Stevenage FC v Barrow AFC by Hashtag Digital Media

INTERACTIVE DIGITAL PROGRAMME 2020/21

RE K HIFE CLBUIC OLLOW Y YOUR TO ASS! MATCH P EROE H K C I L C BUY YOUR IFOLL W TO ASS! P H C T A M

v XXXXXXXXXXX v BARROW AFC Tuesday, Saturday, December March 2927 2020 2021| |Kick-Off: Kick-Off:5.00pm 3.00pm

ALEX REVELL

lex Revell gives Boro fans an insight into the first team with his digital programme notes.

“WE HAVE TO RAISE OUR LEVELS HIGHER THAN SATURDAY TO MAKE SURE WE GET A RESULT TODAY”

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All photos by Jim Steele unless otherwise stated

THE MANAGER

INTERACTIVE DIGITAL PROGRAMME

UNITED

V Barrow AFC

SAT NOV 14 2020 | Kick-Off: 3.00pm

SATURDAY 22 AUGUST 2020

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THE CHAIRMAN

PHIL WALLACE

ood afternoon and welcome to the players, and officials of Barrow AFC. It’s that time of year where we can (thankfully) start to cautiously plan for next season. What will the squad look like? Who will we keep and who will go? What new players can we bring in to make us better? What is the playing budget for next season? Etc etc. This time last year we couldn’t do any of that, since we were in a relegation position and had no idea what was going to happen. As the months went on in 2020, our situation got worse and we were unable to put any recruitment in place as we had to plan for both survival and relegation. What a difference a year makes! Now the Club feels vibrant. The place is buzzing and we have our soul back! It’s great to see so many smiling faces in the squad and office as we approach April. That warm feeling has been well earned on the pitch – this is not a relegation squad, it’s not even a mid table squad. It’s a play off challenging squad that we want to improve upon and make into a league winning squad. That we are a play off standard squad is not an opinion – it’s a matter of fact. Over the last 25 games we’re in 7th place in the league. Over the last 10 games we’re 4th. If we’d not made a mess of our first 12 games we’d be pushing for automatic promotion now and that’s where our minds are at. This is a remarkable achievement from Revs and our management team. We put our squad into EFL shape in the January window and haven’t looked back. Great business from all involved. Financially, we’re not sure we can predict the rest of 2021 with any confidence. We need to see how a few things pan out before we commit to our 21/22 budget - furlough will end, which will present challenges - and our income will be very much influenced by how quickly our off-field activities come back and the level of support when fans can return. But we’ve worked hard to get some income

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generating activities back early – not least of which are the open air events here in May which Alex Tunbridge has worked hard to secure. All in all, we’ve never lost sight of where we want to be. We’ve backed management and players that we believed in and will be introducing exciting events through the summer with, hopefully, some great pre season games with crowds back. Our opponents today are enjoying their first season in the EFL and have had a great run recently. We were all deeply saddened to hear the news of Lewis Hardcastle’s early retirement during the week and I would like to pass on mine and the club’s thoughts and best wishes to him. It should be a great game, so I hope you can watch us on iFollow and keep the faith – it won’t be long until we’re all back together at The Lamex!

STEVENAGE FC

LATEST NEWS WATCH SATURDAY’S GAME LIVE FROM HOME Stay safe and support Stevenage from home this weekend as Saturday’s 3pm kick-off against Barrow AFC is available to watch with an iFollow Match Pass. Match Passes cost just £10 and are available to buy now. To do so, click here and select the Barrow fixture. If you already have an iFollow account, sign in using your email address and password. If not, create a free account by clicking ‘Register Now’, completing the form and clicking ‘Create Account’ at the bottom. PLUS, don’t miss the Live at the Lamex Pre-Match show which will air on the club’s YouTube channel from 2:30pm with special guest Lucy Webster from the Stevenage FC Women’s Team.

VACANCY: FOUNDATION FINANCE & ADMIN MANAGER Stevenage FC Foundation are looking to recruit a Finance & Admin Manager to join their team. The successful applicant will work closely to be

responsible for providing an effective financial management process to the charity, as well as overseeing in house administration to ensure the highest level of corporate governance. This role includes being responsible for all financial processes, budgeting, forecasting and reporting for the charity. As well as providing support to the CEO with wider corporate governance, including maintaining employee records, annual policy and procedure reviews and negotiating contracts and rates with suppliers. The ideal candidate will be professional, experienced and hard-working, playing a key role in the day to day management and organisation of the charity. For further information and details of the role, please click here to read the full job pack. Closing date for applications is Thursday 1st April 2021. To apply for this role, please send your CV and a cover letter to Joe Goude at foundation@ stevenagefc.com

Stevenage FC v Barrow AFC

ACADEMY REOPENS ON MONDAY Stevenage Football Club is pleased to announce that our home of Academy football, Shephalbury Sports Academy will reopen its doors to the public on Monday 29th March 2021 following the Government’s COVID-19 Restrictions Exit roadmap.

