Football Season Review

Wimbledon stayed up with relative ease in each of their first two seasons in League One, but had a much harder time this time around. They lost top scorer Lyle Taylor to Charlton last summer and, having failed to replace him, were always facing a rather tough task. They badly struggled in the early stages of the season - the football on show was rather decent and they were creating chances, only to repeatedly struggle to finish them. The board showed a lot of patience for Neal Ardley, but his position ultimately became untenable, and he was replaced by Wally Downes, another man with long-standing ties with the club. Their form improved under Downes, but this was not enough for them to move clear of the drop zone, and they looked all but relegated in March, having found themselves eleven points below safety, albeit with games in hand on sides above them due to their decent FA Cup run. What followed was simply remarkable, as the Dons went on a run during which they were displaying play-off form, and went into the last game of the season knowing that they would stay up with a draw at Bradford, a result that they managed to get. Downes deservedly received a lot of praise for turning his side's fortunes around and will enter the summer knowing that his side badly need to find a constant source of goals.

Player of the Season: Will Nightingale