After we raced through League Two, any notion that our 2011-2 League One campaign would be a struggle were soon to be proved wrong. In a division where there were some pretty big names about the place, it’d be easy to assume we were just happy to make up the numbers. Not so. GW’s men harnessed the momentum that took us to two successive promotions and made it seem as if – heaven forbid – we could do it a third time.
2011-2 League One: The background
Blue Square Premier champions in 2010. League Two playoff winners in 2011. The last time a Boro’ side recorded back-to-back promotions had been in the early 1990s; winning Vauxhall Football League Division Two North in 1991 and a rebranded Diadora League Division One in 1992. Yet, this was a whole new ball game for us. Back then, it was a familiar level of football. Now, however, we’d strayed deep into unchartered territory.
Even halfway through the 2010-1 campaign, the idea of playing League One football seemed far-fetched. Boro’ were scrapping around in the bottom third of the table. But a remarkable run of form during the second part of the season saw us slowly reel in the top seven places; sneaking into the promotion picture on the final day of the season. One year after bidding a goodbye to Tamworth and Histon, we were saying hello to Wolves and Sheffield Wednesday.
A confident, yet understated start
When it comes to opening day fixtures, Boro’ didn’t exactly have a formidable record. So, it’s little surprise that – for the third season on the trot – we opened up with a draw; held to an unassuming goalless draw at home by Exeter City. We’d actually end up drawing three of our first five 2011-2 League One matches – with three points at Bournemouth and a defeat at MK Dons giving us a solid, yet understated return.
August ended and September began; us resisting the haunting cry of Green Day to “wake us up” when the month had ended. Had you dozed off, you’d have missed us beat Rochdale in an entertaining six-goal game at home – and then return home from Oldham after a draw. A first real eye-opener was to follow, however; a first-half blitz three days later laying waste to Sheffield Wednesday and all their perceived prestige. The 5-1 win certainly got us noticed.
2011-2 League One table – 13 September 2011
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 4 | MK Dons | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| 5 | Brentford | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 16 |
| 6 | Stevenage | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 13 |
| 7 | Hartlepool United | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 13 |
| 8 | Preston North End | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 13 |
A poor four… and then we soared
2011-2 League One table – 5 November 2011
… and still the beat goes on
In the league, Christmas came early for Boro’ with victory at home to Tranmere Rovers. A late Lawrie Wilson goal, meanwhile, ensured we finished the calendar year with a 1-0 win at Wycombe Wanderers. And in-between that pair of victories was another massive eye-opener; Boro’ going to Colchester United on Boxing Day and turning in a wonderful performance that ended in a 6-1 win.
2011-2 League One table – 31 December 2011
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 4 | MK Dons | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 47 | 25 | 22 | 43 |
| 5 | Huddersfield Town | 23 | 11 | 10 | 2 | 43 | 23 | 20 | 43 |
| 6 | Stevenage | 23 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 33 | 20 | 13 | 38 |
| 7 | Brentford | 23 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 29 | 26 | 3 | 35 |
| 8 | Carlisle United | 23 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 33 | 35 | -2 | 35 |
End of an era – but not our hopes
Mad to think, looking at the table from the end of 2011, that only the top seven – and Notts County in 10th – had a positive goal difference. That’s by the by, however. Boro’ went into 2012 full of optimism, but had a little reality check in our first game of 2012 with a home defeat against Leyton Orient. We say “reality check” when, in actual fact, it’s more like a blip. Mind you, we were about to experience a profound change.
We got our first win of 2012 immediately after that Orient disappointment; a deflected Darius Charles effort seeing off Reading in the FA Cup (and avenging our defeat to the Royals from the previous season). The problem would be the price that it came at. By now, our secret was very much out. GW was hot managerial property after his work in getting us to where we were. Lo and behold, in came Preston – and out went the boss.
Phil Wallace now had an unenviable task; to find a replacement who could keep Boro’ moving in the same direction. In the interim, it fell to skipper Robbo to lead us – and that he did. Our first game in the post-GW era saw us deliver a 5-1 victory at Rochdale. Next, a late Darius Charles leveller earned us a point at Scunthorpe. Then, in Robbo’s final game in charge, a thrilling home match earned us a 4-2 win over MK Dons.
2011-2 League One table – 24 January 2012
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 4 | Sheffield Wednesday | 27 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 50 | 35 | 15 | 53 |
| 5 | MK Dons | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 51 | 30 | 21 | 47 |
| 6 | Stevenage | 27 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 43 | 25 | 18 | 45 |
| 7 | Carlisle United | 26 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 41 | 39 | 2 | 42 |
| 8 | AFC Bournemouth | 27 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 35 | 34 | 1 | 40 |
Stumbling towards the finish line?
