Marked for Ryan Johnson
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces4 Jan 2027
The mood at AFC Wimbledon has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Match4 Jan 2027
Position 24, 12 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Match2 Jan 2027
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Market4 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AFC Wimbledon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Shea Lacey, 19, steals the show — 8.35
Marked 8.35 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. AFC Wimbledon have done the hard part with Hull City, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Ethan Sutcliffe is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Match29 Dec 2026
Bolton Wanderers left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad4 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Wimbledon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad23 Nov 2026
41 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AFC Wimbledon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match21 Nov 2026
2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Harry Cornick will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at AFC Wimbledon escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.37 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad23 Nov 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Player ratings23 Nov 2026
A defender's goal wins it for AFC Wimbledon — 7.35
1 for Will Wright, marked 7.35, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 3‑5, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad23 Nov 2026
17 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Sam Hutchinson was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 3‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad16 Nov 2026
48 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. AFC Wimbledon lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Wimbledon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Stevenage in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A season on the outside for Lorenzo Gori
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at AFC Wimbledon has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at AFC Wimbledon. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Ryan Johnson has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Nov 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 55 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match9 Nov 2026
Position 24, 8 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Hernán Luna and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad9 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matty Stevens commits to AFC Wimbledon for another 3 years.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Nicholas Marshall to a room that had heard them before.
Market9 Nov 2026
Ryan Johnson is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at AFC Wimbledon has been clear about where Ryan Johnson stands, which is more than many ever get.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Nathan Bishop
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad9 Nov 2026
The formation has left Lorenzo Gori behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. AFC Wimbledon will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad26 Oct 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 71 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to AFC Wimbledon's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AFC Wimbledon has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Shea Lacey was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match24 Oct 2026
AFC Wimbledon are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Match24 Oct 2026
0‑2 to Bradford City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad26 Oct 2026
22 new faces, and AFC Wimbledon are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Nicholas Marshall to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Looking ahead26 Oct 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Blackpool in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
93 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. AFC Wimbledon lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad5 Oct 2026
12 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Match3 Oct 2026
5 matches without a win for AFC Wimbledon
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around AFC Wimbledon are no longer polite ones.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Aron Sasu is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Match3 Oct 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at AFC Wimbledon this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Nicholas Marshall to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ryan Johnson, and the manager let it.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Ryan Johnson is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
The words a physio says slowly. 101 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Match26 Sep 2026
0‑3 against Lincoln City, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match26 Sep 2026
No end in sight to AFC Wimbledon's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at AFC Wimbledon has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad28 Sep 2026
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Andy Yiadom and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at AFC Wimbledon
20 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at AFC Wimbledon, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with another club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Match29 Aug 2026
4 matches without a win for AFC Wimbledon
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around AFC Wimbledon are no longer polite ones.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$290.0K on the table at Burnley. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
AFC Wimbledon asked and Sheffield United said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match29 Aug 2026
Rotherham United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Andy Yiadom and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Stoke City have kept their man, and AFC Wimbledon go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Brighton, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
AFC Wimbledon had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Everton, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Andy Yiadom and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Antwoine Hackford, and the manager let it.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Nathan Bishop commits to AFC Wimbledon for another 4 years.
Looking ahead10 Aug 2026
AFC Wimbledon take on the side everybody is chasing
Barnsley arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Squad10 Aug 2026
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
Looking ahead10 Aug 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Barnsley in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.