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Easter Soccer Camps are back, and available to book now. Also, both 4G Pitch Hire and Junior Football Coaching will be returning, and now will be available to book online from Friday. For more information, please visit www.SFCAcademy.co.uk, call 01438 368068 or email reception@sfcacademy. co.uk.

DELIVER A MORE SECURE TOMORROW. www.mbdacareers.co.uk

MATCH

ACTION 3 STEVENAGE

CARLISLE

PETT 23’, NORRIS 60’, READ 71’

MCDONALD 18’ ■ DICKENSON 55’

Stevenage made it nine games unbeaten and three wins in a row at The Lamex Stadium last Saturday, with a 3-1 win over Carlisle. Tom Pett, Luke Norris and Arthur Read all got on the scoresheet in a dominant display by Alex Revell’s men.

67% 33% POSSESSION

6 SHOTS

1 SHOTS ON TARGET

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3 CORNERS

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GUESS THE BADGE Can you work out the club badge of another team in League 2?

WHO’S THE PLAYER? Can you guess the player in disguise?

GUESS THE BADGE Bradford City

ANSWERS:

WHO’S THE PLAYER Luis Fernandez

INTERACTIVE BORO QUIZ! Welcome to our interactive quiz, it’s an international week of football so five tough World Cup posers for you.

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FROM THE

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Stevenage FC v Barrow AFC

SPONSOR YOUR FAVOURITE PLAYER...

For sponsorship enquiries email alfied@stevenagefc.com

14 Jamie Fielding SPONSORED BY

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SPONSORED BY

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16 Arthur Iontton

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CHRIS LINES

FOOTBALL FRIENDS IN THIS NEW FEATURE, WE ASK THE PLAYERS TO DISH THE DIRT est ON THEIR FELLOW STEVENAGE TEAMMATES… Loud Smartest

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STEVENAGE FC

FOUNDATION

tevenage FC Foundation are delighted to publish their 2019/20 Impact Report to showcase the charity’s achievements in what was a challenging year for so many. The Report details the work that has been carried out in Stevenage and surrounding towns during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the six months prior during typical times. During the whole year, the Foundation has engaged with 4,671 local residents with 128,596 engagement hours through its 28

projects, with the Charity interacting with over 2,850 people every single week. As highlighted on the One Year Anniversary of the Coronavirus Community Careline, the Foundation and Football Club stood shoulder-to-shoulder to meet the needs of our local community from March onwards. Supporting over 70s at risk of isolation, staff at Lister Hospital and working in partnership with other indispensable local organisations in the town, the Careline did its utmost to support the local community with its response to the pandemic.

Stevenage FC v Barrow AFC

Click here to view Stevenage FC Foundation’s Impact Report 2019/2020

The Foundation’s CEO, Joe Goude said “It is very hard to summarise the impact that this past year has had on both our community and the Foundation. It is safe to say that it has been like no other, and has tested the resilience, ability and agility of the Charity to its fullest. “However, if you speak to anyone that has been involved with us in this past year, they will also say it has been one of the most rewarding. Many of our big

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plans were curtailed due to the emerging pandemic, projects postponed, sessions cancelled and a clear signal that we all needed to pitch in and support those most in need. “Throughout this period, our staff and volunteers have been incredible and I have never been more proud of a group of people. Preparing sandwiches, collecting prescriptions, countless hours talking to those that needed a friendly chat and embracing a new way of delivering our services through digital means. “We head into this post pandemic world with a new normal and the opportunity to use what we have learnt, the new partnerships and connections we have formed to be even further embedded in our community. Most importantly we have a greater understanding of how we can work with others to improve local lives”. To coincide with the launch of the Impact Report, the Foundation have also worked with Hitchin TV to showcase the work the incredible team deliver week in week out in our local community.

