B RO
v WATFORD FC
Tuesday, August 08 2023
Kick-Off: 7.45pm
v WATFORD FC
Tuesday, August 08 2023
Kick-Off: 7.45pm
Good evening and welcome to the players and officials of Watford for tonight’s Carabao Cup fixture at The Lamex Stadium.
This will be our first home competitive fixture of the 2023/24 season, coming off the back of our excellent away win in our first league match at Northampton at the weekend, where our supporters were in fine voice.
Our promotion to League One and the final home game of last season will live long in all our memories. The whole season was an incredible ride, and massive credit to Steve Evans and his team for their achievement. There are many exciting matches to look forward to, and I expect to see many full houses at The Lamex in the coming months.
When a season ends, people always ask me if it’s a time you can sit back and have a nice long break now the matches are over, and I honestly tell you that it’s the opposite – that’s been the case over the summer here at Stevenage. We have made improvements to the stadium in terms of branding, upgraded the shop, refitted the home changing rooms and added new turnstiles to the away end, amongst other stadium alterations. Huge credit and thank
you to all our staff for their hard work over preseason.
From a commercial perspective, we have processed record season ticket sales which are up 50% on 2022/23 and have sold large numbers of home and away shirts already. We also welcome our new sponsors, GRILLA (Front of Shirt), HG Group (Back of Shirt), Everyone Active (Sleeve) and Rocket Paye (Back of Shorts), to the Stevenage family, and we look forward to partnering with them over the season and beyond. Our new Head of Commercial, David Hoskins, has started with the Club and is busy selling the many opportunities we have here. If you are interested in partnership, match sponsorship, hospitality and advertising, please get in touch with him at davidh@stevenagefc. com.
Finally, we start our home league campaign here on Saturday against Shrewsbury Town. It’s the first time we’ve played in League One for a decade, so it would be fantastic to pick up where we left off last season with a big crowd cheering the team on.
Tonight will be a real test for us against strong Championship opposition. Get behind the team, and I hope you enjoy the game.
MATCHDAY TIMINGS
CLUB SHOP: Midday – 7:45pm
TICKET OFFICE: 6pm – 8pm
THE BROADHALL SUITE: 5:30pm – Kick-Off (Home & Away supporters). Bar Food Available.
THE 76 LOUNGE: 5:30pm – Kick-Off (Home & Away Supporters), 8pm – 80 minutes (North Stand Ticket Holders). Bar Snacks Available.
TURNSTILES: 6:30pm
TICKET INFO
BORO HOST WATFORD IN CARABAO CUP TONIGHT
We recommend arriving at the stadium early to avoid lengthy queues at the turnstiles and ensure you are seated in your allocated seat.
East North West South (Away)
Adult £20 £24 £25 £24
Concession £18 £22 £23 £22
Under 18 £14 £16 £18 £16
Under 12 £5 £10 £12 £10
SHREWSBURY TOWN (H): SAT 12 AUG 3PM
League One action returns to The Lamex Stadium for the first time in 10 years as Steve Evans’ men take on Shrewsbury Town.
Secure your match tickets in advance at www.borotickets.co.uk .
TICKETS & TRAVEL
CAMBRIDGE UNITED (TUES 15 AUG, 7:45PM)
Match tickets are available from the Stevenage FC Club Shop (open Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays 10am-5pm) and from the ground on the day of the game (£2 increase).
Adult: £25 Concession: £19 Under 18: £12
Under 12: £8 Under 5: Free
The Stevenage FC Supporters Association coach will be departing The Lamex Stadium at 5pm on the day of the game, with tickets costing £20 for SA members and £25 for non-members. Click HERE to book a seat
An independent Regulatory Commission has imposed an action plan and £7,500 fine on Stevenage FC for a breach of E21.1 and E21.3 that happened during our EFL League Two game against Bradford City FC on Saturday 11 February 2023.
Stevenage Football Club does not tolerate antisocial or disorderly behaviour of any sort at The Lamex Stadium. Entering the field of play is a criminal offence and puts players, officials and supporters at risk.
On our supporter page tonight we are delighted to put the focus on 92-yearold Boro fan Ted Lloyd.
Ted’s first game was back in the 1970’s. He loves the Boro as he has lived in Stevenage since 1960 and has always followed them.
Ted used to regularly go to matches at the Lamex with his grandsons and son in law starting in 2010 and all have been going to matches ever since. They used to stand on the East Terrace but now sit in the seats in the West Stand.
His favourite memory of the Boro was when he attended the play-off semi final in 2011 vs. Accrington Stanley.
