Sport in Milton Keynes covers a range of professional and amateur sport in the Borough of Milton Keynes. There are professional teams in football, ice hockey and basketball. Most other sports feature at amateur level.
There are archery clubs in Newport Pagnell and Shenley/Loughton.[1]
Milton Keynes Armwrestling club has produced some of the best in the country, this year(2011) coming away from the British championships with 1st place left&right 110 kg+ class, 1st place left&right 75 kg class and 2nd place left&right in the 80 kg class.
Marshall Milton Keynes AC is one of England's leading Athletic clubs. Their web page is here.
With the National Badminton Training Centre located in Loughton just across the A5 from Central Milton Keynes, badminton is an important sport. The Milton Keynes club website is here.
Marshall Milton Keynes Lions are the town's professional basket ball club, sponsored by Marshall Amplification and playing in the English Premier Division. Amateur teams include the Wildcats, Shenley Scorpions Basketball Club [1], MK All Starts and MK Lions Ladies Basketball Club.
Team Milton Keynes and North Bucks Road Club are the leading clubs for racing cyclists, with Team MK also incorporating Triathlon and Duathlon as well as Mountain Biking. Milton Keynes Cycling Association also holds circuit racing at the Bowl.
In September 2008 Milton Keynes played host to the Race Headquarters for The Tour of Britain in the build up to the race. Stage Two of the race began in front of the Central railway station, before heading to Newbury. In 2009, Milton Keynes hosted the first round of The Tour Series, a new programme of ten town and city centre cycling races.
There are courses at Abbey Hill (Two Mile Ash), West Bletchley and Wavendon. Just outside the Borough, there are courses in Aspley Guise, Soulbury and Woburn.
There are many all-weather pitches throughout Milton Keynes - most of which are within school grounds, including the two pitches at Stantonbury. There are also two water based pitches at Woughton on the Green, which is the home ground of Milton Keynes Men's and Women's Hockey club. Teams from Milton Keynes Hockey Club compete at many levels in leagues covering the South East of England.
With its miles of river and canal bank and its balancing lakes, Milton Keynes is a favoured location for anglers. For further details see MKWEB article and the Milton Keynes Angling Association.
The only Football League team based in Milton Keynes is Milton Keynes Dons F.C., formed in 2004 following the relocation of Wimbledon F.C. to the town in 2003. The team is based at Stadium:mk in Denbigh and playing in League One during the 2010–11 season.
In December 2009, the English FA awarded 'Candidate Host City' status to Milton Keynes, as part of the unsuccessful English 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup bid.
The better known non-League clubs in the Borough include:
Milton Keynes is also home to many five and six-a-side football leagues.
The town has two semi-professional ice hockey teams, these being Milton Keynes Lightning (founded in 2002) of the EPL and Milton Keynes Thunder (founded in 2001) of the ENL. Both teams play at the 2,500 capacity Planet Ice Arena which is situated close to Milton Keynes Central railway station. The town also used to be home to professional team Milton Keynes Kings from 1990–1996 and 1998-2002 who played at the same arena, although during 1990-1996 it was known as the bladerunner arena. There are also a number of junior, ladies and recreational adult teams who also play at the arena.
Milton Keynes Bucks Korfball Club was Milton Keynes's first korfball club, founded in 2004, and won the Oxfordshire League and Cup double in 2006, 2007 and 2008. A second club, Milton Keynes City, launched in autumn 2006. Milton Keynes City were successful in winning the OKA league 2 title in 2010. A third club, Milton Keynes Roos, in mid 2007 was launched.. All three clubs welcome and coach all players of both sexes from beginner level upwards. Milton Keynes has been awarded the 2010 European U21 Korfball Championships,[5] to be held in Arena:MK.
This popular family of sports / traditional arts has clubs[6] in each of the six major disciplines (Aikido, Ju Jitsu, Judo, Karate, Tae Kwon Do and T'ai chi).
Milton Keynes is the home to the central region of Minakami Bushido Karate Dojo,[7] which practices Shotokan Karate. The club has classes aimed at 4-7yr olds known as the Tiny Tigers, then main classes which students of any age can attended, meaning children and adults train together. There are lessons most days at various leisure centres across Milton keynes including Shenley and Stantonbury leisure centre's Lessons and gradings are structured around Khion, Kata, Kumite, weapons training and conditioning to improve strength, control, fitness and co-ordination.
Given its proximity to Silverstone, it is not surprising that Milton Keynes has connect baions with motor racing. The Red Bull Racing Formula One team is based here (as was the Arrows and Brabham teams until they went bankrupt in 2002 and 1992 respectively). The Kart racing track in Rooksley, owned by Daytona Motorsport, is considered one of the better circuits in the UK. ( )
Milton Keynes boasts a growing Parkour or freerunning movement. Due to its urban landscape, the Central Milton Keynes area is an ideal area for parkour activity.
