Stevenage’s Rise from the Brink: Can the Boro Turn a Perfect Start into Championship Ambition?

Stevenage are not supposed to be here—or not be comfortable at least. Four games into the League One season, Stevenage sit on top of the table with a perfect record. They beat Blackpool away from home on the opening day, and followed that up with two wins at the Lamex Stadium against Rotherham and Northampton.

But it was last night's match that made people start noticing.

Stevenage travelled north to Vale Park, where they took on newly promoted side Port Vale.

The match was hard fought by Port Vale, with the northern side dominating large periods of the match.

By the 85th minute, a 1-0 lead for the hosts looked set to hand Stevenage their first blemish of the campaign.

But one man had a different idea.

In the 88th minute, a looping ball from a long throw came bouncing into the box. Jamie Reid broke free of his marker and was left open at the back post and thundered home a half volley past Marko Marosi.

And he was not done there.

As the clock ticked down and it seemed like neither team would earn three points, Reid would show up once again.

Reid brought it down under immense pressure, wriggling past three defenders with a sharp turn that left him at an impossible angle. From there, he drove his shot across goal and into the net. In the away end, pandemonium: players sprinting to celebrate, supporters tumbling over each other in disbelief.

Stevenage were 1-0 down at Port Vale heading towards stoppage time last night.

Jamie Reid scored on 88 and 90+1 to secure a 2-1 victory which made it 4 wins from 4 to start the season and keep them top of League One.

What a night for those away fans.

pic.twitter.com/KuwSMiTVwc

— HLTCO (@HLTCO) August 20, 2025

It was an amazing moment for the club. They are in the best place in their history, but this nearly never happened.

In the 2019/20 season, Stevenage languished at the bottom of League Two and only avoided relegation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Macclesfield and Bury being demoted due to financial constraints.

The 2019/20 season

In July 2019, there was optimism in Stevenage. They had finished the 2018/19 season strongly, winning five of their last six matches. Had they beaten Exeter City instead of drawing, they would have leapfrogged Newport County into a play-off spot.

But all of this faded as soon as the season started. In their first 12 games, they picked up just five points and failed to win a single game. Manager Dino Maamria was sacked, and Mark Sampson stepped in as an interim manager.

But Sampson could not steady the ship. He managed two wins in his 12 games in charge and Stevenage sat bottom of the table.

Former manager Graham Westley returned for a fourth stint, but oversaw just one win in 14 games. After six straight defeats, he was replaced by former striker Alex Revell, who had just retired.

By March 2020, Stevenage sat bottom of the league with as many managers as wins. Relegation seemed certain.

COVID-19 Pandemic

In March 2020, the COVID-19 Pandemic caused thousands of deaths across the world and a lockdown was put in place. League Two decided to call off the season, and the final table was decided by a points-per-game basis.

Following Bury’s financial collapse in August 2019, only one team would be relegated from League Two—and with Stevenage in 24th place, they were officially demoted.

So how does a team that finished 10 points from safety manage to stay up?

By a minor miracle that saved them, while dooming another.

Macclesfield Town’s Financial Chaos

At the time of the pandemic, Macclesfield sat in 22nd place on 36 points. They had finished 14 points above Stevenage and had secured a third successive season in League Two.

But behind closed doors, the club was in turmoil.

Unpaid wages, postponed fixtures, and repeated winding-up orders plagued them throughout the season, and multiple EFL sanctions saw points deducted along the way.

Even so, Macclesfield still sat above Stevenage—until August, just a month before the new League Two season was set to begin. One final point deduction pushed them below Stevenage, sparing the Boro from relegation and giving them a lifeline they could hardly have imagined months earlier.

📝 Details of today's Appeal Hearing 👇https://t.co/G33vvNU3Lh

— Macclesfield FC (C) (@thesilkmen) August 11, 2020

Stevenage’s Rise

Stevenage would struggle for the next two seasons, finishing in the bottom half of the table both times. But when EFL legend Steve Evans was appointed manager, the club rose to new heights.

Steve Evans leads the full-time celebrations! 👏 pic.twitter.com/9beQ3HD5z4

— Stevenage FC 🔴⚪ (@StevenageFC) August 15, 2023

In 2022/23, under Evans, Stevenage finished second in League Two, securing promotion to League One. When Evans departed for Rotherham in 2024, Alex Revell stepped in and guided the club to a third successive season in League One, consolidating their rise and establishing a new high-water mark for the Boro.

They have a strong group of players and a manager who believes in the squad, but sustaining this form over a long League One season will test their depth, resilience, and nerve.

But there’s a real possibility that, a year from now, we could see Stevenage competing in the Championship.