MK Dons have confirmed that Paul Warne has been appointed as the League Two club’s new Head Coach.

Warne has joined MK Dons on a contract of undisclosed length that the club describe as a “long-term deal that will give him the security and support to develop an impactful culture shift at Stadium MK”.

He will take charge with immediate effect, starting with the Dons’ next match against Newport County on Good Friday.

The deal sees Warne become the successor to Scott Lindsey, who left MK Dons in early March after six months in charge. Ben Gladwin had taken interim charge of the Dons’ last nine matches following Lindsey’s departure on March 3rd.

Warne will be accompanied at Stadium MK by assistant manager Richie Barker, who worked with Warne at Rotherham and Derby. The move sees Barker return to MK Dons, having been an assistant to Karl Robinson between 2014 and 2016 at the club, and also taking caretaker charge for 8 games following Robinson’s departure.

In his first interview as MK Dons Head Coach, Warne told MK Dons’ official website that he was excited to get started with the project.

He said, “I’m over the moon to be joining MK Dons with Richard at such a pivotal moment in the club’s history. The potential of the team under the ownership of Fahad and the Board is truly limitless, and I’m extremely grateful to be given the opportunity to manage the side over the coming years.

“This is an amazing project, and we’re so excited to drive it forward. I can’t wait to get on the grass, we have some talented players in the squad who we’re really looking forward to working with. I’d like to thank Fahad, Neil and Liam for putting their faith in us and I can’t wait to meet the Dons’ supporters on Friday.”

Warne enjoyed a lengthy playing career in which he made over 500 competitive appearances for clubs including Wigan, Rotherham, Mansfield, Oldham and Yeovil, before retiring at Rotherham in the early 2010s.

After a spell as a coach in Rotherham’s first team set up, he became a first team boss for the first time at Rotherham in 2016, first as a caretaker and then as a full-time boss. He managed the Millers in a time as a yo-yo club, winning promotion from League One three times but also enduring three Championship relegations, while he also delivered an EFL Trophy in 2022.

Warne left Rotherham to take charge of Derby County in 2022, earning promotion from League One last season before leaving the Rams in February after a difficult patch.

The move sees him join an MK Dons side currently sat 19th in League Two and seeking to rebuild for next season.

MK Dons Chairman Fahad Al Ghanim hailed the move to bring in Warne.

He said, “Paul Warne is a phenomenal football manager and I’m absolutely delighted he’ll be joining us at MK Dons – he was our number one choice. Having met with him, I was extremely impressed, not only with his vision for the team but also with his character. I truly believe Paul was the best manager available to us and I’m thrilled to have secured his services at Stadium MK on a long-term deal.

“I’d like to congratulate Paul and thank him for his belief in the project and the fantastic opportunity we have at our club. It’s my hope we can now enter pre-season full of optimism while looking ahead to an exciting future with Paul at the helm.”

This was also echoed by MK Dons’ Sporting Director Liam Sweeting, who said, “This is, quite simply, a massive appointment for MK Dons.

“Paul is someone we’ve admired for a long time. We got to know him well during the 21/22 season when we competed with his Rotherham side, and we’ve followed his progress closely since then – particularly his continued success at Derby. Paul will undoubtedly help us develop further as a football club and play a key role in driving us forward on this journey under our new ownership group. We’ve seen first-hand what can happen when performance on the pitch connects with the people of Milton Keynes in the stands.

“We truly believe that, under Paul’s leadership, we can re-establish that connection – playing an exciting, attacking brand of football and building the right culture and environment to give our First Team squad the clarity they need to succeed. We’re also really pleased to welcome Richie Barker back to Stadium MK and look forward to working closely with both him and Paul in the years ahead.”