On Friday 3rd July 2009, Milton Keynes Dons FC appointed Paul Ince as the Club's new manager following Roberto Di Matteo's move to West Bromwich Albion.

In completing the deal, Ince was given the opportunity to return to the Club where he had, barely twelve months previously, secured unprecedented success.

He took charge of the Dons for the first time in July 2007 and immediately introduced a hugely-attractive brand of attacking football that brought the masses to stadiummk in the stadium's inaugural season. Led by an enormously talented group of players and driven on by Paul's inspirational style of management, the Dons romped to the League 2 title with a sizeable total on 97 points while equalling a 61-year-old Football League record of 18 away wins in a season.

But perhaps the most memorable moment of Ince's first reign came on the glorious March afternoon when he led a 33,000-strong MK Army on the Club's first visit to the home of English football. At Wembley, in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final, Ince's Dons overcame Grimsby Town by two goals to nil to secure Club's first ever piece of silverware.

Ince lifts his first piece of managerial silverware - the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.

At the end of the 2007/8 season, Paul was lured away from stadiummk by the prospect of managing in the Premier League when Blackburn Rovers came calling. However, after 21 games in charge of the Ewood Park club, he left his position to be replaced by Sam Allardyce.

Prior to his appointment at stadiummk in June 2007, Paul had enjoyed a memorable stint in charge of Macclesfield Town, keeping the Silkmen in League 2 despite being cut adrift at the bottom of the league by a margin of seven points when he arrived in October 2006.Straight from the off he worked hard to rebuild confidence at the Club, winning his first game in charge 3-0 against Chester City before remarkably beating the drop on the last day of the season.

Born in Ilford, Essex in 1967, Paul enjoyed a glittering career as a player, both at home and abroad, winning numerous honours throughout his career including two Premier League winners' medals as well as winning the FA Cup twice and the European Cup Winners' Cup.

In addition to his career honours at club level, Paul was a central figure to England's plans for Euro 96, World Cup 98 and Euro 2000. In total he made 53 appearances for the national team, scoring two goals and will most famously be remembered in international terms for the famous image of his beaming smile and blood-stained shirt after the 0-0 draw with Italy in Rome that secured England's place at France 98.

Ince's defining moment in an England shirt came in securing World Cup Qualification in Rome in 1997.

After starting his career at West Ham United as an apprentice, he was quickly identified by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson as one to watch, with the Old Trafford giants snapping him up for £1 million in September 1989.

Ince soon became a key figure among the legendary 'Fergie's Fledglings' side, making over 250 appearances and scoring 28 goals before making a £7.5 million move to Italian Serie A giants Inter Milan in the summer of 1995.

During his two year spell at the San Siro, Paul become an extremely popular figure amongst the Nerazzurri supporters, featuring in all but four of the team's games in his first season, followed by a second season which saw him play a leading role in taking the Club to the UEFA cup final.

Ince was one of the few players of his generation to make an impact on the continent in his time with Inter.

However, at the end of the 1996/7 season, Paul decided to return to England with Liverpool at the head of the queue for his signature, signing him as they did for £4.2 million.

Ince spent two years with the Anfield club, making 77 appearances and scoring 17 goals before moving to Middlesbrough in the summer of 1999, where he would be managed by former Manchester United captain and team-mate Bryan Robson.

After retiring from international football after Euro 2000, Ince became club captain at the Riverside stadium and enjoyed three years in total with the north-east club, before joining Championship club Wolves on a free transfer in 2002.

While at Molineux, Ince was a driving force behind the team's promotion to the Premier League in the 2002/3 season and continued to play for the Club, making over 120 appearances, until June 2006 when he left to team up with long term friend Dennis Wise as player-coach at Swindon Town, where he featured just a handful of times before starting his managerial career with Macclesfield.

Ince embraces Blackburn captain Ryan Nelsen. The new Dons boss will have learned much from his spell in Premier League management.