Two AFC Wimbledon supporters have taken to BBC Radio London to deliver their verdict on the season so far, with a clear undercurrent of cautious optimism and a firm warning about the recent past.

A fanbase still carrying scars

Supporters Ray Armfield and Danny Baker spoke to BBC Radio London's Phil Parry in a nine-minute segment that aired on 2 October, and the mood was one familiar to anyone who has followed this club closely: hopeful, but with one eye firmly on the rear-view mirror.

"We're hoping it won't be a repeat of last year," was the line that framed the conversation. That kind of statement does not emerge from nowhere. AFC Wimbledon supporters know full well that League One is a division that shows no mercy to clubs that drift rather than drive forward, and recent seasons have given them plenty of reasons to stay vigilant rather than celebratory.

What "last year" actually means

Without a fanbase keeping the pressure on, it is easy for a club at this level to sleepwalk through a campaign. The third tier is littered with sides that looked stable in October and were scrambling for points by March. For a club with AFC Wimbledon's particular history, the emotional stakes are always that bit higher. This is not a franchise with wealthy backers absorbing losses without consequence. It is, in the plainest sense, a supporters' club, and the people in the stands are not passive consumers.

That context matters when fans speak publicly about their expectations. Armfield and Baker are not performing dissatisfaction for a camera; they are articulating something genuine about what it feels like to support a club where every league position has real consequences for real people in the community.

Early-season nerves are part of the furniture

October is, of course, still relatively early. The table at this point in a League One season is as much a reflection of fixture scheduling and a couple of fortunate deflections as it is of genuine quality. Every fan base is doing the same arithmetic: points on the board, games remaining, the gap to the play-offs upwards and the drop zone downwards.

What the Radio London segment captures is something the club's press releases and official social media will never quite manage: an honest, unmediated sense of where supporters think the team actually stands. That is worth more than a carefully worded manager's quote about "taking it one game at a time".

The wider picture in League One

AFC Wimbledon are operating in a division where the margins are tight and the schedule relentless. Clubs at this level rarely get the luxury of a run of easy fixtures to paper over structural problems. If the playing squad, the manager and the board are not pulling in the same direction, it shows quickly in the third tier.

The fans who spoke to BBC Radio London are clearly watching those dynamics closely. The fact that their headline concern is avoiding a repeat of the previous campaign suggests they have not yet fully convinced themselves that the same problems have been resolved. That is not pessimism; it is pattern recognition.

For a club that has been through more upheaval than most in English football, the supporters' instinct to stay alert rather than get carried away is arguably their greatest collective asset. Whether the squad can give them reasons to relax as the autumn fixtures pile up remains to be seen.

Frequently asked

How is AFC Wimbledon doing in League One this season?
The season is still in its early stages, but supporters speaking to BBC Radio London in October expressed cautious optimism mixed with concern about repeating the difficulties of the previous campaign.
What happened to AFC Wimbledon last season?
While specific details depend on the campaign in question, Wimbledon fans interviewed by BBC Radio London were keen to avoid a repeat of last year's struggles, suggesting it was a difficult season in the third tier.
Are AFC Wimbledon still a fan-owned club?
AFC Wimbledon was founded by supporters and has strong roots in fan ownership and community governance, which makes the views of its fanbase particularly significant to how the club is run and perceived.