Football Season Guide

The new season marks the start of a new era for Wycombe Wanderers. Matt Bloomfield made 558 appearances for the Chairboys and now has the unenviable task of following in Gareth Ainsworth. Ainsworth left to take over at Queens Park Rangers in February with the club on the cusp of the play-offs. An eventual 9th-placed finish was therefore understandably disappointing. Ainsworth brought unprecedented success to Adams Park and Bloomfield will need to steady the ship after the departure of such a pivotal figure. The Chairboys have lost three pivotal figures in the last 12 months with midfield playmaker Anis Mehmeti sold in January and striker Adebayo Akinfenwa hanging up his boots last summer. It illustrates the number of significant changes the club has gone through in a short space of time. Bloomfield is a determined and driven individual and his knowledge of the club brings some continuity and stability. Several players have left in the summer, the biggest loss being midfield playmaker Lewis Wing. Young centre-back Chris Forino-Joseph is being linked with a move away from the club and that would be another blow. The capture of midfielder Luke Leahy will certainly have raised some eyebrows. He was Shrewsbury Town’s Player of the Season and is a great addition alongside Wanderers Player of the Season Josh Scowen in the middle of the park. Getting the best out of the former Wales international striker Sam Vokes will be one of Bloomfield’s priorities. The 33-year-old was hampered by injury last season and keeping him fit will be key. He will be supported, and sometimes deputised, by Nottingham Forest striker Dale Taylor, who has joined on a season-long loan following an encouraging loan spell with Burton Albion last season.