Milton Keynes has a strong affinity with the game of Pool, specifically the English version of Eight Ball. There are five long established leagues which cover the town: Bletchley Friendly, Milton Keynes Clubs, Milton Keynes Sunday, Milton Keynes Tuesday and Newport Pagnell. Two current Interleague teams exist, Milton Keynes 'A' and MK Shooters (Formerly Milton Keynes 'B'), which have dominated the Buckinghamshire Interleague since its reformation in 2003. Milton Keynes has also provided the backbone of the Buckinghamshire County squad since the early 1990s due to the town being the long time base of the Buckinghamshire County Pool Association, although BCPA currently play from and are based in Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire.
Milton Keynes Rowing Club operates out of Caldecotte Lake.
The club was founded in 1995 and hosted the inaugural Milton Keynes Regatta on May 22, 2010. The second annual Milton Keynes Regatta was held on May 21, 2011.
The major Borough clubs are Bletchley RUFC,Milton Keynes RUFC and Olney RFC.
Bletchley Rugby Club, who play at Manor Fields, routinely put out three Senior XVs, a ladies side and a Vets side. The 1st XV play in South West 1 East (level 6) and the 2nd XVs in the Berks, Bucks & Oxon 2 North table. The 3rd XV and Vets side play ad hoc friendly local fixtures.
Bletchley Ladies is a developing team which is intending to enter the RFUW leagues in the 2011 season.
In addition to the 120+ adult section, the club has a Youth (U7s to U17s) set-up with over 200 members. In the 2005/06 season the club's U17 squad were Buckinghamshire County Cup champions, and finalists in the South West Division Bowl.
The playing activities at Bletchley are supported by a large number of volunteers, including the 50+ Vice-Presidents of whom many are ex-players. Bletchley celebrated its 60th anniversary during the 2007/08 season.
In 2003 Bletchley RUFC were the first sports organisation in Milton Keynes/North Bucks to again the Rugby Football Union 'Seal of Approval' and Sport England Clubmark. In 2006 the club gained Stage 2 accreditation from the same bodies.
In March 2006, Milton Keynes RUFC won the Bucks Plate against Slough RUFC who are in the league above. Milton Keynes went on to finish as runners up in the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Premier League and were promoted to Southern Counties North. The Club has over 400 members including a mini and junior section with players between the ages of 6 and 18.
Milton Keynes RUFC began as Wolverton RUFC but changed its name in 1973,[8] based in Greenleys. In April 2011, the club transferred to a new ground in Emerson Valley.[9] The move was opposed by the local community,[10] but planning permission was granted on 6 September 2007.[11]
Milton Keynes Under 15s were 2009/10 County Cup Champions and First Division Champions with 5 players playing for Buckinghamshire. Two players play for Wasps Academy and one player plays for England Under 16's.
Olney has for many years been a rugby town with its rugby team dating back from 1877, called Olney Rugby Football Club, which has four regular senior teams. They also cater for Colts rugby, women's rugby and mini rugby. The club holds many social events for the town, one of these being a Rugby 7's tournament, with competitors coming from all over the country. Olney's Rugby is of a high standard in amateur rugby, winning the Lewis Shield in 2007, the Southern Counties North League in 2008 and the Bucks County Cup in 2010.[12] Olney 1st XV play in the South West 1 East (level 6) league.
Olney Women's team compete in the RFUW National Championship.
Until the late 1990s, Speedway had been staged at Milton Keynes at two venues (Milton Keynes Stadium at Ashland, and at Elfield Park). The local team, known as The Knights, started out at the Ashland Greyhound Stadium, and then moved to a venue known as Elfield Park. However, both sites have closed: the former is now a housing district and the latter is a brownfield site with plans announced by the leaseholders of National Bowl to redevelop it (which have yet to materialise).
There are a number of pools in the Borough, with a competition pool at Stantonbury. The performance swimming club is City of Milton Keynes SC.
Table Tennis is thriving in Milton Keynes, which has one of the largest leagues in the UK. With a league that currently boasts over 60 teams and a state of the art, purpose-built Table Tennis Centre in Kingston, which many England ranked players like to call their home venue, the scene is well served.
Other club venues in the league include Greenleys, Newport Pagnell, Woburn Sands, Stony Stratford and the Open University, amongst others.
There is a T'ai chi club based at the Open University.
MK City VC is a volleyball club formed in 2006 from the ashes of corporate team Abbey VC. It plays out of Oakgrove Leisure Centre.
In its first season the men's team completed a league double taking by the Herts and Northants crowns.
Total Action Wrestling (TAW) in a Pro-Wrestling promotion based in Wolverton. Notable guest trainers include Doug Williams (wrestler), Alex Shane, Kenny Omega, Davey Richards and British wrestling legend Johnny Kincaid. The school was originally in Bletchley Leisure centre until the final session in December 2009. The promotion runs events in Milton Keynes, Luton, Dunstable, Hitchin and other towns in the region. The training school moved to Atlas Fitness in Wolverton in January 2010.