Seeing as its now Saturday in England....
The opponent: Stevenage
Matchday has arrived and its off to Hertfordshire we go, in search of 3 points and no talk of transfer embargo’s once the final whistle has blown, the chances of both? I will leave that to you to decide. The town of Stevenage sits a short distance from Welwyn Garden City, the home of Weetabix, and just a few miles away is Knebworth House, where the mighty Oasis once played in front of 250’000 people. Recent Yank beating Ryder Cup hero, Ian Poulter calls Stevenage his home, as does Arsenal crock Jack Wilshere, Man Utd winger Ashley Young, and the everlasting Kevin Philips. With Stevenage being just 34 miles from Central London, it was no surprise in the late 1940’s when it was named the first post war ‘New Town’, and then followed many war torn Londoners in need of a home after the Luftwaffe left their last abode in a bit of a mess. For some unknown reason, when viewed from the air, Stevenage forms the shape of a heart.
Interestingly, in 1990, Stevenage twinned themselves with Shymkent, which I am sure you all know is the 3rd largest City in Kazakhstan, who themselves once had their city destroyed by Genghis Khan. Why he didn’t do Stevenage first is another conversation all together, perhaps then we would not have had famous Harry Potter ginger, Rupert Grint, another that can proudly boast he was born in Stevenage. One noticeable record that Stevenage hold is for a pub in the Broadwater area, The Pied Piper, which still to this day is the only public house that Queen Elizabeth II has ever opened, perhaps she could strike up a deal with Wetherspoons? As one TEF member may well be aware, the TV show Saxondale is mostly filmed in Stevenage, as were parts of the 1989 box office smash, Batman.
Stevenage Last 6 – DWWLWW (2nd in League 1 on 29 points) Unbeaten in the league at home this season.
The Threat – Apart from the predicted 5 Celsius at kick off, lowly rated fodder by away fans and Stevenage itself, midfielder Robin Shroot currently leads the way for Stevenage with 6 goals.
The irrelevant stats – Stevenage concede nearly 60% of their goals in the 2nd half, if our fitness levels are what they are said to be, a late bombardment on the Stevenage goal could prove fruitful. So far this season Stevenage have scored in every home game they have played in, scoring 12 goals in the process, although they have conceded 8 goals at home in the same time.
A warm welcome too – To good for League One, Miguel Comminges, our very own Namibian Iniesta, Oliver Risser, and interestingly they have a striker named Lopez, who could possibly be related to Willy Lopez, the bad ass murderer of Patrick Swayze in the film Ghost, although it is unlikely.
The Odds – Stevenage
7/5 Town
15/8 Draw
23/10 Anyone fancy James Collins to score the 1st goal? At
6/1 it could be a decent bet . For a bet with a bit of a difference, Swindon to be winning at 15 minutes in is also
6/1 (Odds supplied by Ladbrokes.com)
Sid Says – After much deliberation, my trusty stick insect walked towards a 3-0 away victory, just the 22/1 for anyone that fancies it.
The Prediction – Despite my thread starting once again being on the line, and this possibly being on 1 of 10 matchday threads, I am going to stick my neck out here, my heart says a draw could be on the cards, but my testies are saying 2-1 Swindon, with goals from TAH and Gary Roberts, to the delight of the 1088 travelling Town Army.
And Finally – Stevenage is not only the chav capital of The UK but it also has some of the tallest street lights in the land, answers on a postcard as to why. In 2010 Stevenage Borough FC became Stevenage FC, the reason being given that the chairman wanted to move away from “Non-League Stevenage Borough to Football League Stevenage FC”, perhaps next year the filth up the A420 could change their name to fit their non-league status......
