[Div3North]

Accrington Stanley

V

AFC Wimbledon

2024/25 Prediction League Game 30 v Wimbledon Old Centrals



And the most enormous congratulations to Sean “January Player of the Month” Whalley for showing the rest of League Two how it should be done – well done, young man! …………. I’ve lost track of how many times he’s hit the woodwork, as well …..

This, as you may or may not know, is the 23rd season of AFC Wimbledon – the Phoenix from the Plough Lane Ashes ………. It took them a while (but not a long one in real terms) to gain EFL membership, where of course they might play MK Dons in some competition or other …..

Revenge being sweet (eventually), your first Starter for Ten ……………. Being the underdog, how many times did the Proper Wombles have to play the Plastic Ones in the League before their first victory (and three points) were won against them?

Since its formation, the club has been promoted six times in 13 seasons, going from the ninth tier (Combined Counties Premier) to the third (League One); AFC Wimbledon currently hold the record for the longest unbeaten run of league matches in English senior football, having played 78 consecutive league games without a defeat between February 2003 and December 2004.

They're the first club formed in the 21st century to make it into the Football League; owned by The Dons Trust, they’re currently managed by Johnnie Jackson ……… this is their third consecutive season in League Two

In other news, managerial eviscerations proceed apace; in December 2024 eleven managers were replaced, and in January 2025, Mark Bonner left Gillingham, Julen Lopetegui departed the ‘Ammers, Rob Edwards left Luton and Sean Dyche left Everton on a “Buy One, Get One Free” Double, Matt Bloomfield left Wycombe, Stephen Clemence left Barrow and Ian Evatt left Bolton, having told a group of (presumably heckling) “Fans” to “F*ck off” (and who can blame him?) Eighteen departures in two months means that John Doolan is already 45th in the list of 92 despite his tenure being a mere 340 days ……………… Way to go, John!

Second Starter for Ten; now managed, of course, by Professor Coleman, who won Gillingham’s Goal of the Month Award for January 2025?

The Wombles finished last season in a respectable 10th place, with 65 points and a +13 GD from their 46 games – 5 points off the playoffs …………… They parted company with Josh Davidson and Jack Currie in the summer (plus two other unknowns), and then sold CMF Romaine (like the lettuce) Sawyers to Brizzle a month ago, having only signed him from Cardiff on 5/12/24 …………… Apart from Mr Lettuce, they brought in another nine players between July 24 and 30th January 2025, the best known being LMF Myles Hippolyte from Stockport, CB Riley Harbottle from Hibs and CB John-Joe O’Toole from Mansfield, and they’ve LoanSigned four, including Joe Piggott from Leyton Orient

Starter for Ten; now 93, who is (believed to be) the oldest living FA Cup winning player?

To date they’ve played 27 in the League, winning 14, drawing 6 and losing 7, for 48 points and fourth place ……… they’re 2 points behind Notts Co with a game in hand, and four points behind Donnie with three games in hand, and they’ve got the second-best GD (+19) in League Two, bettered only by Walsall ………….. Home record is P14 W9 D3 L2 GF25 GA9, and away its P13 W5 D3 L5 GF14 GA11 …………… Leading scorer seems to be Matty Stevens with 13 …………. And of their five away defeats, they failed to score in four ………… against that, of their last 12 in the League they’ve W7 D4 L1 (by 1-0 at Chesterfield just before Christmas) …………….. In the FA Cup they beat MK Dons 2-0 away, and then succumbed to the Daggers in Round Two: in the EFL Cup they beat Bromley and Ipswich before losing by the odd goal in one at Newcastle, and they won their Trophy Group before going out to Colchester

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00 pm on Saturday 8th February …………Head-to-head is 12 wins, six draws and five losses (one in the League Two playoffs in 2016!) in our favour, and we haven’t lost to them in our last four meetings (W3 D1) …….. There might, if you add up all the good bits, and if Kiwi doesn’t start the match thread, and if Valairian doesn’t predict us to lose, be a morsel for us from their table …….

And for the record, AFC Wombles lost their first four meetings with MKD, but three were Cup games (FA Cup, League Cup and Johnstone’s Paint Can Drippy Cup); the ProperWombles lost their first League meeting but won the second (14th March 2017) ……. And Gillingham were credited with two League goals in January; having lost 3-0 at home to Bromley and 1-0 at home to Donnie, they then drew 1-1 at Tranmere and 1-1 at Grimsby ………… sadly, their two goals were both Own Goals, so no-one won Goal of the Month; they did eventually score in a 2-1 home defeat by Notts Co on 1st February, not that that helps ……………… And that isn’t a record, by the way, which seems to be in the safe care of Hartlepool Utd who, in 1993, beat Palace 1-0 in the FA Cup with a “debateable late penalty” before failing to score in 13 consecutive games over two months (not so much as a tick in the OG column) ……………. And the 93-year-old FA Cup Winner’s medal holder is ex Man City RB Bill Leivers

Happy Birthday, Bill! I remember many happy Saturdays watching you, Cliff Sear and Dave Ewing guarding Bert Trautmann (still the best GK I've ever seen play)

Good luck to everyone! ……… Keep the Faith! ………… And thanks for playing!