STEVENAGE FC

WOMEN

Aisling White Midfield

CAN YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF? I’m a 17-year-old A-Level student currently studying Biology, Psychology and PE. I’ve been a huge Arsenal fan ever since I was little; my stepdad is a season ticket holder so I get to go to a lot of the home games with him, which is always great. WHAT CLUBS HAVE YOU PREVIOUSLY PLAYED FOR? The first club I played for was Bedwell Rangers, before going to Arsenal where I spent around four seasons, which was an amazing experience. I then played for a few local clubs before signing for Stevenage FC Women. WHAT DO YOU DO OUTSIDE FOOTBALL? I snowboard as a second sport, mainly for fun and I don’t compete but that’s definitely something I would want to do in the future, particularly freestyle. I also try to spend as much time as I can in the gym but as boring as it sounds I mainly spend most of my free time studying now. HOW DO YOU FIND JUGGLING FOOTBALL, TRAINING AND YOUR DAY JOB? Most of the time it’s easy because training doesn’t usually clash with school but recently the work load for school has increased a lot so it can be a bit tricky. It also gets quite stressful, particularly around exam season but football is a really good way to escape it all and relieve the stress for a bit. CAN YOU TELL ME WHO YOUR FOOTBALLING IDOL OR ROLE MODEL WAS WHILST GROWING UP AND WHY? My grandad has always been an extremely significant person in my football career – he was always at every game and giving me advice, even when I didn’t want it. Even

Stevenage FC v Barrow AFC

now he still motivates me and inspires me to keep playing. DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE FEMALE FOOTBALLER AND WHY? Alex Scott in my opinion was a fantastic footballer. Growing up at Arsenal she was a huge inspiration and one of the first female footballers I had exposure to. She has done so much for women’s football both on and off the pitch. WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHT OR ACHIEVEMENT THAT YOU ARE MOST PROUD OF? Having the opportunity to play for Arsenal was a huge privilege but my football highlight would probably be being invited to compete in the Dallas International Girls Cup in April 2019. It was an incredible experience to be able to play against teams from all over the world who had so much talent and being able to see the way they play was inspirational. Also playing at St George’s Park multiple times was a massive honour. IT HAS BEEN A STOP START SEASON SO FAR AFTER LAST SEASON BEING DECLARED NULL AND VOID. HOW DO YOU FEEL THE SEASON HAS GONE FOR YOU PERSONALLY? For me, this season hasn’t been the best. I had to miss the first few league games due to having to isolate and after three games back I became injured. However, with the help of the fantastic physios and coaches I should be back stronger and ready to play again as soon as we can. HOW HAVE YOU BEEN KEEPING FIT AND ACTIVE DURING LOCKDOWN? The coaches have been great over lockdown, providing fitness sessions and challenges for us all to participate in. I also try to run at least three times a week, whether that’s on the treadmill or outside. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR MATCHES AND WHAT DOES YOUR PRE-MATCH ROUTINE LOOK LIKE? I don’t really have a set routine but will

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always have a good breakfast and listen to my pre-match playlist on the way to the game. AS WE’RE CURRENTLY IN LOCKDOWN, WHAT TV SERIES ARE YOU CURRENTLY, OR HAVE BEEN, BINGE WATCHING? Crime and medical shows are my go-to, over the first lockdown I binge watched Grey’s Anatomy and re-watched How to Get Away with Murder in time for the release of the sixth season. This lockdown I’ve been watching Criminal Minds and Prison Break. WHO MAKES YOUR ULTIMATE DREAM TEAM XI OF FEMALE FOOTBALLERS? GK – Hope Solo Defence – Alex Scott, Wendie Renard, Steph Houghton, Lucy Bronze Midfield – Delphine Cascarino, Caroline Graham Hansen, Jordon Nobbs, Pernille Harder Forward – Vivianne Miedema, Fran Kirby FOLLOW THE WOMEN:

Photo by AM Sports Photography

STEVENAGE FC

ACADEMY

nother very busy period for the academy as we return to fixtures and training for the U9 - U16 age groups. What has been really pleasing is the type of fixtures we are now able to play in. When we first started our academy journey on promotion to the EFL it’s fair to say in the early years we struggled to play catch up with our neighbouring academies but over the past few seasons we have really managed to raise our profile through a mixture of player sales, international appearances and 1st team appearances. Since returning we have played both Ipswich and West Ham at all age groups, Spurs at U18 and are about to go toe to toe with the likes of Crystal Palace, Brighton and Liverpool over the Easter period. These games are a testament to how seriously we are taken now in the academy arena as the opposition are

