00	Peterborough United	Home	0–2		10,621	[7]
4 September 2016 – 12:00	Northampton Town	Away	2–3	Bowditch, Carruthers	6,618	[8]
10 September 2016 – 15:00	Bolton Wanderers	Away	1–1	Colclough	12,727	[9]
17 September 2016 – 15:00	Oxford United	Home	0–0		12,340	[10]
24 September 2016 – 15:00	Fleetwood Town	Away	4–1	Colclough (3), Bowditch	2,518	[11]
27 September 2016 – 19:45	Bury	Home	1–3	Reeves	7,652	[12]
1 October 2016 – 15:00	Oldham Athletic	Away	2–0	Reeves, Agard	3,273	[13]
9 October 2016 – 14:15	Port Vale	Home	0–1		8,259	[14]
15 October 2016 – 15:00	Scunthorpe United	Away	1–2	Agard	4,238	[15]
18 October 2016 – 19:45	Bristol Rovers	Home	3–3	Bowditch, G.B. Williams, Reeves	8,366	[16]
22 October 2016 – 15:00	Southend United	Home	0–3		11,039	[17]
29 October 2016 – 15:00	Sheffield United	Away	1–2	Potter	20,495	[18]
12 November 2016 – 15:00	Walsall	Home	1–1	Bowditch	8,188	[19]
19 November 2016 – 15:00	Bristol Rovers	Away	0–0		9,031	[20]
22 November 2016 – 19:45	Chesterfield	Home	2–3	Powell, Colclough	7,429	[21]
26 November 2016 – 15:00	Coventry City	Away	2–1	Upson (2)	9,640	[22]
10 December 2016 – 13:00	AFC Wimbledon	Home	1–0	Bowditch	11,185	[23]
17 December 2016 – 15:00	Gillingham	Away	0–1		5,682	[24]
26 December 2016 – 15:00	Charlton Athletic	Home	0–1		10,257	[25]
30 December 2016 – 15:00	Swindon Town	Home	3–2	Agard (2), Maynard	9,385	[26]
2 January 2017 – 15:00	Chesterfield	Away	0–0		5,554	[27]
21 January 2017 – 15:00	Northampton Town	Home	5–3	Agard, Aneke (2), Potter, Barnes	12,300	[28]
28 January 2017 – 15:00	Peterborough United	Away	4–0	Barnes, Agard, Aneke (2)	6,617	[29]
4 February 2017 – 15:00	Bolton Wanderers	Home	1–1	Agard	21,545	[30]
7 February 2017 – 19:45	Oldham Athletic	Home	1–0	Maynard	7,598	[31]
11 February 2017 – 15:00	Oxford United	Away	0–1		9,179	[32]
14 February 2017 – 19:45	Bury	Away	0–0		2,005	[33]
18 February 2017 – 15:00	Fleetwood Town	Home	0–1		8,278	[34]
25 February 2017 – 15:00	Shrewsbury Town	Home	2–1	Agard, Downing	8,322	[35]
28 February 2017 – 19:45	Bradford City	Away	2–2	O'Keefe, G.B. Williams	16,725	[36]
4 March 2017 – 15:00	Millwall	Away	1–2	Reeves	9,636	[37]
11 March 2017 – 15:00	Rochdale	Home	2–2	Agard, Reeves	10,569	[38]
14 March 2017 – 19:45	AFC Wimbledon	Away	0–2		4,112	[39]
18 March 2017 – 15:00	Coventry City	Home	1–0	O'Keefe	9,060	[40]
25 March 2017 – 15:00	Port Vale	Away	0–0		3,877	[41]
1 April 2017 – 15:00	Gillingham	Home	3–2	Muirhead, Barnes, Lewington	8,807	[42]
4 April 2017 – 19:45	Charlton Athletic	Away	2–0	O'Keefe, Barnes	10,943	[43]
8 April 2017 – 15:00	Swindon Town	Away	1–1	Agard	7,946	[44]
14 April 2017 – 15:00	Scunthorpe United	Home	0–1		9,274	[45]
17 April 2017 – 15:00	Southend United	Away	2–1	Reeves, Walsh	9,009	[46]
22 April 2017 – 15:00	Sheffield United	Home	0–3		18,180	[47]
30 April 2017 – 12:00	Walsall	Away	4–1	Muirhead, Reeves, O'Keefe, Barnes	5,004	[48]

