Boro’ boss Alex Revell made Dan Kemp his second signing of summer 2024; the attacking midfielder back for a second spell with us. Much had admittedly changed at the Lamex between Kemp’s time at the club. When he first arrived in the January 2020 transfer window, we were in a right mess. Graham Westley was the boss in charge at the time; bringing in the “diminutive attacking midfielder or winger” in a bid to save our bacon at the foot of League Two. Fast forward to the summer of 2024, however, and both club and player had kicked on.
We’d obviously made our way up towards the top end of League One. As for Kemp, he came to us off the back of a very good season in League Two; picking up the Swindon Town Player of the Season gong – despite returning to parent club MK Dons four months before the campaign closed. Revs said of his capture, his second of the summer: “Dan is a player we specifically targeted to add to the group we have. He has been prolific whilst on loan in League Two. We’re delighted to welcome him back to Stevenage FC.”
Dan Kemp: Before Boro’
At the time Kemp first came to the club, he was with West Ham United; catching the eye early doors. So we imagine we had to see off at least some competition to land him. After moving across the smoke from Chelsea in 2015, he’d worked his way up the Hammers ladder. And by the time he came to us, he was in fine Premier League 2 form; bagging eight in 15 outings, with a couple more tacked onto his 2019-20 tally thanks to goals in the Leasing.com Trophy. He was part of the Hammers’ U21 side that lifted the 2016 Premier League Cup too.
The second time that Kemp arrived at the Lamex, there was much more experience under the belt. He moved to Leyton Orient after leaving the Hammers for good in January 2021, but spent one year out of his two-and-a-half-year contract there before joining MK Dons. His time at stadium:MK didn’t quite yield a regular run of first team action and, in January 2023, the midfielder went north to Hartlepool United on loan. After success there, he moved to Swindon at the start of the 2023-4 campaign and more plaudits followed – together with 16 goals and eight assists in 27 outings.
In addition to his club honours, Kemp turned out at both England U19 and U20 levels.