His favourite shirt is the limited edition white and blue kit from when they played away to Aston Villa in January 2023.
His all time favourite Boro footballer is Chris Day as he says he was a great goal keeper and when his grandson was a mascot just before his 11th birthday they visited his pub and Chris gave him his signed goalkeeper gloves. His favourite player now is Piergianni as he is a fantastic defender and a regular goal scorer.
Offices in UK, USA, Ireland, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Germany, Canada, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China. For
Being a mascot is a great way to experience a VIP day at the club. The mascot will also get a unique experience to speak to all their heroes and get a signed autograph book. The day becomes a wonderful lifelong memory, never to be forgotten.
Children aged 4-15* years old can be a mascot for home and away games.
*If you would like to enquire about a mascot package for children outside of this age range, please contact us on 01438 222222 .
PACKAGE 1 INCLUDES:
• Meet the first team players in the changing room
• Signed merchandise
• Kickabout on The Lamex Stadium pitch before the game and at half-time
• Your picture & mascot interview featured in the matchday programme
• Pre-match shout out from our stadium announcer
• Walkout with your choice of first team player in front of The Lamex crowd
• Matchday pack including certificate and activity packs
• 4 x North Stand Tickets (Includes mascot)
• Some of the changes to the packages have been made inline with EFL legislation around Covid-19 precautions.
To enquire about booking a mascot experience, click here to download our mascot registration form (attached). Then please return the form, completed, to our Football Development Officer, Melissa Edwards via melissa.edwards@ stevenagefcf.com who will then confirm your booking details with you.
If you’d like to discuss our mascot package in more detail, please contact the Foundation on 01438 222222
Our interactive quiz is back, five teasers on some interesting stats from the Premier League last seasoncan you get a Boro fifer?
Off the back of a thrilling, but frustrating loss at home to Oldham, Stevenage hosted Championship side Ipswich Town. Much like the hosts; Ipswich had also lost their opening league game so this match was an opportunity for either side to not only progress into the next round of the League Cup, but also the chance to kickstart their season. The first chance of the game was manufactured by Stevenage midfielder, Greg Tansey, who delivered an excellent cross-field ball to the feet of Felipe Morais, a ball which the Portuguese controlled well, allowing him to fire his shot towards the bottom corner, only for Ipswich ‘keeper Dean Gerken to deny Stevenage’s number 7. Morais’ sharp shooting early on was a taster of
what was to come, as five minutes into the second half Ipswich’s Luke Hyam tripped Tounkara, giving Stevenage a penalty. Morais stepped up and cleverly stuttered his run up to tempt the Ipswich goalkeeper into diving, allowing Morais to then place his penalty with the goalkeeper having no chance of stopping it.
Boro’s lead then was doubled through a carefully crafted attack which was started by Simon Heslop, who threaded a pass through the Ipswich back line, allowing Luke Freeman to drive the ball across the Ipswich goalmouth. The cross was met by Jordan Burrow who slid into the ball, directing it into the back of the Ipswich net, to send Ipswich Town out of the League Cup in the very first round.
ALFIE NICHOLSON1 Steven Arnold
2 Samuel Wedgbury
3 Lee Hills
14 Simon Heslop
9 Darius Charles
5 Jon Ashton
7 Felipe Morais (72’)
17 Greg Tansey
10 Jordan Burrow
21 Oumare Tounkara (72’)
15 Luke Freeman
SUBSTITUTES
16 Chris Day
28 Joseph N’Guessan
34 Roarie Deacon
6 Luke Jones
19 Marcus Haber (72’)
11 Lucas Akins
32 Robin Shroot (72’)
Based on recent seasons, it feels positively late to be kicking off in what is the second week of August now. After all, we began our previous campaign at Tranmere at the end of July! Mind you, go back to our Conference days and it’d rank as an early start; something that you can see in our past record on this day in history.
Overall, Boro’ have played five times on 8 August over the years – and with muted success. Only a chunky 5-1 win at home to Bishop’s Stortford in the Herts Charity Cup in 1995 stops it from being a winless date. Elsewhere, it’s not a complete write-off –though a 1-1 draw at home to Tamworth in 2009 was hardly a dream start for our Blue Square Premier campaign. It is, however, a fantastic argument for the adage that ‘it’s not how you start, but how you finish’; Boro’ ultimately going on to win the league that season.
Our only away day on 8 August to date saw Boro’ lose by two goals at Millwall in the first round of the Carabao Cup in 2017. Meanwhile, the same scoreline had Teddy Sheringham’s tenure as manager off to a losing start in 2015. And we will wrap things up with our only other outing on this date; a Herts Charity Cup defeat at home to *sigh* Hitchin.
