For the first time in a generation, Boro’ opted for a red-fading-into-black home shirt design for the 2022-3 League Two season; a proper shift away from our more familiar red and white clobber – but, in our opinion, a beautiful kit all the same. You have to go back more than 20 years for the last time (and, indeed first time) we tried that look. It was last seen during our 1999-00 Nationwide Conference campaign – a time when things were very different here.
How different? Well, we’re about to find that out; our latest look behind the numbers taking us back to summer 1999. But, as we think you’ll soon find, the numbers are only going to tell part of a story that shows a club up against turbulence and transition in more ways that one.
1999-00 Nationwide Conference: The background
For the first summer since 1990, there was a new face in the manager’s chair; Paul Fairclough dumped by Victor Green just before Christmas. The man charged with living up to that mega reputation was Richard Hill. It was his first managerial gig – but not his first in the dugout. In the years after hanging up his playing boots, he’d been John Gregory’s assistant at Wycombe Wanderers. He was also Brian Little’s number two at Aston Villa.
Of course, Hill had bedded in by the time summer had come around. By then, bigger clouds had gathered too. Green was on his way to the exit door and reports suggested we were just days from going the same way as Athletic and Town. Fortunately, salvation came in the form of Phil Wallace. Boro’ would live on – and the 1999-00 Nationwide Conference season would be the first in a completely new era for the club. The new millennium was coming ‘n’ all…
Flying out of the traps…
For all the off-field drama, Boro’ started the season with an absolute bang. By the time we’d completed August, Hill’s side had stormed to the top of the table with six victories out of six. It was only the third time in our history that we’d managed a faultless record from our initial six encounters; the previous two times being in 1984 and 1985 respectively. We suppose what made this different was that a) it was a higher level and b) the run included some big sides.
Scarborough and Doncaster Rovers, for example, were both in that mix; former League clubs now swimming around the Conference pool. The full run started at Altrincham with a 1-0 win courtesy of Carl Alford (who else) – followed by Donny, Telford, and Sutton. Scabby were then the first side to breach our defence as we won 3-1 at their place, before Kettering came to us to became our sixth victim in an epic start to the 1999-00 Nationwide Conference season.
…before all going downhill
It was early days, sure. But there was a huge feel-good factor about the club. Was it a bit too early to start dreaming of promotion? Well, yes. Because what happened next for Boro’ shall only be described as woeful. August was gone, September was underway, and Kidderminster Harriers destroyed our perfect record with a 2-0 win at Broadhall Way. Mind you, the rot was not immediately setting in. We did then draw at Hednesford and won at Hereford, to be fair.
After three points at Edgar Street, it’d be 10 games before we’d win again. In that time, Bath City dumped us out of the FA Cup after a replay; the Romans plying their trade one division below us at the time. Prior to our dismal 1-0 defeat at home to Scabby, we were still in fifth position and seven points adrift of leaders Rushden & Diamonds. So, could a 2-1 victory at Hayes in mid-November reignite our early season hopes?
A (dis)honourable mention?
It was amid all this carnage on the field that Boro’ thought they’d snared a real coup. At the start of October, ex-Republic of Ireland international Ray Houghton made his debut. Would it be a signing for the ages? No. it was four weeks, five games, and zero looping shots over the head of Gianluca Pagliuca later that we’d part company with Houghton; the midfielder much preferring his media commitments to non-league football.
A case of “not for me, Clive”.
Hold on – he’s the other one. Townsend.
A return to form for Boro’?
For a time, we were back in the saddle. Hayes duly dealt with, we (eventually) got past what was stubborn resistance in the FA Trophy; a Junior Samuels hattrick helping us to a 4-0 win back at Broadhall Way in a replay against Merthyr Tydfil. League wins against Doncaster and Dover then followed. Indeed, December had gone very well so far. The next challenge – and our final one before a festive double header against the league leaders? Woking at home.
Our auld enemies took great delight in sending us into Christmas with our tails between our legs, however. Boro’ were lacking and uninspiring in a 1-0 defeat. We were then beaten – but keenly contested and not without controversy – in a strongly-attended away day at Rushden & Diamonds on 27 December. With that double defeat, we then welcomed the Diamonds for what would be the first Boro’ game of the new millennium in seventh – six points off top.
And, believe it or not, top at that time were Nuneaton Borough!
Consistently inconsistent.
Our memory actually betrayed us, to be fair. We were convinced that September through to December was an utter write-off. Maybe we were thinking of Wayne Turner’s time that’d end up so badly off piste a couple of years later. We may not have ended 1999 on a high with the defeats to the Cards and the Diamonds. But there was certainly no shame in our 2-2 draw at Broadhall Way against the folks from Nene Park on 3 January 2000.
