List of Stevenage F.C. seasons

Stevenage Football Club is an English association football club based in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded in 1976 as Stevenage Borough Football Club following the bankruptcy of the town's former team, Stevenage Athletic.^[1] They assumed senior status and played their first competitive match in the United Counties Football League in August 1980.^[2] They have played their home games at Broadhall Way since the club's formation.

This list details the club's achievements in first-team competitions, and the top goalscorer for each season. Top goalscorers highlighted in yellow were also the highest scorers in the division in which Stevenage competed during that season.

History

In their first season as a senior club, the team won the United Counties League Division One championship, as well as the United Counties League Cup.^[1] In 1984, the club joined Division Two North of the Isthmian League, and in the following season earned promotion to Division One. Two years later, the club was relegated,^[3] before winning the Division Two North title during the 1990–91 season after amassing 107 points.^[3] During the 1993–94 season the club won the Isthmian Premier Division and were promoted to the Football Conference.^[1] Two seasons later, they won the Conference,^[4] but were denied promotion to the Football League due to insufficient ground facilities.^[2] The 1996–97 season saw the club progress to the third round of the FA Cup for the first time.^[5] The following season, Stevenage reached the fourth round, where they were drawn against Premier League club Newcastle United, drawing 1–1 at Broadhall Way,^[6] before losing the replay 2–1 at St James' Park.^[7]

During the 2001–02 season, Stevenage reached the final of the FA Trophy for the first time, losing 2–0 to Yeovil Town at Villa Park.^[8] Two years later, during the 2004–05 season, the club qualified for the play-offs after finishing fifth under the management of Graham Westley,^[9] losing 1–0 in the final to Carlisle United at the Britannia Stadium.^[10] The club reached the FA Trophy final again during the 2006–07 season,^[11] overturning a 2–0 deficit to defeat Kidderminster Harriers 3–2 in front of a record FA Trophy crowd of 53,262 at the newly built Wembley Stadium.^[12] The team returned to the final again two years later and beat York City 2–0.^[13] Stevenage secured promotion to the Football League after winning the Conference Premier during the 2009–10 season.^[14] The team amassed 99 points that season, finishing 11 points clear at the top of the table. Had the club's two victories against Chester City counted, Stevenage would have broken the record for the most points accumulated in a Conference Premier season, recording 105 points.^[15] The club's promotion during the 2009–10 season meant that Stevenage would be competing in League Two for the first time in their history.^[14]

Stevenage finished sixth in their first season in the Football League,^[16] reaching the play-offs,^[17][18] where they defeated Torquay United 1–0 in the final at Old Trafford in May 2011, achieving back-to-back promotions into League One.^[19] During the same season, Stevenage reached the fourth round of the FA Cup, defeating Newcastle United 3–1 at Broadhall Way, before eventually losing to Reading in the following round.^[20][21][22] In the club's first season in League One during the 2011–12 season, the team achieved their highest league finish to date, reaching the play-offs after finishing sixth. They were defeated in the play-off semi-final.^[23][24] Stevenage also reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in their history that season, eventually losing 3–1 to Tottenham Hotspur in a replay at White Hart Lane,^[25] after the original tie had ended in a 0–0 draw at Broadhall Way.^[26] The club was relegated back to League Two during the 2013–14 season. They came close to an immediate return to League One the following year, reaching the play-offs after finishing sixth, but were defeated at the semi-final stage.^[27][28]

The club was in last place in League Two during the 2019–20 season when the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.^[29] Stevenage were initially relegated following an independent disciplinary panel's decision to deduct two points from Macclesfield Town, who had failed to pay their players on six separate occasions during the season.^[30][31] The English Football League successfully appealed the sanctions, meaning Stevenage retained their League Two status.^[32] Stevenage earned promotion to League One after finishing in second place in League Two during the 2022–23 season.^[33]

Cup runs

Stevenage Borough

• Best FA Cup performance: Fourth round (1997–98)^[3]
• Best FA Trophy performance: Champions (2006-07, 2008–09)^[3]
• Best FA Vase performance: Quarter-finals (1985–86)^[3]

Stevenage

• Best FA Cup performance: Fifth round (2011–12)^[34]
• Best EFL Cup performance: Second round (2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17)^[34]
• Best EFL Trophy performance: Semi-finals (2013–14)^[34]

