I CANNOT claim to know all the ins and outs behind Wimbledon's move to Milton Keynes. They certainly seemed to suffer at the hands of an indifferent local council and some of the blame for the whole saga lies with the council who were not as constructive as they might have been.

As against that, AFC Wimbledon have set up at Kingstonian, just outside the borough, an option which should have been explored by the Dons.

The Wimbledon directors, contending they were faced with few alternatives, have since moved their franchise to Milton Keynes and the upshot is that the Dons are in administration and limping along with a side short of experience, playing in a town that has not sampled league football hitherto.

Fans are angered by this and there have been those who have encouraged a boycott when their team visits the National Hockey Stadium. Some Watford fans felt so strongly on this issue that they forfeited the chance to watch their side, badly in need of points, play on Saturday.

There are several ways of looking at this, but in the end it is not a question of whether you agree with the validity of the protests but the fact you admire and would defend their right to make them.

Sadly, unless the venture ends belly-up and the club goes to the wall, perhaps allowing the other Wimbledon to take over the franchise, the Milton Keynes experiment looks likely to last a year or two. If the club comes out of administration and starts winning matches, it may slowly build up a fan-base to the detriment of Luton.

Some, who take this whole Luton thing to ridiculous lengths, might feel that is good, but as one born and bred in Watford, I would prefer to see Luton function, not too healthily, but sufficient for the rivalry to continue. I do not hate Luton, although I care little for the appearance of the town but then, regrettably, ours has also been similarly butchered in architecture, spirit and ambience over recent decades.

The hate aspect, which is also quite virulent in the area around Kenilworth Road, is not a healthy or a pleasant thing. The hate has been introduced in more recent years. Certainly when George Harris headed a Boxing Day hat-trick at Kenilworth Road back in 1964, the home manager was not in need of police protection from Luton fans.

Five years later, when Watford were winning the Division 3 championship and Luton were missing out on promotion, there was a lot of hate at Kenilworth Road but then the younger elements had decided to crank up the ante and the anti-Luton feeling.

It has all got out of hand and become a mite too obsessive.

I know I would be very disappointed, to put it mildly, if the Hornets moved to Gloucester, but Wimbledon's move to Milton Keynes affects more than just the Dons fans.