AFC Wimbledon: FA Cup shame can feed promotion push - just ask Neal Ardley | OneFootball

Despite the FA Cup upset exit, the Dons can look on seasons gone by and realise that something special can still come out of this disappointing time

While it has been almost a week since AFC Wimbledon exited the FA Cup at the hands of Dagenham and Redbridge, the pain still feels a little raw and so does the disappointment.

Add to that the continuing poor form in the league with a fairly poor performance at home to Newport County and some may find it hard to shake the feeling that this season may just peter out.

But – as it did in 2015/16 – the FA Cup disappointment could end up feeding the Dons' promotion push.

AFC Wimbledon's embarrassing FA Cup exit to Forest Green Rovers in 2015/16

The Londoners drew now-National League side Forest Green Rovers in the first round of the FA Cup back in the 15/16 and went into the match against their opponents, who were in the National League at that time too, off the back of a mixed start to the season, with a slow opening being improved by a strong October, which saw four wins and two losses across six games.

So rather like many AFC Wimbledon fans this past weekend, fans at the time felt that this would be a breeze of a fixture and arguably, so did Neal Ardley, who put out a rotated side with a few players playing in slightly different positions, such as Callum Kennedy at left-wing and Sean Rigg in central midfield.

However, Forest Green were a much stronger side than many had anticipated, and soon put themselves 1-0 up thanks to former Premier League midfielder Darren Carter slotting home with six minutes notched.

And while the Dons soon equalised thanks to the much further advanced Kennedy, they would not turn their advantage into any further goals, instead conceding an injury-time winner courtesy of Elliot Frear.

The team from Gloucestershire were heavily underestimated by the Dons, with most of the quality in their squad on the pitch and little on the bench to help rescue them if things went south sooner than injury time.

And while the stats may say otherwise, Wimbledon were not at their normal levels – deservedly conceding the last-minute goal following no real threat on the Forest Green goal.

How did the 15/16 cupset push Wimbledon to promotion - and how can it be replicated now

The November upset came at an unfortunate time for the Dons, as they were performing well in the league up until that point but would go on a winless run broken only in their final game of 2015 – a 2-0 win away at Exeter City.

However, they would bounce back from that and have a strong second half of the season, losing only twice across January and February, and pulling off a masterstroke in the winter window by landing Kelle Roos.

They would also recover from a blip in March to finish the season in extremely strong form, sneaking into the play-offs in seventh place and going on to beat the team who narrowly missed out on automatic promotion, Accrington Stanley, over the two-legged semi-finals, and Plymouth Argyle, who only finished four points behind Stanley in fifth, in the final at Wembley.

The FA Cup upset at the hands of Forest Green is now just a footnote in an otherwise stunning campaign but likely aided Ardley in lighting a fire in his players, who wanted to make up for the disappointment and make something of the season. If it gave them only 5% more, then that was enough to push them over the line in May.

The hope for the present-day Dons is that their Dagenham and Redbridge slip-up can have the same impact. Clearly, a disappointing cup exit hurts players but the hope is that Jackson and his side can respond as Ardley's squad did and make something of the 2024/25 campaign.

Their form has been patchy of late and there is work to do in the January window but they remain in the play-off and promotion hunt, which may well prove to be fueled by their FA Cup shame.