Seasons

Season	League									FA Cup	FA Trophy	Other competitions		Top scorer[A]
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos
1980–81	UCL-1[B] (↑)	32	23	7	2	106	35	53	1st	N/A[C]	N/A[C]	United Counties League Cup	W	Trevor Metcalfe	29
1981–82	UCL-P	36	12	9	15	50	49	33	12th	N/A	N/A			Danny Dance	13
1982–83	UCL-P	34	10	10	14	51	56	30	12th	N/A	N/A	FA Vase	PRER	Ronnie Lear	13
1983–84	UCL-P	36	16	9	11	52	46	41	6th	QR1	N/A	FA Vase	R2	Paddy Butcher	14
1984–85	Isth-2N[D]	38	23	6	9	79	49	75[E]	4th	QR2	N/A	FA Vase	R2	Steve Armsby	30
1985–86	Isth-2N (↑)	38	26	6	6	71	24	84	1st	QR1	N/A	FA Vase	QF	Martin Gittings	33
1986–87	Isth-1	42	12	11	19	61	67	47	16th	QR3	QR2			Ricky Marshall	17
1987–88	Isth-1 (↓)	42	11	9	22	36	64	42	21st	QR1	QR3			Adrian Taylor	9
1988–89	Isth-2N	42	20	13	9	84	55	73	4th	QR2	N/A	FA Vase	PRER	Martin Gittings	24
1989–90	Isth-2N	42	21	16	5	70	31	79	4th	QR1	N/A	FA Vase	R3	Rob McComb	23
1990–91	Isth-2N (↑)	42	34	5	3	122	29	107	1st	QR1	N/A	FA Vase	R1	Jimmy Hughes	32
1991–92	Isth-1 (↑)	40	30	6	4	95	37	96	1st	QR1	QR1			Martin Gittings	44
1992–93	Isth-P	42	18	8	16	62	60	62	7th	QR3	R2			Martin Gittings	34
1993–94	Isth-P (↑)	42	31	4	7	88	39	97	1st	QR4	R1			Martin Gittings	40
1994–95	Conf	42	20	7	15	68	49	67	5th	QR2	R3			Barry Hayles	15
1995–96	Conf	42	27	10	5	101	44	91	1st[F]	R1[G]	QF			Barry Hayles	34 ♦
1996–97	Conf	42	24	10	8	87	53	82	3rd	R3	SF			Barry Hayles	25
1997–98	Conf	42	13	12	17	59	63	51	15th	R4	QF			Gary Crawshaw	16
1998–99	Conf	42	17	17	8	62	45	68	6th	R2	R4			Carl Alford	33
1999–2000	Conf	42	16	9	17	60	54	57	10th	QR4	R3			Carl Alford	26
2000–01	Conf	42	15	18	9	71	61	63	7th	QR4	R5			Neil Illman	17
2001–02	Conf	42	15	10	17	57	60	55	11th	QR4	RU	Football League Trophy	R1S	Jean-Michel Sigere	12
2002–03	Conf	42	14	10	18	61	55	52	12th	R2	R4	Football League Trophy	R2S	Kirk Jackson	8
2003–04	Conf	42	18	9	15	58	52	63	8th	R2	R4	Football League Trophy	R1S	Anthony Elding	19
2004–05	Conf	42	22	6	14	65	52	72	5th[H]	R2	R3	Conference League Cup	SFS	Anthony Elding	22
												Football League Trophy	R1S
2005–06	Conf	42	19	12	11	62	47	69	6th	R2	R1	Football League Trophy	R1S	Darryn Stamp	13
2006–07	Conf	46	20	10	16	76	66	70	8th	R1	W			Steve Morison	34
2007–08	Conf	46	24	7	15	82	55	79	6th	R1	R1	Conference League Cup	R1S	Steve Morison	23
2008–09	Conf	46	23	12	11	73	54	81	5th[I]	R1	W	Conference League Cup	R4S	Steve Morison	32
2009–10	Conf (↑)	44[J]	30	9	5	79	24	99	1st	R1	RU			Yemi Odubade	16
2010–11	L2 (↑)	46	18	15	13	62	45	69	6th[K]	R4	N/A	Football League Cup	R1	Byron Harrison John Mousinho	8
												Football League Trophy	R1S
2011–12	L1	46	18	19	9	69	44	73	6th[L]	R5	N/A	Football League Cup	R1	Chris Beardsley	10
												Football League Trophy	R2S
2012–13	L1	46	15	9	22	47	64	54	18th	R1	N/A	Football League Cup	R2	Lucas Akins	10
												Football League Trophy	R1S
2013–14	L1 (↓)	46	11	9	26	46	72	42	24th	R4	N/A	Football League Cup	R2	François Zoko	16
												Football League Trophy	SFS
2014–15	L2	46	20	12	14	62	54	72	6th[M]	R1	N/A	Football League Cup	R1	Charlie Lee	9
												Football League Trophy	R1S
2015–16	L2	46	11	15	20	52	67	48	18th	R2	N/A	Football League Cup	R1	Chris Whelpdale	9
												Football League Trophy	R2S
2016–17	L2	46	20	7	19	67	63	67	10th	R1	N/A	EFL Cup	R2	Matt Godden	21
												EFL Trophy	R1S
2017–18	L2	46	14	13	19	60	65	55	16th	R3	N/A	EFL Cup	R1	Danny Newton	16
												EFL Trophy	R1S
2018–19	L2	46	20	10	16	59	55	70	10th	R1	N/A	EFL Cup	R1	Kurtis Guthrie	14
												EFL Trophy	R1S
2019–20	L2	36[N]	3	13	20	24	50	22	23rd	R1	N/A	EFL Cup	R1	Charlie Carter	6
												EFL Trophy	QF
2020–21	L2	46	14	18	14	41	41	60	14th	R3	N/A	EFL Cup	R1	Elliott List	11
												EFL Trophy	R1S
2021–22	L2	46	11	14	21	45	68	47	21st	R2	N/A	EFL Cup	R2	Luke Norris	16
												EFL Trophy	R2S
2022–23	L2 (↑)	46	24	13	7	61	39	85	2nd	R4	N/A	EFL Cup	R3	Luke Norris Jamie Reid	14
												EFL Trophy	R16S
2023–24	L1	46	19	14	13	57	46	71	9th	R3	N/A	EFL Cup	R2	Jamie Reid	18
												EFL Trophy	R1S
2024–25	L1	46	15	12	19	42	50	57	14th	R2	N/A	EFL Cup	R1	Dan Kemp	11
												EFL Trophy	QFS
2025–26	L1

