Pre-Season Report

After four wins, three defeats and a draw from their eight games Boro's pre-season is over and we can now all look forward to the start of the League One campaign this weekend against Exeter.

Here's some of the facts and figures from the last few weeks (Stats marked with * do not include Corby PSF as confirmation is still being awaited for subs and timings) :

• Six of the eight games have been settled by a single goal.
• In eight games we scored eight goals with seven different players. They were: Chris Beardsley, Robin Shroot (2), Guy Madjo, Craig Reid, Mark Roberts, Michael Bostwick and Ben May.
• Boro scored three goals in the first half of games and five goals in the second half of games
• All five goals that Boro conceded during pre-season were in the second half.
• Graham Westley has used 32 different players*.



Beardsley - has appeared in all eight games

• Michael Bostwick has played the most minutes (517).
• Alan Julian (489), Mark Roberts (450) and Phil Edwards (440) are the players with the next highest amount of playing time.
• Jerome Federico has played the least number of minutes (30)*.
• Nine players have played in just one game: Joel Byrom, Chris Day, Joe Welch, Jack Parkinson, Liam Davis, Rohan Ricketts, Jerome Federico, Curtis Osano, and Farai Hallam*.
• Six players have started three of Boro's four games: Alan Julian, Ronnie Henry, Michael Bostwick, Mark Roberts, Scott Laird and Lawrie Wilson.
• Only five players have appeared in all eight fixtures: Alan Julian, Scott Laird, Michael Bostwick, Jennison Myrie-Williams and Chris Beardsley.
• Chris Beardsley has made the most sub appearances (6).
• Our most used goalkeeper (Alan Julian) has played 489 mins.
• Our most used defender (Michael Bostwick) has played 517 mins.
• Our most used midfielder (Lawrie Wilson) has played 431 mins.
• Craig Reid is our most used striker with 322 mins under his belt. (Darius Charles has played 386 mins but several appearances have been in defence)

Pre-Season: Half Term Report

Boro are now halfway through their preparations for the 2011/12 season so let's take a look at some of the facts and figures so far:

• All four games have been settled by a single goal.
• On the plus side we've only conceded two goals.
• On the down side we've only scored two goals.
• Robin Shroot and Chris Beardsley are our only scorers to date.
• Graham Westley has used 29 different players in these four games.
• Michael Bostwick has played the most minutes (292).
• Alan Julian (276) and Mark Roberts (270) have played the next most.
• Guy Madjo has played the least number of minutes (27).
• 10 players have played in just one game.
• From last year's squad these are: Chris Day (39 mins), Jon Ashton (73), Joel Byrom (45) and Peter Winn (45).
• Trialists: Joe Welch (45), Jack Parkinson (45), Liam Davis (79) and Rohan Ricketts (45) and Jerome Federico (30).
• New signing: Guy Madjo (27).
• Six players have started three of Boro's four games: Alan Julian, Ronnie Henry, Michael Bostwick, Mark Roberts, Scott Laird and Lawrie Wilson.
• Only five players have appeared in all four fixtures: Alan Julian, Scott Laird, Michael Bostwick, Jennison Myrie-Williams and Chris Beardsley.
• Robin Shroot and Chris Beardsley have made the most sub appearances so far (3).
• Our most used goalkeeper (Julian) has played 276 mins.
• Our most used defender (Bostwick) has played 292 mins.
• Our most used midfielder (Wilson) has played 251 mins.
• However our most used striker (Beardsley) has played just 147 mins (Charles has played 217 mins but 90 at Dover were in defence).

More stats to follow once pre-season has concluded!

Do the big boys really make a difference?

It's generally accepted that many Boro supporters are also fans of either Arsenal or Spurs but is it right to think that home games at The Emirates or White Hart Lane affect attendances at The Lamex? Well technically YES because of the following:

The Statistics

1) Four of our five lowest attendances last season coincided with a home game for either Arsenal or Spurs (see below).

Date	Team	Attendance	Clashed With
Tues 25th Jan	Rotherham	1,549	Arsenal v Ipswich Town (CC)
Tues 8th Feb	Hereford	1,670	Nothing
Sat 22nd Jan	Morecambe	2,002	Arsenal v Wigan (PL)
Sat 5th Feb	Accrington	2,265	Spurs v Bolton (PL)
Tues 1st Feb	Gillingham	2,424	Arsenal v Everton (PL

2) In the 10 games where a game at The Lamex didn't clash with one at The Emirates or White Hart Lane, our average attendance was 3,044. However in the 14 games that did clash with a fixture at Arsenal or Spurs, our average attendance was 2,901. Granted that’s only 143 fans less on average but that’s potentially around £3,500* lost per game or £35,000* per season – an amount that could certainly be put to good use by the club.