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very aware of the quality of our players and the philosophy of our play. Behind the scenes we have just completed a very successful Safe to Operate audit conducted by the professional game on top of successfully passing a League audit on Health and Safety. We have said goodbye to Amy Ganderton who has progressed to Tottenham in a similar role and all at the Academy wish her well in her new post. Since joining us she certainly raised the bar in terms of getting us in a very strong position for audits and although she will be sorely missed we welcome Ben Brotherton, who joins us from Bournemouth, where he undertook a similar role. With the 1st team in a rich vein of form and the Academy continuing its rapid rise the future is certainly looking that much rosier! ROBBIE O’KEEFE – Academy Manager

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WELCOME CLUB MATTERS Holker Street, Hereford and the Barrow Bombers. The Barrow AFC team that we know today might have been formed in 1901 but they were truly forged in the crucible of events in 1972. Leading up to that point Barrow had taken residency in their Holker Street home in 1909 and after a brief non-league life joined the Football League in 1921.

Their rise stuttered at this point and they remained in the bottom tier of Division Three North for a remarkable 37 years before becoming a founder member of the new Division Four. Promotion to Division Three was achieved in 1967 but this was to last just three years before financial issues began to dog the club and relegation followed. Barrow had already survived one re-election to the Football League before they lost their place in 1972. The club had originally drawn level on votes with non-league FA Cup heroes Hereford but on a second re-election vote they lost their place. Two of the key factors were the success of Hereford in the cup and also the fact that in order to

LAST 5 GAMES

Grimsby

L0-1 HOME

Crawley

Cheltenham

HOME

AWAY

W3-2 W0-2

Walsall

W0-1 AWAY

Mansfield

W2-0 HOME

Stevenage FC v Barrow AFC

raise revenue the Bluebirds had built a speedway track at Holker Street for the illfated Barrow Bombers team. This finally did for them and although they won the FA Trophy with a Wembley win over Leek, it wasn’t until 2010 and their extra time success over Boro that Barrow tasted victory again. In the intervening period the Bluebirds dropped out of the Conference National, but then made their way back and ended 2019-20 at the top of the non league pyramid on the points per game method. The first season back has been a tough one, the Bluebirds taking nine games to get their first win and staying among the strugglers for much of it, although the return of caretaker Rob Kelly for a second time has seen them climb out of the drop zone.

THE BOSS Barrow boss Rob Kelly is in his second caretaker spell at the club this season and has clearly made a difference to the Holker Street side. After playing at Leicester, Tranmere,

Wolves and Burton, Kelly was forced to end his career at the age of just 24 through a back injury. This led to a managerial career which began in 2006 at Leicester where he stepped up from assistant manager to caretaker at one point. He then did the same at Preston, Nottingham Forest and West Brom while also having spells at Bury, Fleetwood, Malmo and Fortuna Dusseldorf as assistant. He joined David Dunn as assistant at Barrow in September 2020 and took over in a caretaker role in December until Michel Jolley took the helm earlier this year. When Jolley parted ways with the club in February Kelly was again named caretaker.

WATCH OUT FOR - SCOTT

QUIGLEY Born in Shrewsbury, Quigley came through the youth system at The New Saints and made his senior debut in 2012. He went on to make 121 appearances in all competitions for the Welsh outfit, firing in 61 goals, whilst he also gained further senior experience with loan spells at Caersws, Carmarthen Town and Cefn Druids. His goals secured him a move to Blackpool in the summer of 2017 after they agreed to pay TNS an undisclosed fee. However, he was allowed out on loan in January 2018 and went to Wrexham where he hit the net eight times in 17 outings before moving to Port Vale on a seasonlong loan in 2018/19. However, in January 2019 he was on the move again when he was loaned to FC Halifax Town before being snapped up by Barrow in the summer of 2019 following his release from Bloomfield Road. Quigley went on to play a key role as The Bluebirds secured promotion to the EFL in 2019/20.

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STEVENAGE FC

COMMERCIAL As with every Club in the land, we’ve been starved of a vital income stream, after all, who wants to sponsor a match they can’t attend, hire an executive box they can’t access or sponsor a match ball that nobody will see? But we are ready for business. As soon as we’re allowed to reopen we will be there for you. Hopefully this current set of restrictions will have the desired effect and infection numbers will fall significantly

enough for us to be allowed to restart, most likely with a limited service similar to what was offered for the recent game against Grimsby Town with around 100 people being admitted to the North Stand, before a more general opening of the stadium as time goes on. For the very latest information, or to make a booking please log on to www.stevenagefc.com In the meantime, keep well, we hope to see you soon.

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