August After a pre-season campaign that took in fixtures against four Premiership outfits, one Division 3 team and three feeder-league sides, Boro' went into the new season with a degree of confidence having signed Simon Travis, Neil Smith & Graeme Tomlinson and the advent of a new playoff system to decide a second promotion place. Boro' opened their league account by pulling back a 2-0 deficit at home to Northwich, and claimed a point courtesy of the Sigere/Jackson partnership that Wayne Turner was pinning his hopes on. A gritty win at Farnborough was followed by a dismal collapse at Nuneaton, as Boro' went down 3-0 to a Mark Quayle hat-trick. Another gritty 1-0 win saw off new boys Gravesend at Broadhall Way before a tactically inept side went down 3-1 at Morecambe. Meanwhile, DJ Campbell was looking to find a move away from the club, with rumours linking him to Doc Martens side Dover Athletic. September Boro' picked up only 2 points from the first 3 games in September, before recording only their third win in nine games with a 3-0 victory at Forest Green. Setbacks at home to Hereford and Barnet preceded a massive 5-1 win at Kingfield, Woking, with new signing Charlie MacDonald grabbing a hat-trick. Boro' also brought in Michael Blackwood, a left sided player with league experience, whilst Turner paved the way for Clarke, Houghton, Sturgess and DJ Campbell by making all available for transfer. October October saw Boro' seriously struggle, with a goalless draw at Doncaster straddled by defeats to 10 men Halifax, Leigh RMI and Burton. Neil Smith was allowed to leave to join Woking, who parted company with Geoff Chapple, while Boro' enlisted the loan services of young QPR frontman Richard Pacquette. Away from league action, Boro' made it through to the First Round Proper of the FA Cup with a 2-1 win at Grays, which followed a 2-1 home win against Division 3 strugglers Swansea in the LDV Trophy. But worries were building over the league situation, where Boro' had slipped to 18th with only 4 wins from 16 games. November November was a real sickener for Boro' as they claimed only 1 point from the 12 on offer. Finishing with 9 men twice (Southport and Halifax away) certainly didn't help though. Boro' lost 3 games by 1 goal, but claimed a point at home to high-flying Scarborough. This was only the second point won Broadhall Way since 26th August. Returns to cup action saw a big derby in the LDV, and a 7-goal thriller at home to Luton, Boro' sadly went down 4-3 largely due to a Brkovic hat-trick. In the FA Cup Boro' earned a trip to Division 3 side Darlington by defeating Hastings by a single goal at home. Boro' made a swoop to sign defender Gary MacDonald on loan from Peterborough, while top scorer Kirk Jackson departing to join league leaders Yeovil. Jean-Michel Sigere also looked likely to leave after being placed on the transfer list at his own request, and former favourite Adrian Clarke ended his horror season by joining Margate. Boro' dropped into the relegation zone for the first time since November 1994. December The month began with cup disappointment as a 4-1 loss at Feethams ended Boro's FA Cup hopes. This was followed up with 3 defeats on the bounce against Margate, Yeovil & Kettering. The Boxing Day defeat at Rockingham Road saw Boro' sink to bottom place, which was the final straw for the Boro' Chairman and his board, who sacked Turner immediately. During the month Richard Scott had departed to Peterborough, while Justin Richards and Leon Bell were drafted in, alongside new coach David Preece. However, Preece left along with Turner, and John Dreyer was asked to cover as Caretaker Manager at Boro' until a suitable successor could be found. The players' response to Dreyers installation was a whopping 5-0 home win against Farnborough, with Justin Richards grabbing a hat-trick as Boro' immediately bounced back off the bottom of the table. Farnborough manager Graham Westley later described it as his "worst ever moment in football management", but did it give him a taste for a club with greater potential? January The semi-revival under Dreyer continued as a draw at Northwich was followed by a Trophy win over Oxford City and a 3-1 league victory at home to Nuneaton. Justin Richards extended his loan spell while Matt Fisher was allowed to depart. However, as rumours began to mount as to the new Boro' manager, Boro' went down 2-1 at Gravesend. Jan Molby and Steve Evans both threw their names into the ring, but eventually Graham Westley was named as the new boss, only 3 days after the side he owned, Farnborough, went out in the FA Cup 4th Round against Arsenal at Highbury. February John Dreyer managed his final Stevenage game at Tamworth in the Trophy where Boro' went down 3-0, but events on the pitch were certainly at the back of the mind, as rumours spread that Westley would be looking to transfer as many as 10 of his former employees at Farnborough to Broadhall Way. Graham Westley's first game in charge saw him offer debuts to 8 new players at home to Morecambe, although it was a player he inherited, Justin Richards, that got Boro's goal in a 1-1 draw. The only other game in the month saw an agonising 98th minute equaliser hold Boro' to a 2-2 draw at Hereford. On that occasion 2 new stars did get their names on the scoresheet - Barry Laker and Danny Carroll. By the end of the month Westley had signed his eleventh new player, but Boro' were still 21st in the Conference - 5 points adrift of safety with just 13 games remaining. March March 2003 will be a month long remembered among Stevenage fans. The initial 2 games saw a draw with on-form Forest Green, followed by a defeat at Dagenham despite having taken a 2 goal first half lead. Daggers though, were in the midst of an eleven game run that saw them claim all 33 points on offer! Boro' then secured a late victory at Underhill with 2 goals in the last 10 minutes from Dino Maamria, before a tense home match with rivals Woking saw a 1-1 stalemate in front of over 2,800. But then consecutive wins over Scarborough, Kettering and Dagenham lifted Boro' out of the drop zone for the first time since October. The highlight was the 2-0 win over a strong Dagenham side, who were set to make the playoffs but were made to look very ordinary by a classy Boro' performance. April An extension of that great run saw Boro' win 3 more games in a row, over Leigh, Telford and Burton. A last minute goal at the Bucks Head was Anthony Elding's 6th in the previous 4 games, and he'd scored in each of them. This ended an 8 game run that saw Boro' claim all but 2 points from an available 24, and ensure Boro's safety, all bar a goal-difference miracle. Narrow defeats against playoff sides Doncaster and Chester deflated Boro' slightly, and gave an indication that while Boro' had clearly come a long way, they weren't contenders for next years title just yet. The season ended with a showboating 3-0 victory over Southport who ended up relegated on the final day, having not sat in a relegation place for the whole of the season to that point. Graham Westley had signed 13 players in 3 months which effectively ensured Boro's status as a Conference side for another year. They'll go into the next season as one of the strongest contestants for a playoff place, but the entire club is still aware that further progress wil be required before that is assured.