Boro’ turned to Gary Smith as the boss to lead us forward; the Essex-born chap having steered Colorado Rapids to a first-ever MLS Cup championship. He got his honeymoon period too; taking us into FA Cup Round Five for the first time in our history in his first week, before then recording a notable win away to Sheffield Wednesday on Valentine’s Day. And yet it wouldn’t be that easy for Smiffy to keep the promotion flame alight.
We lost our next two league games – including a 2-0 defeat to title favourites Charlton Athletic. From the end of February, however, we’d go on an unbeaten run that lasted a total of nine games. The trouble is we only managed to win one of them. The rest were all draws; two of which – Huddersfield Town and Chesterfield at home – required us to come from two goals down in order to salvage a point.
The start of that unbeaten run coincided with our debut in FA Cup Round Five; pitting our wits against the heavyweight might of Tottenham Hotspur. A goalless draw indoors in the initial tie earned us a prestigious replay down at White Hart Lane. We even had the audacity to take the lead too; Joel Byrom from the penalty spot. In the end, they’d bring their international talent to bear and sent us home with a heroic 3-1 defeat.
2011-2 League One table – 31 March 2012
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 6 | Carlisle United | 39 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 64 |
| 7 | Notts County | 40 | 17 | 9 | 14 | 59 | 54 | 5 | 60 |
| 8 | Stevenage | 39 | 14 | 17 | 8 | 54 | 37 | 17 | 59 |
| 9 | Brentford | 39 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 53 | 46 | 7 | 56 |
| 10 | Colchester United | 40 | 12 | 17 | 11 | 52 | 53 | -1 | 53 |
Not another promotion… surely?
You’ll see from the table (again) at the end of March that negative goal difference was quite the thing during the 2011-2 League One season. By this stage, everyone from 10th down was in the red with their goal difference. Not that it has any substantial bearing on things. Boro’s was healthy enough. And the priority going into April was to get back into the top six. That meant making up five points on Carlisle United with seven to go.
It didn’t start all that well for us in April. A crushing 3-0 defeat at Tranmere Rovers was followed up with a 1-1 draw at home to Preston North End. Next was a trip to Yeovil – a ground at which we had mediocre fortunes. On this occasion, however, things didn’t go badly. In fact, things went rather well all told. Patrick Agyemang even nabbed himself a goal as we ran riot at the relegation-threatened Glovers. Yeovil nil, Boro’ six.
That result was the first of four wins to come from our last five regulation fixtures. The run included crucial home wins at the expense of Carlisle and Brentford – also looking for a playoff place. The odd match out in that five that didn’t end in a victory was a 2-2 draw at Sheffield United; one in which we surrendered a two-goal lead (not important) and played out in front of 30,000 spectators. Quite the scene, right?
2011-2 League One table – 5 May 2012
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 4 | Huddersfield Town | 46 | 21 | 18 | 7 | 79 | 47 | 32 | 81 |
| 5 | MK Dons | 46 | 22 | 14 | 10 | 84 | 47 | 37 | 80 |
| 6 | Stevenage | 46 | 18 | 19 | 9 | 69 | 44 | 25 | 73 |
| 7 | Notts County | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 75 | 63 | 12 | 73 |
| 8 | Carlisle United | 46 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 65 | 66 | -1 | 69 |
What happened next?
If Boro’ were to make it three successive promotions, we’d have to do it the tough way. Our 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane in the penultimate game of the regular campaign did the Blades a right wrong ‘un. It ended their dreams of automatic promotion; sending fierce rivals Sheffield Wednesday up instead. And now we’d face off against them in the semi-final of the playoffs. We can’t imagine they were likely to go easy on us.
The first leg of the semi-final at the Lamex was a bit tepid in its intensity. It seemed as if both sides were content with a draw, which meant that we didn’t get beat – and they had no deficit to overcome. The second leg was as tense, albeit in a different way. And we were in sight of extra time when the hosts found a decisive goal. The Blades would go onto the final (and lose). For us, time to take stock after a whirlwind couple of years.
We lasted another two seasons in League One before relegation in 2014. If you wanted to know what became of Sheffield United, it wouldn’t be until 2017 when they went up.
2011-2 Stats…
- Goals For: 81 (69 league and 12 cup)
- Goals Against: 53 (44 league and 9 cup)
- Most Appearances: Lawrie Wilson, Mark Roberts, and Scott Laird (56)
- Top Goalscorer: Chris Beardsley (10 from 40)
- Biggest attendance: 35,757 vs Tottenham Hotspur, 07 March 2012
- Players Used: 29 (plus one unused sub)
- Points Per Game: 1.59
- Average Attendance: 3,559
Season Details: 2011-2 League One
With thanks to the Stevenage Football Archive
