Football Season Review

Stevenage had a season to forget as they languished in the bottom half of the League Two table before replacing Darren Sarll with Dino Maamria as manager. There were plenty of positives for Boro’ to take despite a disappointing finish to last season which saw them miss out on a play-off place. Sarll will have been delighted to have kept hold of striker and leading goalscorer Matt Godden last summer and enjoyed more success in the transfer market with the acquisition of striker Danny Newton from Tamworth. They made a good start to season, losing just two of their opening 11 league matches but things started to go wrong after they suffered a humiliating 7-1 defeat away at local rivals Luton Town in October. They were unable to find any kind of consistency and spent the last 26 weeks of the season between 14 and 17th places in the League Two table. Sarll wasn’t helped by niggling injuries to influential players, most notably midfielder Ben Kennedy and Godden. Newton took to league football like a duck to water however, reaching double figures by New Year’s Day which helped alleviate some of the pressure. Chairman Phil Wallace acted in March by replacing Sarll as manager with former assistant Dino Maamria. The Tunisian has made a steady if unspectacular start to his reign with the side finishing in 16th place. He is likely to make several changes to the squad but his transfer kitty should be boosted with defender Ben Wilmot set for a big-money move this summer. He will look to build his squad around the likes of full-backs Ronnie Henry and Joe Martin and the aforementioned attacking trio of Kennedy, Newton and Godden. Newton finished the season as leading goalscorer with 16 goals and was voted player of the year.

Player of the Season: Danny Newton