We’d say that Watford have enjoyed a pretty long, unchallenged run as the number one football team in Hertfordshire. Barnet?
Boreham Wood? Hitchin? Baldock? None of them have come close to a Hornets side that have been members of the Football League for 100+ years. We reckon you could combine the total number of seasons spent in the Football League by other Hertfordshire sides and still be severely in arrears.
Anyway, the gap between us and the Hornets had long since been a big one.
1987 Stevenage Borough 1-2 Hitchin Town, Herts Charity Cup R2 (Watkins)
1995 Stevenage Borough 5-1 Bishop’s Stortford , Herts Charity Cup (Gittings 3, Trebble, Brown)
2009 Stevenage Borough 1-1 Tamworth, Blue Square Premier (Boylan)
2015 Stevenage 0-2 Notts County, Sky Bet League Two
2017 Millwall 2-0 Stevenage, Carabao Cup R1
Our Capital One Cup Round One fixture in 2014 was the first time we’d a) met as relative equals and b) played them in something other than county competition. We’ve now emerged as the leading contenders to their position as the county’s leading team. But there’s still a decent amount of work for us to do to contemplate taking that crown off them.
14 April 1986 – Herts Senior Cup Semi-Final
In the mid-1990s, Boro’ started to build a reputation as a cupset specialist; something that carried on into the 2000s and even as recent as this year (2023). Long before our incredible FA Cup win at Villa Park, we were bloodying the noses of bigger boys. Newcastle or Swindon Town, for example. While relatively fresh to the GM Vauxhall Conference, we had Cambridge United and Leyton Orient too. But was that where our cup credentials were established? No.
Not in our view, anyway. There’s one cup win that could easily sneak under the radar – not least among the younger fans of the club. It came a good decade before matchday announcer Andy Green welcomed fans to Broadhall Way for our ‘home’ FA Cup Round Three clash at Birmingham’s St Andrews. And it came in a competition that (nowadays) has more of a cult classic appeal to it. This is the story of our
Herts Senior Cup Semi-Final win at the expense of top-flight Watford.
Historically, the League Cup hasn’t quite captured the imagination – nor created the headlines – as the FA Cup. Boro’ have a relatively muted record in it, though not always for the want of trying. In 12 Round One ties, we’ve won five – that record boosted by two successive seasons in which we’ve overcome the first obstacle.
As mentioned, it’s not for the want of truing. Our first-ever outing in the League Cup (2010) saw us – the new boys – paired with Portsmouth, fresh out of the Premier League. We gave a good account of ourselves, but ultimately went down 2-1. And there was also a 4-3 reverse – humdinger it may have been – against Peterborough United in 2011.
Tonight isn’t the first time we’ve met Watford at this stage; the Hornets edging it by a single goal here in 2014.
By Pete Hayman courtesy of boroguide.co.ukThere’s no shortage of players to feature for both Boro’ and the Hornets; many of them admittedly making their way down the pyramid from them to us. But that balance has somewhat shifted in recent seasons. After all, we got a fair wedge of cash for defender Ben Wilmot in 2018. Is it that we’ll see more lads on their way up go from the Lamex to Vicarage Road in seasons to come? It remains to be seen. Other names of note to play for both sides over the years include goalkeepers Mick Adamson and Chris Day – along with Corey Brown, Jobi McAnuff, Jason Soloman, and Tony Ward.
Good evening and welcome back to the Lamex for our first competitive fixture on the new season.
As always, best of the luck to the gaffer and the team for the season ahead and as an academy, we will continue to do what we can to support in any way possible.
The off period has seen lots of changes at Shephalbury. We have modernised the facility and still have plenty of exciting projects to come. A huge thanks to all the staff that have been involved in the changes here, which has already made a big impact on us.
Over the summer, Stevenage football Club were represented by a under 2009 squad at this year’s Super Cup Northern Ireland 2023 football tournament which was the first football tournament Stevenage FC Academy have run independently as a department and it was a real success.
The tournament saw each team drawn in a group of four, 4 groups of four would compete in our age group. Our boys finished second in their group, winning 2 games and narrowly losing to a strong County Armagh team (2-1). Our two victories came against FC America (2-1) and County Londonderry (1-0).
