Football Season Guide

Stevenage will be looking to build upon an encouraging first season under rookie boss Alex Revell. Boro never looked like challenging for the play-offs nor getting dragged into a relegation battle. Such campaigns are often considered unremarkable or lacking in excitement and whilst that might have been the case here, it has allowed the club to consolidate following the departure of the experienced Steve Evans in April 2024. Revell is very much a student of the outspoken Scot, and was able to rely on a strong spine of the team he inherited from his tutor. Carl Piergianni was again a standout performer in the centre of defence; Louis Thompson anchored the midfield whilst Jamie Reid and Jordan Roberts supplied the goals and assists in attack. Goalkeeper Murphy Cooper has an excellent season between the sticks but the loanee has returned to parent club Queens Park Rangers. A replacement has yet to be signed and Taye Ashby-Hammond will be hoping to seize his opportunity and become the first choice. Cooper is really the only notable departure and they have been some intriguing signings so far this summer. Wing-backs Jasper Pattenden and Phoenix Patterson have some real potential after joining from Wycombe Wanderers and Fleetwood Town respectively. They will help mitigate the fitness issues which affected the likes of full-backs Dan Butler and Luther Wildin-James and centre-backs Charlie Goode and Dan Sweeney last season. Midfielder Jordan Houghton has plenty of pedigree having been promoted from League One with Plymouth Argyle and adds to a strong centre of the park in the aforementioned Thompson and Daniel Phillips. Close to the top of Revell’s objectives this season is to the get the best out of midfielder Dan Kemp and striker Jake Young. The pair formed a lethal partnership whilst on loan at Swindon Town in 2023 but have yet to rediscover it. Kemp did at least show flashes of his ability last season but Young really was a big disappointment.