… it is how you finish. We’re told this often enough during our football club-supporting lives and it often gets proved to be the case when you take into consideration the full length of a season. It is easy to peer at our league results this season and feel inclined to reach for that copy of Now That’s What I Call League Two 2014. But don’t.
But at BoroGuide, we did a rather rudimentary comparison of the first eight league games from each season since 1980-1 to see where this season stacks up in the scheme of things… and if it is as bad as some of you might think. We’ll level with you right now – 2013-4 won’t stack up well against other seasons at all. But there are some surprises.
Only twice have we been undefeated in the first eight – in 1985-6, we won our first eight (well, nine actually) games, and 1993-4 delivered seven wins and a draw. In fact, the most recent season to feature anywhere near the top of the list of best starts is 2007-8, with six wins, a draw and a defeat under Mark Stimson.
Stimmo would do well not to crow just yet, mind.
2013-4 is, in points terms, the joint worst start to a season – equalling 1994-5 and 2006-7, and we told you Stimmo ought not to be crowing too soon. If you factor in goals scored and goal difference, then 2013-4 stands apart in bottom place. And yet, we’ve two reasons to explain why this is not the end of the world.
The first reason isn’t particularly cheery. Even if we lose against MK Dons, the points tally will still be level with Stimmo’s 2006-7 cohort. There’s that name again! 1994-5 will move ahead of us, but only by a point – so all is not lost on that front. So, a point will ensure that Stimmo holds the record for the worst start to a season.
The second reason is more upbeat. We’re going to take a look at some of the more seminal seasons in Boro’ history and compare those points tallies after eight games as we’ve heard nothing about those so far. For the avoidance of doubt, we’re looking at 1987-8, 1995-6, 2004-5, 2008-9, 2009-10 and 2010-1.
Here goes:
1987-8 (relegated): P8 W3 D1 L4 F11 A11 – Pts: 10
1995-6 (champions): P8 W4 D2 L2 F14 A11 – Pts: 14
2004-5 (playoffs): P8 W3 D0 L5 F10 A9 – Pts: 9
2008-9 (playoffs): P8 W2 D2 L4 F10 A17 – Pts: 8
2009-10 (champions): P8 W4 D3 L1 F12 A5 – Pts: 15
2010-1 (promoted): P8 W2 D4 L2 F8 A7 – Pts: 10
So we’re not showing championship-winning form, but this comparison kinda shows we’re just as likely to go up through the playoffs as we are of going down apparently. Anyway, it’s Boro’ we’re talking about – relegation is once-in-a-lifetime thing. For those of you who take worrying as the only natural course right now, keep calm and carry on. It’ll be fine! No, really, it will be. Every little thing is going to be alright.
