Football Season Review

Stevenage reached the Play-offs in their first ever League One season and were widely expected to struggle to repeat such a feat this term. The Boro looked set to exceed all expectations in the early stages of the season, as they lost only two of their opening 16 matches and set in or near the automatic promotion places early in the season. The turning point of their campaign came in the 15th round, when they fell to a humiliating 4-0 home defeat to Swindon - the result obviously took a lot of confidence out of the players, as it started a run of seven home games from which the Boro collected only one point. The away results initially stayed good, but they eventually started struggling on their travels as well, with their crisis culminating between early February and mid March, as they lost eight out of the nine games they played during this period, with the other game ending in an unlikely 4-0 win over Sheffield United. Despite receiving initial assurances that his job was safe, Gary Smith was sacked on March 20, a day after his side fell to a humiliating 2-0 defeat at Bury. Captain Mark Roberts took temporary charge, with the side collecting only one point from his three game reign, and Graham Westley was eventually appointed, therefore becoming the Stevenage manager for the third time. Westley managed to collect only five points from his six games in charge, but even that was enough for the Boro to stay up - but things would have been much different had their results not been so good early in the season. One thing that was notable about Stevenage this season was that it's hard to remember them putting on one single convincing home display - even when they won at home, they were poor, and Westley will need to find a way to make his side more capable of breaking down defences when playing in front of their own fans. The 'new' Stevenage boss is talking about a push for promotion next season - obviously, anything is possible in League One, but the Boro seem to be on a steady downtrend and it's clear that Westley would have to do some remarkable work during the summer to make his side capable of pushing for promotion.

Player of the Season: Lucas Akins