Notes From History: 2025-26 Playoff Push

Oh look, we’ve stumbled into creating a new series of articles. So, what are we doing here? Well, Boro’ have two matches left in the League One season and the playoffs are enticingly dangling in front of us like a carrot on a stick. Right now, our 2025-26 playoff push is still in our hands. But, when we were in the hunt with two or three to play in years gone by, was it good news or bad? If we were in, did we stay in. Did we fare better when we were out until the last? That’s what this is all about. And why we’ve called it ‘Notes From History’.

Like we’re Bill Bryson or something.

2004-05 Nationwide Conference

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
4	Morecambe	39	18	12	9	65	48	17	66
5	Aldershot Town	39	19	9	11	61	48	13	66
6	Woking	39	17	13	9	54	40	14	64
7	Halifax Town	39	18	9	12	69	51	18	63
8	Accrington Stanley	39	18	9	12	68	53	15	63
9	Stevenage Borough	39	19	6	14	59	51	8	63
10	Exeter City	39	17	11	11	65	50	15	62

With beautiful symmetry, all but four teams in the Nationwide Conference were on 39 games played as we went into our third-last fixture in 2004-05 – a home match against Gravesend & Northfleet. And look at how tight the playoff race was! Carlisle and Hereford were only three more points on from the rest of the pack in second and third respectively. Boro’ had a tough double whammy of an inferior goal difference and a three-point gap to overcome.

But we did it.

A 2-0 win against the Fleet was followed up by a crucial 2-1 win away to Crawley on Tuesday 19 April. Going into the final game at home to Leigh RMI, we were now one point behind the playoff places; Morecambe and Aldershot Town both on 70 points. It’s never nice to need an enormous favour from results elsewhere – but Tamworth holding the Shrimps to a draw was the invitation we needed. And victory against the Railwaymen did the job.

3 games left: 3 points, 4 places outside of the playoffs

Made the playoffs? Yes

2005-06 Nationwide Conference

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
4	Halifax Town	39	20	11	8	51	36	15	71
5	Morecambe	40	20	8	12	63	40	23	68
6	Stevenage Borough	40	19	11	10	61	44	17	68
7	York City	39	17	11	12	61	44	17	62

For the second year on the spin, we were on the outside looking in as we went into the final couple of games of the 2005-06 Nationwide Conference campaign. Again, we were vying with Morecambe to be at that end of season party. But it was MUCH tighter. In fact, we were level on points – but needed a six-goal swing. So, our first job was to overcome York City indoors; the Minstermen themselves still mathematically in the hunt.

The Shrimps went and beat Gravesend & Northfleet (who we beat at a similar stage the year before). That ended York’s hopes of the playoffs. But not before the Minstermen messed up our chances by claiming a draw that did nobody any favours. So, it took us to the final game where we needed a win and Morecambe to lose. That… didn’t happen. We fluffed our lines in the last game to be played at The (Old) Lawn, while the Shrimps won at Grays Athletic.

It was also the last match of the GW Mk I era.

2 games left: 0 points, 1 places outside of the playoffs

Made the playoffs? No

2007-08 Blue Square Premier

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
3	Burton Albion	44	23	11	12	74	48	26	80
4	Cambridge United	44	23	11	12	64	41	23	80
5	Exeter City	44	21	16	7	75	53	22	79
6	Stevenage Borough	44	23	7	14	79	52	27	76
7	Histon	45	20	11	14	74	65	9	71

The latter stages of the 2007-08 Blue Square Premier campaign is a lesson in wheels coming off something. With four fixtures to go, we were in third position and had a four-point buffer from the playoff chasers. Two games later, we’d ballsed it right up and were now playing the dreaded catch-up. Dino Maamria brought Northwich Victoria to town for a match we just had to win to have a sniff at the playoffs.

Instead, the Vics claimed victory as the Peter Taylor era spiralled to an ignominious end. We could be fair to him and say that our run of matches immediately before that was HARD. The four games before the Vics’ visit saw us play Exeter (H), Torquay (H), and Burton (A). Now, the defence of EEMPT (DWAH) ends there. We lost all three of those fixtures, which did enormous harm to our chances. A final day win at Halifax Town was irrelevant.

