For January 20th I'm going back 24 years to 1997 to a time when I lived in Stevenage.
Stevenage Borough as they were then called, had a very strong side at this time, probably better than the majority of sides in the league above. Indeed, the previous season, they had won the Conference (National League) but were denied promotion into the Football League due to ground grading criteria. They had to wait 14 years until 2009/10 for their eventual promotion.
Unusually Borough, then under the management of Paul Fairclough, tended to play their midweek home games on a Monday night. That was perfect for me as it was close to home and tended not to clash with anything else that I might have wanted to attend. This particular game was an FA Trophy 1st Round Replay against Bath City which Borough won 6-1 with a hattrick from Corey Browne in front of 1,344. Jamaican forward Barry Hayles (later to play for host of League clubs including Bristol Rovers, Fulham, Millwall, Plymouth Argyle and Leicester City) also scored for Stevenage that night. As depicted on the programme cover, I did like those unusual striped shirts!
CRB Match No. 1087
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