Key

Key to colours and symbols:

Champions

Runners-up

Promoted ↑

Relegated ↓

Top league scorer in Stevenage's division ♦

Key to league record: P = Played W = Matches won D = Matches drawn L = Matches lost F = Goals for A = Goals against Pts = Points Pos = Final position

Key to league competitions: Conf = Conference National Isth-1 = Isthmian Division One Isth-2N = Isthmian Division 2 North Isth-P = Isthmian Premier Division L1 = League One L2 = League Two UCL-1 = United Counties League Division One UCL-P = United Counties League Premier Division

Key to cup record: PRER = Preliminary Round QR1 = First Qualifying Round QR3 = Third Qualifying Round QR4 = Fourth Qualifying Round R1 = Round 1 R1S = Round 1 Southern Section R2 = Round 2 R2S = Round 2 Southern Section R3 = Round 3 R4 = Round 4 R4S = Round 4 Southern Section R5 = Round 5 R16S = Round of 16 Southern Section QF = Quarter-finals QFS = Quarter-finals Southern Section SF = Semi-finals SFS = Semi-finals Southern Section RU = Runners-up W = Winners

Footnotes

A. ^ : Includes goals scored in the FA Cup, FA Vase, Football League Trophy, Conference National (including playoffs), Football League (including playoffs), Football League Cup, FA Trophy and Conference League Cup.

B. ^ : Stevenage joined the United Counties League Division One league before the start of the 1980–81 season.

C. ^ : Stevenage did not enter the FA Cup until the 1983–84 season. The club were also ineligible to enter the FA Trophy until the club reached the Isthmian Division One in the 1986–87 season. As a result of the club's relegation back to the Isthmian Division 2 North in 1988, Stevenage were again ineligible to enter the FA Trophy until 1991.

D. ^ : Stevenage joined the Isthmian Division 2 North for the 1984–85 season as a result of a re-structuring of the National League System.

E. ^ : The 1984–85 season saw the introduction of three points for a win. Although this rule came into play for the Football League in 1981, it was not introduced in the Isthmian League until 1984.

F. ^ : After winning the Football Conference in the 1995–96 season, Stevenage were denied promotion to the Football League due to insufficient ground facilities.^[2]

G. ^ : The first time the club reached the FA Cup first round proper.

H. ^ : Lost in the play-off final to Carlisle United 1–0 at the Britannia Stadium.^[10]

I. ^ : Lost in the play-off semi-final to Cambridge United 4–3 on aggregate.^[35][36]

J. ^ : Chester City were expelled from the league on 26 February 2010 and their results were expunged on 8 March.^[37] Therefore, Stevenage's 1–0 and 2–0 victories over them were removed from the records. Consequently, there were 44 Conference Premier fixtures during the 2009–10 season, as opposed to 46.^[38]

K. ^ : Stevenage beat Torquay United 1–0 in the 2010–11 play-off final at Old Trafford, meaning the club were promoted to League One.^[19]

L. ^ : Lost in the play-off semi-final to Sheffield United 1–0 on aggregate. Also highest League finish.^[39][40]

M. ^ : Lost in the play-off semi-final to Southend United 4–2 on aggregate.^[27][28]

N. ^ : The 2019–20 season was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic. EFL clubs voted to end the season with immediate effect on 15 May 2020, with the final league table being determined on a points-per-game basis.^[29]