Part Five of our 2013/14 team previews looks at Rotherham, Sheffield United, Shrewsbury Town and Swindon Town.
Rotherham
The New York Stadium – Capacity 12,000
After finishing runners-up in last seasons League Two, Rotherham join us in League One this season. Three points ahead of the play off places and just four behind eventual winners Gillingham, it was a successful season for the Millers.
It will be the second time in two seasons that Boro have travelled to the New York Stadium after drawing Rotherham in last season’s FA Cup – and after some heroic cup runs in previous years an uninspiring 3-2 defeat knocked Stevenage out at the first hurdle.
Our League Two campaign was the last time we shared a division with United, and we were unbeaten with an emphatic 3-0 victory at home – Peter Winn, Byron Harrison and Scott Laird scoring - and a 1-1 draw away with John Mousinho netting a late equaliser.
Head to Head record in Football League:
P: 2 W: 1 D: 1 L: 0 GF: 4 GA: 1
Sheffield United
Bramall Lane – Capacity 32,702
Sheffield United begin their third season in the third tier of English football after a Play-off Semi Final defeat to Yeovil Town last season. After a fifth place finish in the league they faced a strong Glovers side who knocked them out over two legs, en route to securing a Championship place with victory at Wembley.
minute Chris Porter header the only goal over two legs. In the league that season United had failed to come out on top, beaten 2-1 at the Lamex and drawing 2-2 at the Lane.thA year previous it was Stevenage up against the Blades in the Play-offs, but in search of an historic third promotion in a row Boro were beaten by the narrowest of margins – an 85
Last season both games between the two were memorable for the home fans at each – at Bramall Lane Sheff Utd notched a 4-1 victory, Mark Roberts scoring the solitary goal for Stevenage, whilst a Dani Lopez hat-trick and Lucas Akins strike earned an amazing 4-0 victory for Boro at home.
Head to Head record in Football League: (Play-offs inclusive)
P: 6 W: 2 D:2 L:2 GF: 9 GA: 8
Shrewsbury Town
The Greenhous Meadow – Capacity 9,875
minute Marvin Morgan goal won the tie at the Greenhous Meadow. That came after a stunning strike from James Dunne, which was originally cancelled out by Paul Parry.th place position with 55 points. Against Stevenage they were unbeaten, an early-season game at the Lamex finished a goal apiece and with Boro in a tough vein of form an 86thAfter promotion to League One for last season, Shrewsbury managed a 16
Before last season we met them in our only year in League Two, and again a victory eluded Boro. Chris Holroyd scored in a 1-1 draw at home and at the Meadow it was Nicky Wroe who fired the Shrews to victory.
You need to stretch back to 2005 to find our last win over Town, Simon Wormull and current Assistant Manager Dino Maamria scored in the non-league fixture at the Lamex.
Head to Head record in Football League:
P: 4 W:0 D:2 L:2 GF: 3 GA: 4
Swindon Town
County Ground – Capacity 15,728
place finish.thLast season, Swindon Town earned a Play-off place but were beaten in the semi-finals by a Brentford side with a sting in their tail after missing out on automatic promotion by such a slim margin. It was their first year in the division, and the 74 points return from 46 games was enough for a 6
Two wins against the Boro helped their push; they beat us 4-0 at the Lamex and 3-0 at theirs in a tough season for Stevenage. It was the first time the two clubs had been in the same division, but back in 2005 Town won again in a cup game.
Boro’s last victory over Swindon came in memorable circumstances, in 1998 non-league Stevenage knocked the Football League side out of the FA Cup en route to the famous Newcastle tie.
Head to Head record in Football League:
P: 2 W: 0 D: 0 L: 2 GF: 0 GA: 7
Next up we will conclude our look at teams for next season with Tranmere Rovers, Walsall and Wolverhampton Wanderers.