Sam McMahon

Sam signed for Stevenage in 1999 from Cambridge and made his debut in the Stevenage midfield in the 1-0 win away at Altrincham in the same season. He proved a big hit with the fans with both his creative and combative displays in the heart of the midfield.

His ability to put his foot on the ball and pick out a pass was something that nobody had seen at Stevenage in a long time and the fans loved it. Not only was his vision one of his main attributes but also his tough tackling and ‘never-say-die’ attitude showing how much he cared for the club.

Countless times on the terraces I have heard people commenting on how he would die for the club purely because he was a 100% player. He never gave less and this ultimately led to him holding the captaincy he much deserved.

Unfortunately Sam picked up two major injuries in his time with us; the second ultimately led to him being shown the door with a settlement to his contract. Tearing the cruciate ligament in his left knee away at Hereford meant that Sam was faced with a lengthy injury which only saw him come back into first team contention at the back end of the of the 2002/03 season.

Many people then questioned whether he would be good enough to play first team football again at Stevenage. Sam managed to prove all his critics in those few games with many storming displays in the centre of the field helping Stevenage to stay up and playing some of the best that many had ever seen him play in red and white.

This dedication and tough tackling led to his downfall again when he repeated the same injury on his right knee which forced him out of first team contention until November 2003 at the earliest. Fans were already talking of his return to the team when Graham Westley shocked everyone when he swiped his axe through the team and released Sam along with Forinton, Marcelle and Langston.

The departure of Sam McMahon in dubious circumstances where no-one really knows what happened has a left a sour taste in many fans mouth’s, including my own and still has many wondering exactly what went on between Sammy and GW, but I guess we’ll never know.

The official “report” told us nothing about why he had been released and it wasn’t even deemed worthy of a page to itself and fans were told officially that he had left in an ‘aside’ at the bottom of another story.

This only served to disappoint fans further in the clubs ability to show respect to Sam McMahon who was, after all, the clubs longest serving player. God bless ya Sam, you won’t be forgotten by the fans. You’re a legend and you’ll go down in history with the others who’ve served the club as well as you did.

The fans loved you and always will do. One of them even took a £2 coin in the head for you as we braved the Doncaster apes for your collection!!

Author: Thora