Storm clouds gathered over a near-deserted Selhurst Park on a dark day for Wimbledon.

The 2,476 fans who turned up to see Gillingham win 1-0 could have been forgiven for thinking they were watching a funeral, so eerily silent was the stadium.

And for the several hundred Wimbledon supporters outside in the rain protesting against their club's impending relocation to Milton Keynes, that is exactly what it was.

Their boycott of the match had spectacular results and if ever Wimbledon chairman Charles Koppel needed proof his club must move, this was it.

The travelling Gillingham support dwarfed in noise and number the meagre 668 die-hards who trudged in to support the home side, with row after row of empty seats in all four stands.

And Guy Ipoua's second-half winner only added to Wimbledon's misery on Stuart Murdoch's managerial debut.

Dons fans claim Wimbledon are setting a precedent for other clubs to follow which will introduce to the English game the franchise system that operates in American sports.

And before kick-off they held a minute's silence for the death of the club they followed from its non-League days to its 1988 FA Cup triumph.

Wimbledon enraged their supporters when they were granted permission to leave south London, and could be playing at the Milton Keynes Bowl by Christmas.