Don't look back because AFC can do much more

Of course, I want the club to beat Luton Town to secure promotion to the Football League but also for them to begin a new era where they can look to the future and forget about the past.

Obviously, that is easier said than done after what this set of supporters have experienced over the past 10 years but they should be really proud of what has been achieved with AFC Wimbledon.

It has been incredible so far and naturally I associate myself with them rather than MK Dons because these were the fans who were at Wembley in 1988 to see me score the winner against Liverpool in the FA Cup Final.

My history and everything I achieved as a player at Wimbledon dissolved to a certain extent when the club moved to Milton Keynes almost nine years ago.

I remember when it happened and it was disappointing for everyone concerned.

I never played for AFC Wimbledon but they are the club I feel a bond with. I am not the only former Wimbledon player to have close ties with them and we are often invited down to games or to special occasions.

However, when I was at a club event recently with former manager Bobby Gould, I told them that looking back at history and associating with old players is great but what they need now is to move on.

They should not keep revisiting what happened before but look at what can be achieved in the future.

To go from the bottom of the pyramid and get themselves to the verge of the Football League in just nine years is phenomenal.

Every club who start that low would dream of doing something like that and they have done it. In saying that, it is ironic that the game against Luton is a replay of the FA Cup semi-final 23 years ago. It feels like we are revisiting the past a little bit.

To a certain extent it emulates what the old Wimbledon did by going from non-League in 1977 to the FA Cup in 1988.

That summed up how quickly the club grew and hopefully AFC Wimbledon can achieve a similar pattern of success.

What they have done so far is just as good an achievement as that team back then. I was there to see them beat Fleetwood Town in the semi-final and will also be there at Eastlands for the final on Saturday.

What strikes me is the fantastic enthusiasm that everyone has around the place.

Sometimes when you go to big clubs, crowds give the impression of "entertain us and we'll watch" whereas at AFC Wimbledon, everyone is associated with the team in more than one way and there is a special atmosphere.

As for the player who I'd tip to score that special goal like I did is Danny Kedwell, the captain and main striker, but it doesn't matter who does it as long as someone wins the game for them.

I for one hope that they do succeed because then I will get to face AFC in League Two next season as manager of Barnet and become the first ex-player to take a team to play them.

But most importantly, if they get promoted it really will feel the end of the first half of the journey and the start of a second one.