Source: Sky Sports

FA Cup

Main article: 2016–17 FA Cup

Matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
5 November 2016 – 15:00	First round	Spennymoor Town	Home	3–2	Reeves, Thomas-Asante, Agard	4,099	[49]
3 December 2016 – 15:00	Second round	Charlton Athletic	Away	0–0		4,982	[50]
13 December 2016 – 19:45	Second round (replay)	Charlton Athletic	Home	3–1[a]	Powell, Reeves, Bowditch	3,655	[51]
7 January 2017 – 15:00	Third round	Brighton & Hove Albion	Away	0–2		11,091	[52]

1. After extra-time. 1–1 at the conclusion of 90 minutes.

EFL Cup

Main article: 2016–17 EFL Cup

Matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
9 August 2016 – 19:45	First round	Newport County	Away	3–2	Bowditch (2), Tilney	1,402	[53]
23 August 2016 – 19:45	Second round	Reading	Away	2–2[a]	Bowditch, Tshimanga	6,848	[54]

1. After extra-time. 1–1 after 90 minutes. Reading won 4–2 on penalties.

EFL Trophy

Main article: 2016–17 EFL Trophy

Southern Group F Table

Pos	Div	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	ACA	Norwich City U21	3	3	0	0	0	15	2	+13	9	Advance to Round 2
2	L1	Milton Keynes Dons	3	1	1	0	1	4	6	−2	5
3	L1	Peterborough United	3	1	0	0	2	3	8	−5	3
4	L2	Barnet	3	0	0	1	2	3	9	−6	1

Source: Sky Sports

'Matches

Win

Draw

Loss

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Attendance	Ref
30 August 2016 – 19:45	Group stage	Barnet	Home	2–2[a]	Reeves, Walsh	2,114	[55]
4 October 2016 – 19:30	Group stage	Peterborough United	Away	1–0	Agard	1,793	[56]
8 November 2016 – 19:00	Group stage	Norwich City Academy	Away	1–4	Tapp	1,042	[57]
6 December 2016 – 19:45	Second round	Yeovil Town	Away	1–4	Lacey (o.g.)	1,308	[58]

1. After 90 minutes. Milton Keynes Dons gained an extra point with a 5–3 win on penalties

Player details

Note: Players' ages as of the club's opening fixture of the 2016–17 season.

