Stevenage FC

I grew up in Stevenage, so it goes without saying that I like to see Stevenage Borough (or just Stevenage as they like to be called now) do well, so the last few seasons have been a nice treat for me.

I went to school throughout the infants and junior at St. Margaret Clitherow school which is situated on Broadhall Way, right next door to the Football ground. We used to do projects on the history of the club and make models of the ground, they were probably pretty naff but at the time I thought the model was a very good likeness.

Despite winning the league in the 1995/96 season, the club were denied promotion to the Football League due to insufficient ground facilities, which was a great shame. The ground had to be up to standard by the Christmas of 1995, so from then on Stevenage knew they would not get promoted if they won the league, however the ground was made up to standard in the summer break of 1996, but they still were not allowed to go up as it wasn't done by the Christmas deadline. I always thought this was extremely unfair.

My biggest thrill as far as Stevenage are concerned was when they played Newcastle in the FA Cup back in 1997/98 when Kenny Dalglish was their manager. A temporary stand was erected behind the away end to house the Newcastle fans, which increased the stadium capacity to 9,000, enough to satisfy the FA, they didn't want a repeat of the previous year when they drew Birmingham and had to play at St. Andrews instead of Broadhall Way, because the FA were not happy with their ability to hold enough fans.

Unfortunately I didn't get a glimpse of Kenny, except when I watched the match on TV, but it was a huge thrill knowing he was in my home-town. The game ended 1 – 1 which was amazing for the non-league side. They were knocked out in the return, but Boro' were unfortunate to lose 2–1 at St. James' Park because it has been proved, using computer technology, that Shearer's first goal did not actually cross the line. C'est la vie!

Stevenage finally gained promotion to League 2 at the end of the 2009/10 season and gained promotion again at the end of the following season, into League 1.

In January 2011, Stevenage beat Newcastle United 3–1 at Broadhall Way in the FA Cup third round, the first time the club had ever beaten top league opposition. The win earned Stevenage the 'Outstanding Team Performance' award for the 2010–11 season.

After yet another successful season in 2011/12 the club finished in the final play-off position for promotion to The Championship, which unfortunately they failed to gain. It's almost time for them to try again.