The problem is that our wait for a win was starting to draw itself out again. January’s games would include a 3-3 draw on the road at Morecambe and the end of our FA Trophy run; a 2-1 defeat against Yeovil Town at Huish Park. We’d also lose to Welling United and draw indoors with Altrincham. By the time February came around, it was seven without a win. And Richard Hill just couldn’t get us back into the groove that we’d had at the start of the season.
Ever the model of inconsistency, Boro’ had a decent February. Take out a defeat on the road at Kingstonian and we picked up 12 points from a possible 15. That included a 2-0 victory at Woking courtesy of a Danny Hockton brace. But these were different times compared to the mid-1990s and a win over the Cards – however welcome – didn’t have the same weight as it once did. And sadly February then had to come to an end, which was bad news for us.
A change in management
Hereford United came to town on 28 February and we were in fifth position. The gap from us to Rushden & Diamonds at the top, however, was now at 11 points. In the time before we got playoffs in the Conference, any genuine hope of getting promoted was now off the table. If it wasn’t, then what came next would make sure we should make peace with falling short once more in our dreams of Football League status.
The next five matches returned five defeats; the Bulls starting the ordeal with a 3-0 triumph at Broadhall Way. Kiddy did a number on us at their gaff, before Welling and Hednesford got the better of us back in SG2. Southport rounded off the five-game losing streak. And right in the smouldering wreckage of our league campaign, Boro’ were searching for a new boss; Hill leaving “by mutual consent” ahead of the visit of Welling.
New gaffers: Easy come, easy go?
Boro’ finally ended the cycle of defeats once we’d come out of the other side of March. April Fool’s Day brought Hayes to our crib and we coasted to victory; Steve Wignall now taking up the manager’s hotseat and seeking to set our fortunes back on track. After all, five defeats in five games took an absolute wrecking ball to our league position. We went into the season’s final few weeks in 11th and now 24 points adrift of table-toppers Kidderminster Harriers.
Wignall’s impact wasn’t totally transformative and it wasn’t immediate. After Hayes, our next three outings ended all square (Yeovil, Forest Green, and – er, Yeovil again). We were then on the wrong end of the result at Telford United. But our new gaffer had us bouncing back after that; winning two successive games to climb back into the top eight. So, was that a sign that Wignall was starting to get the Boro’ ship sailing in the right direction again?
No.
First, we lost at Kettering.
Then, the next turn of events borders on the downright bizarre. For the second time during the 1999-00 Nationwide Conference season, we were on the hunt for a new gaffer. If nothing else, we’re sure Phil Wallace learned a hard lesson. Wignall flounced in order to become the new manager at Doncaster Rovers, apparently having never actually signed a contract while with us. So, we had little option but to put up with it.
And it saw our final game of term (1-1 vs Southport) come under Bob Makin’s guidance.
What happened next?
The 1999-00 Nationwide Conference season, for us, was the perfect example of how a season is a marathon – not a sprint. Six wins from our six opening fixtures did little for us. We clung onto a top 10 finish by the time things were all said and done; losing more than we won and a distant 28 points from champions Kidderminster Harriers. Two of the three sides who were denied promotion during the mid-1990s had now made good on their promotion dreams.
Boro’, meanwhile, were unable to complete that hattrick. In the search for our new manager, Phil Wallace turned to Paul Fairclough. The obvious hope was that unfinished business and all that jazz would see Cloughie inspire us to title glory the following season. Sadly, it didn’t happen like that. Boro’ would actually lose just nine games during the 2000-1 season – only champions Rushden & Diamonds lost fewer. But we drew so many and finished seventh.
Cloughie would end up lasting little more than a season-and-a-half during his second stint in charge. As we came out of the 1999-00 season, Boro’ would have to wait another 10 years to realise their ambitions of Football League status. And it wouldn’t be gained by exploding out of the traps either. Finally, we’d have to wait 22 years to get the red and black kit design back. Well, if Boro’ has taught us nothing else, it’s that good things come to those who wait.
1999-00 Stats…
- Goals For: 67 (60 league and 7 cup)
- Goals Against: 61 (54 league and 7 cup)
- Most Appearances: Chris Taylor, Ryan Kirby, Mark Smith, and Carl Alford (45)
- Top Goalscorer: Carl Alford (26 from 45)
- Biggest attendance: 4,373 vs Rushden & Diamonds, 03 January 2000
- Players Used: 39 (plus two unused subs)
- Points Per Game: 1.36
- Average Attendance: 2,169
Season Details: 1999-00 Nationwide Conference
With thanks to the Stevenage Football Archive