From Despair to Where? A look at Stevenage in 2020-21

It's 11 August 2020. Stevenage are in limbo, stateless, leagueless. The nether zone between League Football and Non-League Football. Anxiously hanging around the departure zone, having picked up a few bargains from duty free (and loaned them out later on), Stevenage were going nowhere. Quite literally.

The less said about the 2019-20 season, the better, so I won't say anything more about it, bar the fact some kind of divine intervention meant that Stevenage would be travelling to Bolton rather than Kings Lynn for the 2020-21 season. It seemed genuinely miraculous that a side with only three wins would end up staying in the league. The term 'sh*thousery' springs to mind.

But to the detriment of Macclesfield Town, Stevenage remained  a Football League side a decade on from that promotion, and surely wouldn't take their status for granted now.

Despite a rocky 2020 portion of the season with only three wins recorded, Stevenage managed to stay up. The turn of the year gave way to an extraordinary run that saw some of us even murmuring about the possibility of making the play-offs. Though merely murmurs, the fact that these murmurs even surfaced is testament to the improvements made.

These 25 games had seen over twice as many wins as the entirety of 2020, with Scunthorpe away still to be played this Saturday. All of this points to one thing: progress. A lot of draws (ten goalless ones) and a lack of goals are still cause for concern, but given where the team were a year ago, a comfortable mid-table finish feels almost as good as a promotion.

Despite Alex Revell's desire for a smaller squad than the 2019-20 season, the squad numbers still somehow made it to 41. All that said, let's take a look at those who donned the red and white and how they fared. The likes of Roles, Hector-Ingram et al, haven't really played enough to receive a rating.

1: Jamie Cumming: 8. An outstanding debut professional campaign for the Chelsea loanee, who will undoubtedly go on to great things. 16 clean sheets in 38 games tells you everything you need to know.

2: Luther James-Wildin: 7.5. The growth of Luther over the course of the season has been a pleasure to watch. From an error-prone beginnings to a vital component in an outstanding defence.

3: Ben Coker: 7. A threat going forward and another integral part of an excellent defence. Solid.

4: Romain Vincelot: 7.5. Game time has been more limited as the season has progressed, but the French midfielder has been a force of nature. Will be missed in retirement.

5: Scott Cuthbert: 7.5. A true leader. Perhaps overshadowed by Vancooten's emergence, but every bit as crucial.

6: Luke Prosser: 7. A slow starter, but the former Colchester man has really slotted excellently into the defence when needed.

7: Charlie Carter: 7. If not for injury, his rating would certainly be higher. An asset up top or in the middle. Keeping him could be crucial.

8: Elliot Osborne: 7. Much like Charlie Carter, injuries have hampered Elliot somewhat. But a solid debut campaign.

9: Inih Effiong: 5. Far from awful, but for whatever reason things hadn't worked out for Inih.

10: Tyrone Marsh: 4. As above. With Marsh, it could have been a systemic problem.

11: Danny Newton: 6. Can be a real menace on his day, especially when with Oteh. Injuries again a factor though.

12: Remeao Hutton: 6.5. A solid deputy in the absence of one of the starting full-backs. A productive campaign.

15: Terence Vancooten: 9. Simply one of the most intelligent defenders around in League Two. The emergence of the Guyana international has been a pleasure to watch.

17: Elliot List: 8.5. Not only our top goal scorer, but a menace to defences. His harassment of Forest Green defenders when 3-0 up in the 10th minute of injury time stands out more than quite a few of his goals.

19: Arthur Read: 8. Brentford have a real gem on their hands. Versatile, able to pick a pass, skilful, and more than capable of the odd beauty of a goal.

20: Femi Akinwande: 4. Much like Effiong, perhaps a player signed with non-league in mind. Unfortunately the step was too considerable.

22: Marcus Dinanga: 6. Slightly better than Effiong and Akinwande who were also loaned out, but still unfortunately one of far too many forward options signed. Someone had to go.

23: Jack Smith: 8. A very impressive debut campaign. Seems to control games with the ease of a veteran. A bright future ahead for sure.

24: Ross Marshall: 6.5. Impressive in his limited game time. Another one to watch.

26: Tom Pett: 8. His return in October changed the side completely. From humble beginnings as a winger to a mature central midfield presence, Pett's growth within and beyond the club have been clear for all to see.

27: Jack Aitchison: 6. An injury-blighted campaign saw limited game time for a player that much was expected from. Okay, but not amazing.

28: Aramide Oteh: 7. Probably the best striker for the club in the first half of the season. Worked excellently with Newton.

28: Joe Martin: 7. Another returning player who may have raised a few eyebrows upon signing. A solid squad presence from Joe, however, means the move has made perfect sense.

35: Matty Stevens: 7. The high rating is for the Grimsby goal alone. One of the most insane moments in any Stevenage season. 

36: Luke Norris: 7.5. I'll admit to being sceptical on Norris, but his improvement week-on-week has me very excited for next season.

37: David Stockdale: 8. A brief but memorable stay in Hertfordshire for the veteran goalkeeper. Unparalleled distribution and a vital penalty save in Crawley. He even revitalised a career at Wycombe!

40: Chris Lines: 8. The quarterback of the side. When he and Pett are on their game, the entire team clicks like clockwork.