A Detailed Look at Tuesday's Opponents
Tuesday sees us take on Stevenage in League Two action as we look to stop their impressive run of three wins in a row, which has seen them rise up to 10th in the table and just four points off the top seven.Stevenage were formed in 1976 as ‘Stevenage Borough’ following the demise of the Hertfordshire town’s former club, and they quickly made their way up to the National League by the early 1990’s.
They then didn’t gain promotion to the Football League until 2010, though would have in 1996 after winning English Football’s fifth tier had it not been for insufficient ground facilities.
After finally getting themselves into League Two they dropped the ‘Borough’ from their name and then continued to have success, as they made it back-to-back promotions by beating Torquay in the play off final of the 2010/11 season.
The fairytale rise almost continued the following season as well, even though successful manager Graham Westley departed mid-campaign to join Preston, as Stevenage eventually finished 6th in League One - losing narrowly to Sheffield United in the play off semi finals.
They then went on to record an 18th placed finish in the 2012/13 season before finishing bottom in the following campaign, meaning they faced relegation back to League Two after three seasons.
Stevenage almost bounced back after ending up 6th in the League Two table in 2015, but they lost to Southend in the play off semi finals and have struggled since then as last season Teddy Sheringham, and then current manager Darren Sarll, guided the club to 18th.
The Boro have won the FA Trophy on two occasions, in 2007 and 2009, and reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history back in 2011/12 when Tottenham Hotspur went on to beat them 3-1 in a replay at White Heart Lane.
Their recent record against us doesn’t read well for Cheltenham fans, as they’ve won three and drawn one of their last four matches with The Robins, scoring nine goals in the process.
Stevenage’s current playing squad contains the likes of former internationals Jobi McAnuff and Josh McQuoid, and their top scorer so far this season is Matthew Godden on 14 league goals.