FourFourTwo

STEVENAGE

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LAST SEASON

LEAGUE TWO 10th FA CUP First Round

LEAGUE CUP First Round TOP SCORER Kurtis Guthrie (14)

FANFILE PETE HAYMAN @boroguide

The big talking point among the fans is that we’ve changed our badge for the first time since 1996. That was always bound to get people talking. This season will be different because the manager has now had the benefit of a full season in charge, so should have a better idea of what it’ll take to succeed in this division.

I won’t be happy unless we end up in the frame for promotion. Although we timed our play-off push a tad late last season, we showed what we could do. Did you know that this summer marks 20 years since chairman Phil Wallace took over the club. He saved us from going to the wall.

The one change I’d make to the club would be to have a bigger fanbase. The club have tried many initiative­s to get the gates up, but it’s hard to make a lasting impact.

Look out for Liam Smyth, a forward who is only 17 but has been mixing it with the first team for some time now. Our most underrated players are winger Emmanuel Sonupe [above] and defender Terence Vancooten. The opposition player I secretly admire is Joss Labadie at Newport. Save the date for Salford away on August 3 – it isn’t often that we start the season live on Sky. I can’t think why our game has been picked...

The best thing about the matchday experience at Stevenage is that Boro pull out all the stops to give families a fantastic day out, including a whole load of activities and events going on outside the main stand before kick-off. The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is that Dino Maamria is popular enough – you can’t please all of the people all of the time. There’s no pressure on him at the moment, but a poor first half to the season could put him in a difficult spot. He knows the club inside out and puts a lot of emphasis on fitness. At one point he could have been accused of being too rigid in his approach, but that went out of the window when we switched to 5-3-2 in the final stretch of the season. We’ll finish work on our new North Stand at last. And, in the league: 6th.

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