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WYCOMBE WANDERERS are a small, but very friendly club who have had some big-name managers over the years such as Martin O'Neill, John Gregory and Tony Adams and a former non-league side, they are now an established League club... 

The Club and The Ground

A club local to Luton Town, Wycombe Wanderers have progressed considerably over the past few years and are now an established League club, have come up from the non-league pyramid - in fact, there progress was summed up when they reached the FA Cup semi-final in 2000-01.

The Causeway Stadium, formerly Adams Park, is a neat and tidy little ground.  On one side of the ground is the impressive looking Woodlands Stand, which was opened in 1996. It is a large two-tiered stand, complete with a row of executive boxes and it dwarfs the rest of the stadium. The other three stands are smaller affairs, but at least are all covered. Only the Greene King Stand at the home end remains as terracing. Opposite is the Roger Vere Stand, housing away supporters, a medium sized single-tiered stand, with windshields to either side. Along the other side of the ground is the Main Stand. This single-tiered stand has a raised seating area, meaning that fans access it by climbing a small set of stairs in front of it. 

The ground is also currently shared with Wasps Rugby Club.

Hatters fans are mostly located at one end of the ground in the Roger Vere Stand, where just over 2,000 supporters can be accommodated. The club has a relaxed friendly feel about it. The ground is situated in a nice setting with a wooded hill over looking the ground (this normally has a small contingent of supporters watching the game for nothing) and with green fields surrounding the other sides. The standard football ground fayre of burgers (£2.30), pies (£2), pasties and hot dogs are available from the refreshments area.

Ground Guide courtesy of the excellent Internet Football Ground Guide.

History - Stevenage Borough Football Club

THE Stevenage Borough that we know today was formed in 1976 by a group of enthusiasts following the demise of the former town club, Stevenage Athletic.  Following the bankruptcy of Athletic, the Broadhall Way pitch was dug up with JCB’s in a determined effort to ensure it never saw football again.  Since then, with help from the local authority, there has been a continuous re-build of the stadium, culminating in the splendid 7,100 capacity ground that is recognised today as one of the best outside the Football League. 

The team started out playing in the Chiltern Youth League on a roped off pitch at the town's King George V playing fields and moved up to intermediate status joining the Wallspan Southern Combination. In 1980, the club moved back to the Broadhall Way Stadium and the name Borough was added.  With the council as their landlords and a refurbished stadium, Stevenage Borough took on senior status and joined the United Counties League.

In their first season as a senior club, Stevenage Borough won the double of United Counties Division One Championship and Cup before switching across the non-league pyramid into the Isthmian League Division Two winning the league in their first season in a senior competition and reaching  the quarter-finals of the FA Vase and the Herts Senior Cup Final. 

The beginning of the 1990’s saw a new era for the Ryman Division Two North outfit as Paul Fairclough was appointed manager. Boro’ romped away with the Division Two North Championship, amassing an incredible 107 points.  They scored 122 goals in League matches and had a 100 per cent home record.  The following season, Boro’ won the Division One Championship and, for the second season running, held an unbeaten home record. In the 1992-93 season, now in the Premier division, Dulwich Hamlet finally ended their remarkable unbeaten home record on their 45th home game. The record read: played 44, won 42, and drawn 2. 

In 1993-94, Stevenage Borough achieved promotion to the Football Conference, pipping runners-up Enfield at the final hurdle for the championship of the Premier division.  Boro’s first season in the Conference, 1994-95 saw them start slowly, but as the season wore on the side became accustomed to the pressure and they finished in a well battled 5th place. The 1995-96 season saw Stevenage Borough win the Football Conference in only their second season but, due to FA rules, they were denied promotion to the Football League due to insufficient ground facilities and capacity.  1996-97 also had it’s exciting moments as Boro' reached the semi-finals of the FA Trophy and the 3rd round of the FA Cup being rewarded with a “home” tie against Birmingham City after disposing of Leyton Orient.  Though the tie had been drawn as a Stevenage Borough home game, the FA ruled that the Broadhall Way Stadium was not big enough to hold the tie, and the game was played at Birmingham's St. Andrews Stadium. With home advantage given to Stevenage, the Broadhall Way match day presenter Andrew Green introduced the match to a crowd of 15,536. Borough were to bow out that day, but not before making a stir.

In the following season, 1997-98, Stevenage continue their good fortune in the FA Cup as they reached the Fourth Round for the first time, with wins against Cambridge United and a stunning victory at First Division Swindon Town. Boro’ were then richly rewarded with a home tie against Premier Division Newcastle United. This time the club were not going to let the tie be held at any other stadium. A temporary stand was erected behind the away end to house the 'Toon Army', which increased the stadium capacity to 8,040, enough to satisfy the FA. Boro’ were to rock the football world as they held the multi-million pound side to a 1-1 draw, before traveling north for the replay in which, although being written off by many a pundit, they finally went down 1-2 in a hugely entertaining tie. The rest of the season petered out disappointingly after the FA cup excitement, and the side finished a lowly 15th place in the Conference, although the quarter-finals of the FA Trophy were reached.

