Tamworth up first for Boro

Stevenage’s 16th consecutive season in the Blue Square Premier will kick off at home against newly promoted Tamworth on the 8th August. The opening week of the new season couldn’t of been nicer for Graham Westley’s side with a home fixture against a newly promoted club to start off with and then two away fixtures against two teams liklier to be at the bottom end of the table come April. I guarantee there will not be any repeats of the 5-0 hammering Boro got on day 1 last season when they made the trip to Wrexham.

The first 3 fixtures give Westley’s side a great chance to hit the ground running and if the team can pick up maximum points from the first week, I think the momentum will carry Boro through. I don’t think there will be a slow start this season and it’s possible that by the time we visit Oxford on the 22nd August, we could be top!

The annual festive double header sees Boro play local rivals Cambridge United. The games against Cambridge are always the first fixtures to look out for and Graham Westley’s side will be looking for revenge on Boxing Day when they travel to the Abbey Stadium. The return fixture at Broadhall Way is on New Years Day. In between the two Cambridge games is the visit of AFC Wimbledon. It looks like BHW is going to be pretty busy over the festive period with big away followings expected from both sides.

The run in to the end of the season also looks quite nice for Stevenage. The last two seasons have given Boro a lot to do in the final few weeks of the season, but this time around the end of the season looks more straight forward. In 2007/2008, Peter Taylor’s side had been in the play-off positions all season, but a tough run in as well as a poor squad led to Boro being forced out with 2 games to go and in the end finish 6th. The opposite happened last season. Westley’s side started poorly, but turned it all around mid-season to shoot up the table and finish in the play-off positions, although there was another tough run in. This time around the last month of the season sees home games against Luton, Forest Green and York with trips to AFC Wimbledon and Kidderminster. It’s not easy, but I think it’s easier than the previous 2 campaigns.

Other fixtures of note are;

Tuesday 29th September   Luton   (A) 
Saturday 31st October      Kettering   (A)
Saturday 13th February    Rushden   (A)
Saturday 20th February    Oxford   (H)
Saturday 3rd April            Luton   (H)

I think the fixtures will help Boro in the quest to win promotion this season. The start is always important and I think Boro can make a good one this season which will hopefully help the team gain some momentum and confidence to push for the title. In my opinion, I think the league won’t be as strong next season. Teams like Kidderminster and Histon are going to find it more difficult after losing big players in the summer and not having the finances in place to replace them. I don’t think Chester will be much of a threat either. However, Luton look like they’re going to be strong and Mansfield look like they could be an outside threat. The obvious favourites I think are Oxford who have spent big, but wisely and look to have a squad now good enough to get them back in the football league.

Roll on August 8th!