With over 900 career appearances to his name and counting, Dean Lewington extended his record-breaking association with MK Dons to take the defender into his 21^st season with the Buckinghamshire Club in 2024/25.

Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 Wimbledon

5 April 2003 – Hillsborough

Over two decades ago, a fresh faced Lewington made his bow for Wimbledon – the Club where he came through the ranks as a youngster – in the First Division, with the 2002/03 league campaign beginning to wind down.

Then-boss Stuart Murdoch introduced the teenager off the bench in the final moments of the game in South Yorkshire, replacing midfielder Alex Tapp, for his only appearance of the season.

“I remember being very nervous,” he recalls. “I’d been a sub for maybe six or seven games, but that was the first chance to get on the pitch. I remember how quick the game was – you can train and play with the first-team, but actually playing the game, you appreciate how fast it is.

“I came on in left midfield so I didn’t come on in my position, but you take what you can when you’re 18! It’s a big milestone for any player – that first one is massive. It just makes you want more – it’s one of those addictive feelings.”

MK Dons 1-1 Barnsley

7 August 2004 – National Hockey Stadium

When MK Dons kicked off their inaugural 2004/05 term on home turf, Lewington’s focus was very much on the here and now. Even he couldn’t have foreseen what was to come, as the Club picked up a point against Barnsley and the defender embarked on – unbeknownst to him – a record-breaking streak.

“It was a baking hot day,” he says. “I was 20 at the time and I was thinking about the next game and happy to be playing league football. I definitely wasn’t looking 20 years down the line, that’s for sure.

“The Club at the time had the bones really – there was no medical department or youth team to speak of, so it was a real skeleton staff; it had just started. There was a team and that was pretty much it.”

MK Dons 2-1 Tranmere Rovers

7 May 2005 – National Hockey Stadium

Nothing less than a victory would do heading into the final day of the 2004/05 campaign for MK Dons. Their fate was out of their hands as they welcomed Tranmere Rovers to Buckinghamshire and their League One status was on the line with 90 minutes of the season remaining.

“It was really frustrating – we were a bit helpless out there,” Lewington explains. “If any of the teams had put together even a half decent run, we’d have been dead and buried but we came out of nowhere – we should’ve been down.”

Fortunately for Lewington’s side, results elsewhere swayed in their favour and it was up to them to uphold their end of the bargain. Gareth Edds struck in the 84^th minute to take back control and ensure survival.

“We went 1-0 up then they equalised," Lewington adds. "In that last five minutes, it was just desperation. We knew that Torquay had lost, so we knew if we got a goal, we’d stay up. That elation of staying up is an amazing feeling – it’s probably better than going up. That relief in that moment was probably one of the best feelings I’ve ever had on the pitch. It was quite euphoric.”

Grimsby Town 0-2 MK Dons

30 March 2008 – Wembley Stadium

A first coveted piece of silverware was on the cards when MK Dons marched on Olympic Way in the 2008 EFL Trophy Final – the first showpiece to be staged at the newly constructed Wembley. In the end, it was a comfortable win against opponents Grimsby Town.

“We had Paul Ince in charge who he understood what it meant, having been England captain,” Lewington notes. “That Wembley trip reignited that interest and got the Club going again. It was a really successful period and the start of a good couple of years. It was a bit of a restart for the Club.”

In a twist of irony, Lewington – who lined up alongside Lloyd Dyer at the home of National Stadium – came up against his former teammate’s son, Kiano Dyer, in August 2023 when MK Dons took on Chelsea Under-21s in the very same competition, some 15 years on.

“It’s mad – I bumped into him in a café a year ago and he said his son was at Chelsea and he was coming down to see him,” he remembers. “When we were doing the handshakes before the game I was thinking, ‘I’m pretty sure that kid is Lloyd’s son!’ It’s amazing how things go full circle sometimes.”

Bradford City 1-2 MK Dons

26 April 2008 – Valley Parade

They weren’t finished there, either. MK Dons completed the double as they pipped nearest challengers Peterborough United to pole position in their penultimate game of the 2007/08 League Two campaign.

“We knew we were promoted before the game, so we had a guard of honour – you don’t get them very often,” he comments. “We had a really good month in terms of winning the EFL Trophy and we beat Stockport to get promoted, then we won the league outright the week after.”

Ince’s men were crowned League Two champions after registering their 18^th win on the road that season with victory over Bradford City – an EFL record at the time.

He admits: “We don’t too well in the Play-Offs so knowing you’re up and the season is done, you don’t have to worry about that! We were unbeaten for the last 18 of that season and playing some good stuff. It was one of those seasons where things click and we had a lot of fun along the way.”

