Football Season Guide

Wycombe Wanderers start the new season with something of an identity crisis following a disappointing 2015/16 campaign. The Chairboys lurched from the joy of a remarkable escape from relegation out of the Football League in 2014/15 to the despair of missing out on promotion in the cruelest way possible at the end of last season when they conceded an equaliser with just seconds remaining before missing two penalties to lose 7-6 in the shoot-out to Southend United in the play-off final at Wembley. Manager Gareth Ainsworth was unable to repeat the impressive recruitment of 2014 last summer however with winger Jason Banton making little impact before being jettisoned. Midfielders Danny Rowe and Ryan Sellars hardly featured whilst defender Anthony Stewart was never going to be an adequate replacement for the outstanding Mawson, who opted to join Barnsley. Striker Garry Thompson also proved to be a disappointment despite finishing as joint leading goalscorer, alongside midfielder Michael Harriman, with eight goals. Midfielder Luke O’Nien was the success story of the year having signed after being released from Watford and was voted player of the season. The Chairboys boasted one of the best defensive records in the division but struggled to score goals at the other end and having led the table in the early months, they slowly slipped out of promotion contention and ended the season without a win in their last eight league games to miss out on the play-offs and finish in a disappointing 13th place in the League Two table. They scored a feeble six goals in their last eleven home games and Ainsworth hasn’t endeared himself to opponents with his style of play. He has publicly bemoaned the clubs’ parlous financial state countless times, which saw goalkeeper Matt Ingram was sold to Queens Park Rangers in January, but the sell-on fee from Jordon Ibe’s move from Liverpool to AFC Bournemouth this summer will bring in more than £2million and the stated aim in year three of Chairman Andrew Howard’s five-year plan of challenging for promotion now seems a far more realistic aim. The arrivals of winger Myles Weston and striker Adebayo Akinfenwa should strengthen another paper thin squad and the Chairboys will be hoping to finish in the play-offs.