2 games left: 3 points, 1 places outside of the playoffs

Made the playoffs? No

2008-09 Blue Square Premier

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
3	Histon	44	22	13	9	74	45	29	79
4	Torquay United	44	22	13	9	69	45	24	79
5	Kidderminster Harriers	44	23	10	11	68	44	24	79
6	Stevenage Borough	44	22	12	10	69	51	18	78
7	Oxford United	45	24	10	11	71	49	22	77

Lookie here – another season in which Boro’ came into the dying stages of the season with a wee bit of work to do. The Conference wasn’t bad for tight playoff chases at this time, was it? Title races? Less so. Anyway, it turned out our penultimate game of the 2008-09 Blue Square Premier season would be a biggie. Kidderminster Harriers came to town and it was a winner-takes-all clash. Well, it wouldn’t have quite been the death knell for the loser. But…

We ran out 3-1 winners and that was significant because it meant we went into the final day with matters in our own hand. Mind you, we did our best to fluff our lines right at the death; defeat at Mansfield Town could have been disastrous. Luckily, both Kiddy and Oxford lost on that final afternoon too. It meant we set up a tantalising playoff encounter with Cambridge – and the less said about that, the better.

2 games left: 1 points, 1 places outside of the playoffs

Made the playoffs? Yes

2010-11 npower League Two

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
5	Torquay United	45	17	18	10	73	50	23	69
6	Accrington Stanley	44	17	18	9	69	53	16	69
7	Stevenage	44	18	14	12	59	40	19	68
8	Gillingham	44	17	17	10	64	50	14	68

We ultimately didn’t need the playoffs to exit the Conference and reach the promised lands of the Football League. Our maiden campaign in League Two saw our momentum really pick up after 2010 became 2011. Indeed, we got to that point with two to go in the 2010-11 season where we’d gatecrashed the top seven. Thanks to our superior goal difference(!), Rotherham United and Port Vale – both six points behind – needed a mathematical miracle to swap in.

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So, it left us and Gillingam to battle it out for the final place. Our hopes were put at risk with defeat in our penultimate fixture; a 2-0 defeat at Northampton only proved not to be a total disaster because the Gills lost indoors against Macclesfield Town. Neither side could find an important win on the last day either. We drew 3-3 with Bury – but this ended up being plenty when the Gills went to champions-elect Chesterfield and left empty-handed.

2 games left: 0 points, 1 places inside the playoffs

Made the playoffs? Yes

2011-12 npower League One

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
6	Stevenage	44	17	18	9	64	42	22	69
7	Notts County	44	19	10	15	67	59	8	67
8	Carlisle United	44	17	15	12	60	63	-3	66
9	Brentford	44	17	13	14	59	48	11	64

An even more remarkable campaign saw Boro’ come into the final two games of the 2011-12 League One season with playoff destiny in their hands. We’d only lost nine times during the season – as good as Sheffield Wednesday (3rd) and MK Dons (4th), and only bettered by the leaders Charlton Athletic (five losses) and Huddersfield Town in 5th (seven defeats). We also had nine draws in 12 games from the end of February to keep grinding out the points.

There was just one place up for grabs; Boro’ eight points behind 5th position with six points left to play. Notts County were breathing down our necks, while Carlisle and Brentford were still in with a shout. An impressive 2-2 draw at Sheffield United – destroying their automatic promotion hopes – kept us in the box seat, albeit on goal difference as County drew level on points with us. They’d need a 13-goal swing on the final day to go above us.

We removed that very slim possibility by beating Bury 3-0 to confirm our place.

2 games left: 2 points, 1 places inside of the playoffs

Made the playoffs? Yes

2014-15 Sky Bet League Two

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
6	Stevenage	44	19	12	13	61	52	9	69
7	Plymouth Argyle	44	18	11	15	50	35	15	65
8	Luton Town	44	18	11	15	52	43	9	65

The last time we made the playoffs in any division was the 2014-15 League Two season. Boro’ were trying to regain League One status at the first attempt. And we weren’t doing too badly either. Although we are kinda distracted by the eerie similarities in the table after 44 games that season to our current situation. The difference this time is that 7th isn’t good enough to squeeze into the League One playoffs, whereas it was/is in League Two.

2014-15 is arguably the most comfortable we’ve ever been in a playoff chase with six points left on the table. Both teams immediately below us would need to win both their remaining fixtures – and one of them was already going to make then playoffs anyway. It’d also require us to lose both games. That went out the window when we beat Carlisle at home on 25 April 2015. So, it was almost goading the Hatters to lose to them on the final day.

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2 games left: 4 points, 2 places inside the playoffs

Made the playoffs? Yes

Main Photo: Matt Ranson