By The MKDSA Media Team
He’s known by several different names some call him Delboy all we know is he’s our Archieve Manager and runs our “MKDSA Programme and Shirt Emporium” in Lewington’s Bar on Match Days …so lets find out some more
Who are you?
I’m James, or sometimes known as Del Boy and I am officially the MKDSA Archive Manager but more well known for being the MKDSA Programmes and Shirts Shop founder and manager.
I started supporting MK Dons in 2005 with my first game being against Oldham on 2nd April. We drew that 1-1 and I’ve been coming ever since.
I also own every single MK Dons home programme and am missing only 7 away games up until the end of last season. Lack of space means I cannot continue collecting every single away game unfortunately.
That doesn’t and won’t stop my love for a programme being named as the MK Dons programme contact on footballprogrammecentre.co.uk. I’ve been collecting MK Dons programmes since I was about 10, so my apologies if I don’t buy your MK Dons V Carlisle programme from 2009 for £15 because you say it’s rare. It’s not. It’s really not. Carlisle fans just used them to stop themselves getting wet. Plenty were printed.
What do you in your role?
I founded and run the MKDSA Programmes and Shirt Shop. If you don’t know what that is then firstly shame on you, but it is the shop in Lewington’s Bar that sells old match day programmes and shirts.
So I am now behind the counter every home League game serving visitors to the shop, however there is much more that goes on behind the scenes that people may not know about.
I’ve spent many hours of my own time picking up donations of programmes and shirts, up the stadium arranging programmes into the boxes, putting clothes on hangers, pricing everything up, at home on social media advertising, thinking of new ideas. The list is endless.
It needs to be made very clear, I get absolutely nothing from running the shop. I get none of the money spent by the fans. Even if I was offered it, I wouldn’t take it. Everything raised goes to the MKDSA which gets reimbursed to the fans.
Tell us more about the MKDSA Programmes and Shirts Shop
When I pitched the idea, I was told very clearly that they believed it wouldn’t take off, it wouldn’t work and I’d be wasting my time. I was prepared for the old saying of I told you so. But, I was left to get on with it.
Located in Lewington’s Bar, we debuted the shop out of a cardboard box on a table back in August 2021 not really sure how it would go and we’ve been growing in size ever since. The take off was massive once we firmly got underway.
Thats all for our first insight into The Programme Man ….part II will be along very soon.