	No Clash	Clash
Games	10	14
Total Attendance	30,441	40,614
Average Attendance	3,044	2,901

The Reality

1) There are a number of others reasons which could explain those five lowest attendances, the first of which was that all five games took place inside a 16-day period towards the end of January / beginning of February. It also would have been very cold - a daft reason to stay away from football when things like coats and scarves exist - but I guarantee some people would have made the choice to stay at home in the warmth rather than stand on the East Terrace. Thirdly, three of these games were on a Tuesday which always affects attendances. Finally it's worth remembering that Boro fans had already forked out for tickets for both the Newcastle and Reading FA Cup games in January, so anyone feeling a little strapped for cash would certainly have chosen a weeknight game against Rotherham, Morecambe or Hereford to stay away and save money.

2) The attendance figures are obviously based on both home and away supporters. The away followings were so varied too that we couldn’t really take a guess (and can’t be bothered!) at how each affected the attendance. But we reckon that for every handful of Hereford, Accrington and Morecambe fans there were certainly several hundred from Bradford, Macclesfield (opening day of the season), Bury (final day of the season and still championship chasing), Wycombe, Chesterfield and Shrewsbury.

Our Conclusion

So do games at The Emirates or WHL really make a difference to our crowds? The attendance figures would suggest so however without taking into account the other factors surrounding games (time of year, weather, cost) it's difficult to really know. Certainly without the official numbers on how many home fans were at each game we’re never really going to be able to work out the exact impact of the Premiership big boys. So we're left to guess. In a pointless blog like this.

Looking Ahead

15 - the number of Boro home fixtures that don't currently clash with Arsenal games at The Emirates
7 - the number of Boro home fixtures that currently clash with Spurs games at White Hart Lane
9 - the number of Boro home fixtures being played where neither Arsenal or Spurs are at home

Looking at this season’s fixtures BoroStats notes that currently just nine of Boro’s 23 home games don’t clash with either a Spurs or Arsenal fixture. These are:

6^th August v Exeter
9^th August v Peterborough
3^rd September v Rochdale
13^th September v Sheffield Wednesday
7^th January v MK Dons
28^th January v Oldham
18^th February v Huddersfield
6^th March v Bournemouth
20^th March v Colchester

We therefore suggest that the club heavily promotes these particular fixtures amongst the local community, to take advantage of a quiet day for the Premiership fans. Even a handful of new / part time fans will make a difference and could be useful when we get promoted to the Championship…..


* Takes into account price of adult entry, programme and a drink.

More miles on the clock next season

As well as probably facing higher entry prices at League One grounds next season, Boro fans will also be covering more miles in 2011/12 than the season just gone.

In total, away trips during the regular League Two season saw Boro fans clock up 5,904 miles (based on starting from and returning to Stevenage). Next year this rises to 6,413 miles, an increase of 509 miles. On average this means fans will add 22.2 miles to each return journey in League One next year compared to this year in League Two.

 

The longest trips (one way) in League Two were to Torquay (243 miles), Morecambe (226) and Accrington (203). The shortest was Barnet (19.2).

 

In League One, longest trips (one way) will be to Carlisle (284), Exeter (224) & Hartlepool (222). The shortest will be Leyton Orient (24.9).

Whilst promotion has seen us lose our 'derby' at nearby Barnet, League One provides us with four opponents within a 50 mile radius compared to League Two, which other than the Bees only gave us Northampton. Leyton Orient (24.9) miles, MK Dons (30), Charlton (30.7) and Brentford (34.3) will be amongst those grounds that Boro have never visited in a league fixture before.

 

League Two			League One
Team	Distance from Stevenage (miles)*		Team	Distance from Stevenage (miles)*
Torquay	243		Carlisle	284
Morecambe	226		Exeter	224
Accrington Stanley	203		Hartlepool	222
Bury	191		Preston	198
Stockport	176		Notts County	194
Bradford	173		Rochdale	194
Macclesfield	162		Tranmere	194
Hereford	150		Bury	191
Crewe	148		Huddersfield	168
Rotherham	141		Yeovil	157
Port Vale	139		Sheff Wed	144
Shrewsbury	137		Sheffield United	144
Chesterfield	126		Oldham	139
Cheltenham	115		Scunthorpe	137
Lincoln City	113		B'mouth	134
Burton Albion	112		Chesterfield	126
Oxford Utd	76.2		Walsall	103
Aldershot	69.9		Colchester	78.8
Gillingham	69.9		Wycombe	54.8
Southend	62.7		Brentford	34.3
Wycombe	54.8		Charlton	30.7
Northampton	44.3		MK Dons	30
Barnet	19.2		Leyton Orient	24.9

League Two	Miles		League One	Miles
Total Mileage (one-way)	2952		Total Mileage (one-way)	3206.5
Total Mileage (return-trip)	5904		Total Mileage (return-trip)	6413
Average Mileage (one-way)	128.3		Average Mileage (one-way)	139.4
Average Mileage (return-trip)	256.6		Average Mileage (return-trip)	278.8