#	Name	Nationality	Position	Date of birth (age)	Signed from	Signed in	Transfer fee
Goalkeepers
1	David Martin		GK	(1986-01-22)22 January 1986 (aged 30)	Liverpool	2010	Free
19	Lee Nicholls		GK	(1992-10-05)5 October 1992 (aged 23)	Free agent	2016	Free
29	Charlie Burns		GK	(1995-05-27)27 May 1995 (aged 21)	Academy	2014	Trainee
Defenders
2	George Baldock		RB	(1993-03-09)9 March 1993 (aged 23)	Academy	2009	Trainee
3	Dean Lewington		LB	(1984-05-18)18 May 1984 (aged 32)	Wimbledon	2004	Free
4	Joe Walsh		CB	(1992-05-13)13 May 1992 (aged 24)	Crawley Town	2015	Undisclosed
5	Scott Wootton		CB	(1991-09-12)12 September 1991 (aged 24)	Free agent	2016	Free
12	George Williams		RB	(1993-04-14)14 April 1993 (aged 23)	Barnsley	2016	Free
21	Callum Brittain		RB	(1998-03-12)12 March 1998 (aged 18)	Academy	2016	Trainee
22	Oran Jackson		CB	(1998-10-16)16 October 1998 (aged 17)	Academy	2016	Trainee
23	Paul Downing		CB	(1991-10-26)26 October 1991 (aged 24)	Walsall	2016	Free
24	Ben Tilney		LB	(1997-02-28)28 February 1997 (aged 19)	Academy	2014	Trainee
34	Finn Tapp		CB	(1999-11-09)9 November 1999 (aged 16)	Academy	2016	Trainee
Midfielders
6	Ed Upson		CM	(1989-11-21)21 November 1989 (aged 26)	Millwall	2016	Free
8	Darren Potter		DM	(1984-12-21)21 December 1984 (aged 31)	Sheffield Wednesday	2011	Free
10	Ben Reeves		AM	(1991-11-19)19 November 1991 (aged 24)	Free agent	2013	Free
11	Stuart O'Keefe		CM	(1991-03-04)4 March 1991 (aged 25)	Cardiff City	2017	Loan
20	Giorgio Rasulo		CM	(1997-01-23)23 January 1997 (aged 19)	Academy	2012	Trainee
26	Connor Furlong		CM	(1998-02-07)7 February 1998 (aged 18)	Academy	2016	Trainee
31	David Kasumu		CM	(1999-10-05)5 October 1999 (aged 16)	Academy	2017	Trainee
Forwards
7	Maecky Ngombo		CF	(1995-03-31)31 March 1995 (aged 21)	Fortuna Düsseldorf	2017	Loan
9	Dean Bowditch		LW	(1986-06-15)15 June 1986 (aged 30)	Yeovil Town	2011	Free
14	Kieran Agard		CF	(1989-10-10)10 October 1989 (aged 26)	Bristol City	2016	Undisclosed
16	Robbie Muirhead		CF	(1996-03-08)8 March 1996 (aged 20)	Hears	2017	Undisclosed
17	Daniel Powell		LW	(1991-03-12)12 March 1991 (aged 25)	Academy	2008	Trainee
18	Harvey Barnes		LW	(1997-12-09)9 December 1997 (aged 18)	Leicester City	2017	Loan
25	Chuks Aneke		CF	(1993-07-03)3 July 1993 (aged 23)	Zulte Waregem	2016	Free
28	Nicky Maynard		CF	(1986-12-11)11 December 1986 (aged 29)	Free agent	2015	Free
30	Brandon Thomas-Asante		LW	(1998-12-29)29 December 1998 (aged 17)	Academy	2016	Trainee
33	Sam Nombe		CF	(1998-10-22)22 October 1998 (aged 17)	Academy	2017	Trainee
Out on loan
27	Kabongo Tshimanga		CF	(1997-07-22)22 July 1997 (aged 19)	Academy	2014	Trainee
Left club during season
7	Samir Carruthers		AM	(1993-04-04)4 April 1993 (aged 23)	Aston Villa	2014	Undisclosed
11	George Williams		LW	(1995-09-07)7 September 1995 (aged 20)	Fulham	2016	Loan
16	Jack Hendry		CB	(1995-09-07)7 September 1995 (aged 20)	Wigan Athletic	2016	Loan
49	Ryan Colclough		LW	(1994-12-27)27 December 1994 (aged 21)	Wigan Athletic	2016	Loan

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2016	DF	Paul Downing	Walsall	Free transfer	[59]
	MF	Ed Upson	Millwall
	DF	George B Williams	Barnsley
2 August 2016	FW	Chuks Aneke	Zulte Waragem	Free transfer[a]	[60]
3 August 2016	GK	Lee Nicholls	Wigan Athletic	Undisclosed
11 August 2016	FW	Kieran Agard	Bristol City
19 January 2017	FW	Robbie Muirhead	Heart of Midlothian		[61]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1 July 2016	DF	Lee Hodson	Rangers	Undisclosed	[59]
1 July 2016	DF	Antony Kay	Bury	Free transfer
1 July 2016	FW	Alex Revell	Northampton Town
12 July 2016	DF	Kyle McFadzean	Burton Albion	Undisclosed	[62]
24 August 2016	FW	Simon Church	Roda JC Kerkrade		[60]
3 January 2017	MF	Samir Carruthers	Sheffield United		[61]

Loans in

Start date	Position	Name	From	End date	Ref.
29 July 2016	FW	George C Williams	Fulham	End of season	[62]
31 August 2016	FW	Ryan Colclough	Wigan Athletic	1 January 2017[b]	[60]
20 January 2017	MF	Harvey Barnes	Leicester City	End of season	[61]
30 January 2017	FW	Maecky Ngombo	Fortuna Düsseldorf
31 January 2017	MF	Stuart O'Keefe	Cardiff City

Loans out

Start date	Position	Name	To	End date	Ref.
31 January 2017	FW	Kabongo Tshimanga	Yeovil Town	End of season	[61]

1. Mutual contract termination.
2. Recalled. Originally until end of season.