The former MK Dons midfielder Ben Gladwin has returned to the club as part of the Dons’ coaching staff.

The 32-year-old joins MK Dons after being at Crawley Town, with Gladwin joining his former boss Scott Lindsey at Stadium MK.

Gladwin had retired from playing football at the end of last season, citing an ongoing knee issue. His final campaign saw him play 14 times last season for Crawley as they won promotion from League Two via the play-offs last season.

Gladwin spent 18 months on the books at MK Dons under Russell Martin. He joined the club in January 2020 after being released by Blackburn Rovers and after initially being released in the summer of 2020, he remained with the club for the 2020/21 season.

In his time at the club, Gladwin made 39 appearances in all competitions with the club, scoring three goals.

After leaving MK Dons in 2021, Gladwin spent a year and a half with Swindon Town, including a stint managed by Lindsey, before joining Crawley in January 2023.

Gladwin managed Crawley for two matches between Lindsey leaving Crawley for MK Dons and the Sussex club announcing the arrival of Rob Elliot, who joins the club after managing at Gateshead. Elliot in turn had managed Gateshead following the departure of his former Newcastle team-mate Mike Williamson, who left the North East to manage MK Dons in October 2023 and who has since left Stadium MK to manage Carlisle.

Lindsey’s coaching staff will see Gladwin join Jamie Day, Carl Laraman and Steve Hale, who have previously made moves to Milton Keynes.

Lindsey told the official MK Dons website that he was pleased to bring his new coach to the club.

He said, “Ben is great character who knows the club really well and was a great player! I took from Swindon to Crawley and he was always someone who focused on the detail of the game, and I always felt he was going to be a good coach, he did his coaching badges relatively early, and now he’s really got the bug! I think he’ll add a lot of value to the coaching team and I’m really pleased to have him.”