The following season saw a plethora of new signings over the summer.  However, the season to come was to be somewhat of a shocker as it saw a rude awakening for the team that in recent years had beaten everyone below the first division in the FA cup. Lincoln City brushed Boro aside 0-4 and this proved to be the last straw to the chairman, Victor Green, and Paul Fairclough was to leave the club.

The appointment of Richard Hill was made within weeks of Cloughie’s departure and Boro’ finished the season in 5^th place. Between the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 seasons, news emerged that the club were in financial difficulties and that the chairman was going to close the club down if no buyer was found. Several nervous weeks went by as Stevenage Borough seemed to grind to a halt. Nobody in the town wanted to see another club bearing the name 'Stevenage' go bust.  However, after several weeks of worrying and speculation, salvation was at hand in the shape of former Boreham Wood Chairman and businessman, Phil Wallace, who purchased the club and set about rebuilding the finances and the relationship with the local council.

Although things were difficult financially behind the scenes, the next season started with a bang on the pitch, as Stevenage shot to a record-breaking start, winning their first 6 games. But the run soon stopped, and the nerves set in as points proved hard to come by. Early exits from the FA Cup and FA Trophy and a slow slide down the table saw another manager relieved of his duties mid-way through a season.  Steve Wignall was appointed manager and he steadied a rocky ship, with Boro’ finishing the season in a respectable 10^th place. But this change was short lived and he was to leave after controversially receiving a better offer from Doncaster Rovers at the end of the season.

It was this episode that was to prove a huge twist of fate as speculation flew on who the next manager should be. A chance phone-call from Phil Wallace to former manger Paul Fairclough, resulted in ‘Cloughie’ returning as the new Boro' boss for a second term, after 18 months away.

Off the pitch, the club were now making tremendous progress with a new £500,000 stand opening, providing a computer learning center underneath. Several upgrades to the ground had already taken place and work on a new £1.6 million training facility was announced for nearby Shephalbury Park – due to be operational in Autumn 2002.  On the pitch, although Boro’ finished in 8^th position, the club struggled as players came and went.  The 2001-02 season was to prove even more of a disappointment and, after high expectations and a run of poor results, in February 2002 Paul Fairclough was relieved of his position for the second time.  With the club in a precarious league position, but still in the last 8 of the FA Trophy, Phil Wallace worked hard to secure the services of his preferred choice of 2 years earlier, former Hatters player Wayne Turner from Second Division Peterborough United, who had been unavailable at that time. After compensation was agreed, Wayne Turner took over and the season was to finish with a bang as crucial wins saw Boro’s Conference status secured and a tremendous run of form took them to the FA Trophy Final for the first time in their history. Amid tremendous excitement, a crowd of around 20,000 saw Boro’ go down 0-2 to Yeovil Town at Villa Park in a hugely entertaining match shown live on Sky.

A poor start to the 2002-03 season culminated in the club hitting the bottom of the Conference on Boxing Day 2002. This resulted in Wayne Turner being removed from his post as manager, with Farnborough Town boss Graham Westley taking over the reins a month later. After much change in the squad, he hauled the club up to a creditable 12^th position by the last game of the season, and again, expectation levels have been set very high at Broadhall Way for the 2003-04 season.   

In January 2004, the club continued its off-the-field progress by appointing former Hitchin Town manager Robbie O'Keefe - a highly-rated young coach who was renowned for developing young talent while at Top Field, such as Matthew Nolan, who went on to Peterborough United, and ex-Hatters trainee Joe Bruce, who moved to Grays Athletic - as youth development officer.

Chairman Phil Wallace said, "We've been in discussions with Robbie for some time. He is a respected 'A' licensed coach and coaching educator but he's also got an eye for business. 

"Our director Mick Every introduced him to me and recommended that he could be what we were looking for. Since that initial meeting we've developed a blueprint for the future which sees him managing all of our football development with the local community, up to our new School of Excellence of which he will be the Director of Coaching."

If the club can continue to progress the way they have, there is no reason why they cannot achieve League status in the not too distant future.

Luton Town v Wycombe Wanderers...

A full rundown of all of the past meetings

Home Matches   Apr 8 1997 ND2 D 0 0 8117   Mar 7 1998 ND2 D 0 0 6114   Jan 9 1999 ND2 W 3 1 5063   Oct 19 1999 ND2 D 1 1 5820   Jan 12 2001 ND2 L 1 2 4551 Report Jan 25 2002 ND2 W 1 0 7351 Report Oct 11 2003 ND2 W 3 1 5695 Report Statto's Corner

Away Matches   Sep 7 1996 ND2 W 1 0 6471   Nov 1 1997 ND2 D 2 2 6219   Aug 8 1998 ND2 W 1 0 5252   Apr 29 2000 ND2 W 1 0 5379   Aug 28 2000 ND2 D 1 1 6001 Report Dec 28 2002 ND2 W 2 1 7740 Report Statto's Corner

• Stats taken from Lutonfc.com's 'Statto's Corner'

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