Our semi-final saw Stevenage FC matched against the familiar category 2 opponent of Charlton Athletic who defeated our young lads 4-1. Stevenage finished the week with a third and fourth place play-off against Scottish Premier
side, Glasgow Rangers. A real competitive game that ended 3-3 before losing on penalties. The Under 18’s have reported back strong and were challenged over the pre season period with a number of different types of fixtures including senior and higher category sides. They started the season in fine style on Saturday with a 6-0 victory over Cambridge United. We have some new additions to the staffing team; Ella Mercer is joining as Academy Administrator and Natalia Allen as the Academy Safeguarding Lead. I am delighted to have retained all other staff for the new season. Finally, I would like to send my deepest condolences to the family of George Casey. George sadly passed away on over the weekend. George was an apprentice here before signing a junior professional contract in 2015. He had an infectious personality and will be greatly missed. Enjoy the game, Come on Boro!
JORDEN GIBSON Academy Manager… and we are back! A very warm welcome ‘Boro fans to the 2023/24 season! We would like to thank you for your fantastic support last season, and we look forward to welcoming you again this season to the Herts FA County Ground. We really need your support this season to push us towards promotion back to the National Leagues, we need you to make noise and create an intimidating fortress for the opposition. We have had a very competitive pre-season playing against higher tier opposition, compared to last season as David Perry took charge for the first time. Playing against the likes of Tier 4 Chesham United and Cambridge United has set us up nicely as we prepare for our first league game this Sunday (13 August) away to Real Bedford.
We have also been busy adding quality to the squad; with the likes of Sarah Payne signing from Tier 4 side, Cambridge City and Rebecca Edge joining from Cheshunt Ladies. More new signings will be announced in due course, so please keep an eye out on our social media pages over the coming week. We also retained key, core players from last season who bought into the ‘Boro project and we now have a squad
who are hungry, determined and up for the fight. The atmosphere in and around the squad is fantastic and we are keen to showcase that this is a welcoming, inclusive, and diverse club. At the start of pre-season, we appointed Terry Harrison as Assistant Manager, formerly of Harlow Town and Billericay Town. Terry brings in a wealth of experience within the women’s game (and an unusual love of burpees!) as he comes in to support David.
We are thrilled that for this season we have the same front of shirt, back of shirt and sleeve sponsor as the men’s team – reinforcing the one club approach. We would like to say a huge thank you to Grilla, HG Construction and Everyone Active for your support. We have also partnered again with Anzen this season who will continue to be our official goalkeeping glove provider – supplier gloves for our goalkeepers and coach.
We kick off our season this Sunday (13 August) away to Real Bedford. We would love to see the ‘Boro fans out in force as we look to make a fast start to the season. Our first home game of the season will be the following Sunday (20 August) as we welcome Bowers & Pitsea Ladies to the County Ground for a 2pm kick off. Thank you again for your fantastic support.
Up the ‘Boro!
PAYNE Stevenage FCW, Head of MediaBeing a mascot is a great way to experience a VIP day at the club. The mascot will also get a unique experience to speak to all their heroes and get a signed autograph book. The day becomes a wonderful lifelong memory, never to be forgotten.
Children aged 4-15* years old can be a mascot for home and away games.
*If you would like to enquire about a mascot package for children outside of this age range, please contact us on 01438 222222 .
Package 1 includes:
• Meet the first team players in the changing room
• Signed merchandise
• Kickabout on The Lamex Stadium pitch before the game and at half-time
• Your picture & mascot interview featured in the matchday programme
• Pre-match shout out from our stadium announcer
• Walkout with your choice of first team player in front of The Lamex crowd
• Matchday pack including certificate and activity packs
• 4 x North Stand Tickets (Includes mascot)
• Some of the changes to the packages have been made inline with EFL legislation around Covid-19 precautions.
To enquire about booking a mascot experience, click here to download our mascot registration form (attached). Then please return the form, completed, to our Football Development Officer, Melissa Edwards via melissa.edwards@ stevenagefcf.com who will then confirm your booking details with you.
If you’d like to discuss our mascot package in more detail, please contact the Foundation on 01438 222222
Watford FC confirmed Valérien Ismaël’s appointment as the club’s Head Coach in May 2023, with the former defender taking over ahead of the 2023/24 Sky Bet Championship season.
Ismaël joined the Hornets having enjoyed extensive experience as a player and a coach
both here in the UK and abroad.
A decorated career on the grass saw the former France Under-21 international achieve the unusual feat of doing the German league and cup double with two different clubs: Werder Bremen in 2004 and Bayern Munich in 2006. Before that, he won the Coupe de France with Strasbourg, while he also turned out for Crystal Palace in the late 1990s.
Ismaël took up the chance to manage in England when joining Barnsley in October 2020. Just outside the Championship relegation zone when he arrived, the Tykes stormed up the table to finish fifth - only missing out on promotion in the play-offs. After furthering his domestic experience at West Bromwich Albion during the 2021/22 campaign, Ismaël’s most recent appointment - prior to his arrival at Vicarage Road - came at Turkish giants Beşiktaş.