MK Dons 4-0 Manchester United

14 August 2014 – Stadium MK 

A packed-out Stadium MK was treated to a masterclass as MK Dons swatted aside Manchester United in Round Two of the League Cup. It marked an attendance high for MK Dons, who made it look easy against the Premier League giants. 

“It was a very surreal night,” he emphasises. “We came out for the warm-up and there was probably more fans there for the warm-up than we got on a Saturday! It was an electrifying atmosphere. Playing in front of that was great and gave you a taste for what it could be."

Will Grigg and Benik Afobe each bagged a brace while 18-year-old Delle Ali impressed for the hosts in his breakthrough season and MK Dons cruised through to the next round.

“When you play a team of that calibre in the Premier League, there’s always a slight concern that you’re going to get embarrassed,” Lewington continues. “You don’t want to get beat 8-0 or 9-0 – you want to put on a good account and do yourself justice. When we got the first goal, we were thinking, ‘well, at least we’ve scored – it’s something’. At 2-0, you’re thinking, ‘maybe we can hold on’ and the night got better and better.”

MK Dons 5-1 Yeovil Town

3 May 2015 – Stadium MK

Not for the first time, MK Dons’ season went right down to the wire. As the curtain came down on the 2014/15 League One season, Karl Robinson’s men needed to beat Yeovil Town and hope that Preston North End lost to Colchester United to keep their automatic promotion aspirations alive.

“We just wanted to get a fast start to put a bit of pressure on Preston,” he explains. “We were 4-0 up at half time and we wanted Preston to know that we were comfortably winning.”

The skipper had a helping hand in the outcome, bagging a brace and notching two assists as MK Dons cruised to victory. They’d done the hard work and it was simply a waiting game.

He adds: “The second half of our game was sort of a non-event and we were going through the motions because we’d already won it and we were just waiting for the result from Preston – we could’ve scored 10 and it wouldn’t have mattered. When Colchester finally scored, the crowd went mad and I don’t think the manager even watched the last five minutes – he was just celebrating and we had the boys on the bench having beers!”

Fulham 2-1 MK Dons

2 April 2016 – Craven Cottage

As a boyhood Fulham fan, Lewington lived out his dream of gracing Craven Cottage in MK Dons’ maiden season in the Championship. The iconic ground that holds special meaning for the Club captain, whose dad, former England assistant manager Ray Lewington, managed the West London outfit between 1986 and 1990.

“With my dad having been at Fulham for so long when I was growing up until he left when I was nine or 10, I had so many nice memories as a child there and to go back there and play on the pitch – properly and not as a kid just running around after – was one of the highlights of my career,” he reminisces. “It’s a Club that, as a family, we’ve always been associated with.”

He laughs: “Unfortunately, we lost and Scott Parker put around 15 stitches in my leg – I had a gaping hole in the side of my calf which wasn’t the greatest thing!”

MK Dons 1-0 Mansfield Town

4 May 2019 – Stadium MK 

The last day of the 2018/19 campaign pitted third-placed Mansfield Town against fourth-placed MK Dons as the table stood, with the third and final automatic promotion place at stake, but it was all about to change.

“That was as big a game as you’ll get,” he says. “We’d started really well – we were top in November/December – but we’d been really poor for the last eight to 10 games of the season and we thought we’d blown our chance a few times. We always knew we had that game as our last one, so we knew it was the last chance saloon.

“They did look a bit nervous and we scored. In those games, the first goal is always massive, and it wasn’t a great game but we had something to defend.”

Paul Tisdale’s side held on for victory, dislodging the Stags from their perch to bounce back to League One at the first time of asking.

MK Dons 1-0 Colchester United

26 December 2023 – Stadium MK 

Records are there to be broken and Lewington knows that better than anybody. Boxing Day saw the veteran defender tick off yet another milestone as he overtook John Trollope’s long-standing achievement. Taking his tally to 771 games for MK Dons, he became the player to make the most appearances for a single EFL Club. And he even had a visit from the man himself.

“We played Swindon and I knew of him (Trollope) – I’d never met him – but there was a knock at the changing room door about an hour before the game and he was outside,” Lewington recounts. “He said to me he thought he had another couple of years in him, so I got lucky he decided to stop when he did!

“For the record to have stood for that long, nobody thought it would be broken – there had been a lot of talk about it for a long time.

“The record is the number but the day-to-day is where the fun is. It’s the games and the memories you create along the way – good and bad, it’s all part of that mix – and it’s why you play football. I count myself very lucky that I’ve had more than most.”