out of discussions over the ground's use, creating confusion as to where the club would now be located. The administrators said on 27 June that as things stood the move to Milton Keynes was off. A week later, after Watford refused to let Wimbledon F.C. share their ground at Vicarage Road, the administrators announced a return to Selhurst Park. Winkelman had not intended to own Wimbledon F.C. himself; his plan had been to work alongside it while the stadium was built in Denbigh and then give the ground to the club in exchange for shares and a place on the board. He had not expected it to go into administration. With the move threatened and the club facing liquidation, he made "the life-defining decision", to quote Conn, "of taking it on himself". He secured funds from his consortium for the administrators to pay the players' wages, keep the club operating, and pay for the necessary renovations for the National Hockey Stadium to host League football. He made clear that his group's interest was conditional on the club moving to Milton Keynes. In late July Winkelman and the club's administrators concluded a deal with the Hockey Stadium's owners to carry out conversion work and play there from October—Wimbledon F.C. would return to Selhurst Park in the meantime. Meanwhile, Milton Keynes City F.C. went out of business before the start of the season following an unsuccessful drive for new directors and investors. After hosting the first few home matches of the campaign at Selhurst Park—1,054 saw them lose 4–2 to Wigan Athletic in their last home game in London—Wimbledon F.C. received Football League clearance to host matches at the National Hockey Stadium on 19 September 2003, and eight days later played their first match in Milton Keynes, against Burnley. The game drew a crowd of 5,639, including 893 away fans. Wimbledon F.C. went two goals down before coming back to draw 2–2; Dean Holdsworth scored the club's first goal in Milton Keynes. The team struggled on and off the pitch for the rest of the season, losing important players regularly as the administrators sold them to keep the club afloat, and eventually finished bottom of the second-tier First Division. Attendances at the National Hockey Stadium were higher than those at Selhurst Park during the 2002–03 season, but lower than those of the 2001–02 season. The 2–1 defeat to Sunderland on 7 April