Can We Break Any Records In 2024-5?

It’s all a bit boring being (relatively) comfortable in mid-table. Sure, there could be the small flicker of hope that a playoff push is still possible. And you might still have lingering fears of relegation until the maths stack up. But, in reality, it’s all a lot of shuffling around the midriff of the table with little at stake. So, is there anything up for grabs from the 2024-5 League One season? Well, perhaps one or two Boro’ records will fall by the wayside.

Let’s have a look at what, if any, fresh markers and milestones could be laid…

(For all of the below, we do not include our aborted 2019-20 campaign for obvious reasons).

Team Records

Points in a league season – current: 41

• 107 is our indisputable best points haul; set during the 1990-1 campaign. We can’t, unsurprisingly, beat that in 2024-5.
• 85 is our highest Football League tally, which we CAN still overtake… if we win all 15 of our 15 remaining fixtures. No mean feat, that?
• 42 is our worst-ever Football League points haul, which we recorded in 2013-4. So, this means we still need a further 2 points to avoid that fate.
• 42 is also the amount of points we ended up on at the end of the 1987-8 season. Boro’ were relegated in both years we finished on 42 points, coincidentally.

League wins – current: 11

• Once again, we can’t overtake the record of 34 victories in the 1990-1 season. Our hope of rewriting that page in the history books is long since gone.
• 24 wins is the best we’ve managed in a Football League season (2022-3). Yeah, we need to go some if we’re going to equal that, let alone beat it.
• 11 is our lowest win count (2013-4, 2015-6, and 2021-2) in the Football League. As we are already there, something will have to go badly wrong if we add 2024-5 to that trio.

League defeats – current: 12

• 26 times we were on the wrong end of the result during the 2013-4 campaign; our worst defeat count since 2010. Surely we can’t lose all but one of our remaining fixtures to be on par with that?
• 22 is the next highest number of losses recorded in a single season; coming in both the 1987-8 and 2012-3 campaigns. It’s not going to be a record if we beat that, but still…

Goals for – current: 28

• As we’re currently averaging 0.90 goals per game this season, do you really think we are capable of finding 94 goals in 15 games to equal our best-ever return of 122 (1990-1). It’s an average of 6.3 goals per game. A reminder that, in five February league fixtures so far, 6 is the total we’ve managed – including a 4-1 win over Exeter at the start of the month.
• A bit more attainable, but still probably not, is the 69 goals for scored during the 2011-2 campaign; our Football League high. That would mean us finding another 41 goals for us to break that 13-year record. At a rate of 2.73 goals per game. Ah, so maybe not then…
• Now we’re potentially into the realms of new record-setting here. Our 2020-1 haul of 41 goals is our Football League low. We’re still 13 adrift of that. If we continue at that pace of 0.90 goals per game, we’ll pick up another 13.5 goals between now and the summer.
• We can’t really do any other like-for-like comparison on the lowest amount of goals for – because this is a 46-match season and those before 2006 had fewer matches played. So, the 36 goals managed during the 1987-8 campaign (0.86) is a tally we should beat.

Goals against – current: 30

• It’s still technically possible for us to set a new record for fewest goals conceded in the Football League. We only let in 39 goals during the 2022-3 campaign. That means letting in just 0.5 goals per game between now and the end of the season could set the marker. But we do have Birmingham City to play twice, so…
• Most goals conceded? Why, it’s the 72 we gave up to opposition attacks during our 2013-4 relegation procession. The good news is that we’d have to concede 2.8 goals per game between now and the end of the season to challenge that. The bad news is, well, we do have Birmingham City to play twice. And some relegation-threatened teams…

Anything else?

Well, there is always the chance that we might claim a record victory or defeat between now and the end of the current campaign. The chances of us bagging more than eight in a match are, frankly, laughable. So, please don’t expect us to be scratching out the moniker of British Timken Athletic any time soon. As for record defeats, well, we do have Birmi…

Player Records

Appearances

Not so much records, but certainly milestones still to be reached over the coming 15 fixtures. Luther James-Wildin has already climbed comfortably into the top 10 appearance makers for Boro’. But he has since stalled at 264 due to injury, with Graham Cox (318) next in sight. That’s pretty much a whole campaign still needed if he’s to even break 300.

For other appearance-makers, we’re now looking at those closing in on their double century. Leading that charge is Elliott List (190), who will move up to 17th in the club’s all-time list if he features just nine more times; above Shaun Marshall (198). Jamie Reid is also climbing up the list (182), but he can’t now make 200 this side of the summer.

Goals

The same two names as above could make further inroads into the goalscoring charts for us. BGR has found it hard going this season; crawling to the 50-mark and into the top 10 all-time list. How many times he features in the next 15 is anyone’s guess. But one more goal will take him into joint eight; two into joint seventh; six into joint sixth; and nine into outright fourth.

Gary Crawshaw, Trevor Metcalfe, Anthony Elding, Graham Cox, and Carl Alford – all reachable.

In joint 20th at the moment, Listy could become only the 16th Boro’ player to score 40 goals or more if he can find another five before the end of term. He’s yet to score in 2025, though.

Anything else?

There’s always the chance we might see a new youngest debutant or goalscorer.

Club Records

Most played team

Our upcoming home fixture with Crawley Town will take us to 37 meetings over the years. It’ll draw them level with Forest Green Rovers, who are our third-most played opposition.

Goals scored by team

If we’re able to grab a(nother) goal against the Red Devils, we’ll have only scored more times against Forest Green or Morecambe.

At the other end of the spectrum, one goal in five previous encounters with Blackpool means they sit joint second in our list of fewest goals scored against an opponent; level with the ol’ Irthlingborough Diamonds. We need to score twice against them if we’re to raise them up the extra notch to the three goals we’ve managed to score against Preston NE in six fixtures.

Goals conceded by team

The sheer number of times we’ve played Crawley Town means it’s no surprise we’ve let in a grand total of 43 goals against them (1.19pg). That puts them fifth in a not-too-vaunted list – although they need to score seven at the Lamex to pull level with Morecambe on 50 (1.16pg).