11th
Imrân Louza joined Watford for an undisclosed fee from Ligue 1 side FC Nantes in June 2021.
The midfielder joined his hometown club as an eight-year-old and turned out 58 times for the first team after earning a debut in January 2019. He moved to Vicarage Road off the back of an impressive 2020/21 season for Les Canaris which saw him net seven goals in 35 appearances, helping the club avoid relegation.
Louza is capable of playing out wide but predominantly occupies a central midfield position, either in a defensive role or further forward.
A talented passer, the left-footer is also skilled in dead-ball situations, taking corners, free-kicks
and penalties at his former club and since his arrival in Hertfordshire.
Louza played 20 league games in his first season in England, establishing himself in the Watford side at the base of midfield.
Injury hampered his involvement in parts of the 2022/23 campaign, though he still registered five goals in 21 Sky Bet Championship outings, including in back-to-back matches against Blackpool and Norwich City.
Born to a Moroccan father and French mother, Louza represented both countries at youth level before committing to Morocco, going on to feature for the senior side at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
I’m delighted to have recently started here, after spending the last three and a half years as Head of Commercial and Operations at Worcestershire County Cricket Club and prior to that, for eleven and a half years, I held the position of Head of Commercial and Hospitality at Luton Town Football Club.
Thank you for the warm response I’ve had to date, we have already confirmed some new partnerships and have renewed some existing ones as well.
Please feel free to contact me with any Commercial, Sponsorship, Partnership, or Hospitality enquiries to davidhoskins@ stevenagefc.com
D.R.J Home Improvements provides a reliable and trustworthy service completed to the highest standards because we believe you don’t need to move, just improve. We have got 18 years experience in the building trade satisfying clients and are a team that will get your job done from start to completion. Dan the owner was born and bred in Hertfordshire and is a lifelong Boro supporter.
They can take their place from:
1st September (Autumn Term)
1st January (Spring Term)
1st April (Summer Term)
Well, what a great season 2022-23 was. Despatching a Premier League club out of the FA cup and winning promotion too. It doesn’t get much better than that,
This evening we welcome the fans and supporters of our sister Hertfordshire club, Watford. It is my tradition and routine to highlight the principal supporters group representing our opposition’s fan-base in this column, but in Watford’s case I am stymied . Watford FC recognises no fewer than twentyeight (28) individual groups. Wow! They are, literally, everywhere . . . .
Whilst our own SA operates from within the confines of the SG1, SG2 postcodes, we recognise that many of our members also live ‘everywhere’ too. In a recent sojourn to the United States, I was introduced to Stevenage supporters who live in Fredericksburg (VA), Naples (FL) and Pittsburgh (PA). What an opportunity to formally ‘spread the good word’ and create Stevenage supporters groups in all these locations too. It would be my intention to promote such thinking, so do contact me to discuss – and get them photo’s in.
The current SA will soon celebrate its thirtieth anniversary. Some exec members discussed the topic just last week, so you’ll likely hear more of this in the coming weeks. However, have you ever considered where our ancestral roots lie – in the scheme of things?
The accompanying advert appeared in the Stevenage Pictorial newspaper on July 12th
1963, that’s just over sixty years ago. It announces the proposal to form a supporters’ group for the Stevenage Town Football Club, which had just turned semi-professional following their successful application to join the Southern League.
Whilst my memory banks are full of Stevenage football trivia, they don’t quite stretch back as far as 1963, but I do remember the likes of Harry Coffin and Ken Thomas being active in the fledgling organisation. If anyone reading this can help with remembering and celebrating such stalwarts of the club, do get in touch.
Entry is now open! How does it work?
1. You predict where you believe each team will finish from 1 – 24
2. Entry into the competition costs £5 (per entry)
3. All profits are split 50/50 between the SA and prizes
4. Entry to this year’s competition closes on Sunday August 27th 2023
See details on the SA’s web page HERE.
The Boro Bus is back – and the EFL League One offers our supporters new locations and destinations to explore. Next up is on Tuesday Aug 15th when we journey to our near neighbours, Cambridge United. Bus leaves The Lamex at 5.00pm and the cost is just £20 (for members). Then, the following Saturday (Aug 19th) we go to Reading. That’s an 11.00am departure and the cost is £25. See the SA website for details.
TOGETHER FOR ACCESS TOGETHER FOR EQUALITY TOGETHER FOR INCLUSION TOGETHER FOR DIVERSITY
FOR THE GAME WE LOVE.