was arguably the 1996–97 season, where he missed just four league games, helped the Dons reach the semi-finals of both the FA Cup and the Football League Cup, and oversaw an excellent season in the league where they were rarely out of the top five until having to settle for 8th place in the final table. Watford Ardley played for the Hornets for three seasons, making appearances an FA Cup semi final in 2003 and a League Cup semi-final in 2005. Cardiff City Ardley joined Cardiff City in March 2005, a day before the sacking of Watford manager Ray Lewington. He scored his first and only goal for Cardiff against Leicester City on 19 April 2005. Millwall Ardley joined Millwall for the 2006–07 season, his last professional season. Managerial career Cardiff City academy Ardley announced his retirement from professional football on 30 August 2007 after a series of injuries. The same day he was appointed as manager of the Cardiff City academy. Ardley had started preparing for a manager's role at the early age of 24, when he took his first coaching badges before completing his training for the UEFA Pro coaching qualification in 2010. He impressed in the role by guiding several players through to the first-team squad, including highly rated pair Joe Ralls and Theo Wharton making the step-up. Ardley remained with the club for five years. AFC Wimbledon Ardley was appointed as manager of Football League Two side AFC Wimbledon on 10 October 2012, with former Watford teammate Neil Cox being named as assistant manager on the same day. The final two man shortlist for the job was Ardley and former Wales international Rob Page. On 2 December 2012, Ardley managed AFC Wimbledon in their first ever meeting with MK Dons, the football club formed via his former side Wimbledon's relocation to Milton Keynes. An injury-time goal saw AFC Wimbledon lose 2–1. Ardley made additions to his squad during the January transfer window with Alan Bennett being the most notable. In March 2013, Ardley was nominated for Football League Two Manager of the Month following Wimbledon's unbeaten run. Despite this, Wimbledon were in 23rd place going into the last match of the season with only Aldershot Town below them, however a 2–1 win at home to mid table Fleetwood Town saw Ardley lead Wimbledon to safety instead, sending Barnet down. Remarkably, Wimbledon jumped 3 places and finished