The king has had his coronation, now let’s have the Stevenage summation…
Whatever you think of Steve Evans, you can’t blame the guy for having a bloody big smile on his face after taking Stevenage into League One, when many predicted they’d be relegated
Tuesday 20 June 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Huddersfield - Saturday 22 July, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Lincoln (in Spain!) - Friday 7 July, 4pm (Click here for our away day guide)
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Stevenage supporters joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Tuesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
We’re into the final week of our 2022-23 review (which means we can then start looking forward to the new season with the fixtures out this Thursday) and it’s all about tying up the loose ends over the next few days. Having already featured Orient, Northampton and Carlisle, today we’re rounding off the quartet of promoted sides, as Mike Harniman and Duncan Ling reflect on a superb season for Stevenage.
Finally, a big thank you to Lee at On-Point Construction for sponsoring today’s edition.
Des Junior
Had King Charles invited you to his coronation celebrations, and insisted you brought him the best food you’d experienced inside a League Two ground this season, what would you have treated him to?
I’m biased I know, but I’d have to take the king a Boro Burger.
Charles is now king of the UK. But who would you choose to be crowned king of Broadhall Way, and who would be locked up in the tower? You can pick anybody who’s had some sort of connection with the club this season.
We’re heading into League One next season, when some predicted we’d be kicking off in the National League. On that basis, how can Steve Evans not be king?
There’s so much positivity at the club at the moment, I don’t think we need to use the tower for anyone.
Best moment of 2022-23?
Aston Villa away in the FA Cup. As much as promotion was unexpected, and we had some great days in the league, to go to Villa Park and come from behind was just an incredible moment.
Worst moment of 2022-23?
Probably losing 2-0 at Rochdale. They couldn’t buy a win and their fans were the most negative I’ve ever seen about getting a result. I was in Dubai for the game and it was pretty frustrating checking the score because it put serious doubts in my mind about whether we’d be good enough to achieve automatic promotion at that point.
Funniest moment of 2022-23?
For me it was the tweet that the club put out during our game against Villa. We were 1-0 down at the time and Coutinho was being substituted. Alfie, our media man, tweeted that the substitution took longer than expected as Coutinho had to get out of our right-back Luther James-Wildins’ back pocket.
Honourable mention to my back and forth with Richie Wellens during our 3-0 win over Leyton Orient, which I’m sure would have looked quite funny to the people around me.
Four Four Two said you’d finish 20th. When Saturday Comes said you’d finish 23rd. You finished 2nd. Discuss.
We always seem to be favourites for relegation. Just goes to show the so-called professionals can get it badly wrong sometimes.
Stevenage 2 County 1 in August. County 2 Stevenage 0 in February. Thoughts?
August seemed to be a great time to play you. I was pleased to be getting you out of the way early, and as you were coming to us on the back of a defeat to Barrow on the opening day, I did feel we’d have a chance of getting a result. You kept us at bay very well for an hour before taking the lead through a well worked goal. Then we had the crazy few minutes at the end when you went down to 10 men and we capitalised on that with an equaliser from Luke Norris and then the first injury time goal of many we went on to score during the first few months of the season, thanks to “Big Goal Reidy”.
As for the reverse fixture I thought you controlled it from start to finish. We were outclassed. We were in the middle of a poor run of results and just didn’t get going, which people could see in our performance on the day.
Best and worst away days of 2022-23?
Without question the best has to be Villa. The atmosphere from the 3,000 Boro fans that day was special; a day I’ll never forget. In the league, Barrow was good after we’d been promoted. I spent a couple of days up there with mates and it was nice to go to the game without the worry of having to get a result, after already securing promotion against Grimsby the previous week.
In terms of the football, the worst away day was probably Gillingham. Our away form wasn’t great and that game was probably up there as one of our poorest performances.
With Wrexham up and MK Dons down, there’s a couple of teams going into League Two who generally cause quite a lot of debate wherever they go. You’re on Moonpig.com buying a welcome card for both of them. What messages are going inside?
MK: “Hope you go down again.”
Wrexham: “Congratulations on your promotion. Welcome back to the Football League.”
Click on the links below to read the previous 2022-23 reviews we’ve published so far.
Barrow / Carlisle / Colchester / Crawley / Gillingham / Grimsby / Leyton Orient / Mansfield / Newport / Northampton / Rochdale / Sutton / Swindon / Tranmere / Walsall / Wimbledon
On-Point Construction – building tomorrow’s history
On-Point Construction was formed in 2017, with one of their first projects in Knutsford, laying the foundations on Wayne Rooney’s new house. From there the business has gone from strength to strength across Cheshire, also renovating the old farmhouse in Alderley Edge where Dietmar Hamann used to live. Recently, the company has built many extensions in the area, as well as paving numerous driveways and extracting a number of chimney breasts. They price aggressively to win work without sacrificing on quality, never missing a deadline with a long list of happy clients that recommend their services. If you’re looking for a quote on any building work at the moment, give Lee a call.
Click here for contact details.
Photo of the day
This lovely man is Dave Roberts, who sadly passed away in 2021. I never met him, but I’ve got every one of the football books he wrote (they’re all brilliant) and feel like I knew him a little bit through the warm style of his writing. One of his books, The Bromley Boys, was turned into a 2018 film starring Alan Davies and Martine McCutcheon. It’s just been added on Netflix today. That’s your Tuesday night viewing sorted.
Today in SK
🍺 Food and drink 🍺
The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including £4.50 for drinks off the Doubles Bar, a comprehensive range of shots for £2, and 3 for £6 on Jägerbombs.
Tapas Tuesday at TRUNK (SK7) from 5pm. All tapas dishes are 3-for-2 (cheapest dish free).
🎱 Free pool 🎱
The George & Dragon (SK7). 6pm - 9pm.
The Scarf My Father Wore works closely with venues on a daily basis to bring you the most comprehensive guide to all of the best offers and events taking place across the whole SK region. Click on the links below for full details of everything taking place in your area over the next few weeks.
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