Opening Day Fixtures: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Now we know the opening day fixtures for the 2023-4 season, how will this year’s rank among Boro’s previous curtain-raisers? Of all the teams to face, Northampton Town would probably be our 24th choice out of 23. And to be away too? It’s nothing (much) personal against the Cobblers. It’s more that our reward for promotion is to start against a team we’ve spent two years in League Two with. Oh, and the elephant in the room that is our dreadful record against them. But does that last nugget of info mean we’ll be off to a duff start in 2023.

Look, there’s no (other) reason for us to start the 2023-4 League One campaign with fear. It’s a blank canvas. Admittedly, the same is true for both us and the Cobblers. We just made an easier job of getting promoted by the end of the 2022-3 season. Apart from that, how much does a good opening day result matter in the grand scheme of things? Is it important to hit the ground running – or is the crucial aspect in how you finish? Maybe it’s just a case of not having those Saturday 5pm blues a mere hour-and-a-half into a brand-new campaign.

How well do we start a season?

So, that’s the $64,000 question we’ll adjust for inflation in due course. The 2023-4 season is the 44th since we first competed in senior competition. This means, for the purpose of this question, we don’t count the four formative campaigns between 1976-7 and 1979-80. It also helps because we’re not 100% sure we know the opening day fixtures from those seasons yet. Anyway, it gives us 43 past season curtain-raisers to compare against…

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Total:	43	17	13	13	67	56	64
Home:	26	12	9	5	46	28	45
Away:	17	5	4	8	21	28	19
Football League:	13	3	6	4	17	19	15

Overall, then, we’re more likely to come away from a season opener with something to show for it. Boro’ have a win rate of 40% from those 43 outings, which only increases to 46% when looking at home games alone – something irrelevant for our visit to the Cobblers. If we want something to look positively on, it’s that nine out of our 17 away days (53%) ended in victory or stalemate. Unsurprisingly, however, our fortunes on the road aren’t so strong.

Sending us up to Sixfields on 5 August 2023 isn’t out of the ordinary for recent years – but it does buck a wider trend for us in the Football League. Since lifting the Blue Square Premier trophy in 2010, Boro’ have opened up at home 10 times out of 13 (77%). Our three away days have come in the last four seasons (2019, 2020, and 2022). And we’ve had to wait for two of our three wins on day one of a Football League campaign until the last two (2021, 2022).

Have we started against the Cobblers before?

A nice and easy one – no. But history shows it’s not unusual for us to meet either Altrincham or Barrow on the first day. We’ve also played Tranmere a couple of times on day one in more recent times. Obviously, none of those clubs are currently in League One…

When did we do best in opening day fixtures?

Our rise into the Football League coincides with a downturn in our fortunes on day one of a season. It’s probably no surprise, to be honest. After all, better teams mean harder matches and our record of one win from 10 during the 2010s highlights that. Mind you, we did record five draws in that decade – so it wasn’t all doom and gloom. And our return for that decade is only marginally worse than the 2000s, where we won two and drew four from 10 openers.

The 1990s were undoubtedly strong for us when it comes to season curtain-raisers. “No shit”, you might shout; it being the decade in which Boro’ soared up the divisions and did so with real purpose and swagger. Out of 10 opening day fixtures during the 90s, we won five – and all were to nil. Two were draws. That’s a total of 17 points. But it still comes up short of what we achieved during the 1980s – six wins and a draw returning 19 points from day one.

Opening day fixtures: The good…

So, with 17 wins from 43 curtain-raisers in years gone by, which ones stand out as being the most iconic? And were they the start of something special – or simply raising our hopes?

• 1980 – Stevenage Borough 3-1 ON Chenecks: We start life as a United Counties League side with a solid win; the first of many en route to a double-winning campaign.
• 1984 – Cheshunt 1-3 Stevenage Borough: Our first season opener on the road and our first in the Isthmian League; Boro’ making a confident step up to a higher level.
• 1992 – Stevenage Borough 4-1 Bognor Regis Town: Smudger’s four goals on debut puts us on the path to a confident first outing in the Diadora League Premier Division.
• 1994 – Stafford Rangers 0-3 Stevenage Borough: Into the GM Vauxhall Conference and a huge statement of intent made on day one; sweeping our hosts aside with aplomb.
• 1996 – Stevenage Borough 6-0 Halifax Town: Our title defence started in style with a big home win against the Shaymen. But we’d ultimately fall just short come May.
• 1999 – Altrincham 0-1 Stevenage Borough: The first of what would be six straight wins at the top of the 1999-00 season. But it counted for little as our form went south.

Opening day fixtures: The bad…

Losing is part and parcel of the game. So, we ain’t all that whingey about dropping points on day one. But there are a handful of disappointing day one defeats that stick in the mind.

• 1988 – Harlow Town 3-1 Stevenage Borough: After suffering a first-ever relegation, our return to Division Two North got off to the worst possible start against the Hawks.
• 1997 – Yeovil Town 2-1 Stevenage Borough: Not able to retain our Conference crown in 1997, this defeat was the start of a period of transition and a tricky 1997-8 campaign.
• 2006 – Altrincham 2-1 Stevenage Borough: Huge optimism greeted the arrival of Mark Stimson as boss in summer 2006. But his opening game proved to be no honeymoon.
• 2015 – Stevenage 0-2 Notts County: Here’s another new gaffer failing to start well; this time, the ill-fated Teddy Sheringham era starting much as it would go onto continue.

Opening day fixtures: The ugly…

Bad is bad, there ain’t no disputing it. But ‘bad’ – on one level – is getting the hump for the rest of the weekend. And then there’s ‘bad’ that’s so bad it’s proper tails-between-the-legs stuff. Luckily, a stinker on day one won’t necessarily mark our card for the season to come.

• 1991 – Yeading 4-0 Stevenage Borough: Boro’s return to Isthmian League Division One got off to the worst possible start. Yet, we then went on to win the title that season…
• 2004 – Dagenham & Redbridge 3-1 Stevenage Borough: GW’s decision not to put a sub keeper on the bench backfires; midfielder Ritchie Hanlon making his Boro’ debut as a stand-in for injured Andy Woodman. We’d go onto make the playoffs that year though.
• 2008 – Wrexham 5-0 Stevenage Borough: Moro’ sees red against Hollywood’s darlings, with GW suffering a humiliating return as boss. And yet we still made the playoffs…
• 2019 – Salford City 2-0 Stevenage: The 2019-20 season started in a cloud of mediocrity live on Sky at the Peninsula; setting out on what should’ve been a path to relegation.

What to expect from 2023’s opener?

So, will our jaunt to Northampton Town count as one of our good, bad, or ugly opening day fixtures? Or perhaps it’ll slip down the cracks; a modest win, plucky defeat, or dull draw? It’s just over a month until we’ll find out what the craic is. And, indeed, whether Boro’ can begin our latest League One odyssey on the front or back foot. Well, we’re on for three-in-a-row if we get it right. Yet, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for it to go wrong.

Maybe the takeaway is that our opener doesn’t have to define our season. We could win very handsomely and still languish in the lower reaches of the table. We could fall to defeat and still storm to promotion. Or we could earn a point and be none the wiser. We have won titles after starting lethargically, while getting off to a stormer doesn’t always put us in the box seat. Either way, we can all agree on one thing – why did it have to be the bleedin’ Cobblers?

Main photo: Jim Steele/Stevenage FC