Boro’s web editor on Oldham, driving Craig Reid’s car and Scott Laird, the model!

So Boro are currently lying in 12th position in League One with 13 points from nine games. A sign of how much harder this season will be compared to League Two is that last year we had the same points tally from nine games, but that was only enough to see us in seventh place. This season it’s going to be vital to turn losses into draws and draws into wins if the club wants to continue its ascent up the football world. And trust me when I say this; the club wants to continue its ascent.

The last week started very strange for me with our trip to Oldham. It was one match I’d been looking forward to since we got promoted, mainly because The Comet’s very own Damion Roberts is from those parts, but the stadium is like a labyrinth, and I got lost about eight times in the maze of corridors and hallways before I finally made it to the press box - but trying to get pitch side after the game was even harder.

In fairness though the pie I ate was good, but the surreal nature of the trip had begun before I had even got to the stadium. I was asked to drive Craig Reid’s car up to Boundary Park and if that wasn’t pressure enough, the chief exec, Bob Makin, was also going to be riding shotgun.

A year ago I was in Tesco queuing at midnight to get my hands on FIFA 11 and start a season with Boro, and now I find myself driving the club’s record signing’s car up north with Mr Makin next to me! We got there safely - thankfully.

The following Monday the club’s community department began its new Aspire project. This is one to look out for. Head of community Alex Tunbridge has worked hard with his team to get lots of schools in and around Stevenage involved and it’s something the club can be really proud of. There are over 20 schools signed up with coaches delivering sessions on aspiration and giving tasks to the pupils. Each school is also going to be assigned a player and the lads have really got involved with it which has made it even better. We’ve had videos for the pupils and the players will be paying them visits throughout the year to set the schools and children tasks of their own.

Then on Tuesday we had a match against Sheffield Wednesday, a team which has plenty of memories for me as I remember almost filling their page in my 98-99 Merlin sticker album! For anyone interested, it was the Benito Carbone sticker I was missing, I have lots of Darren Andertons if you’re still looking for a swap…

In the build up to the game there was a certain excitement around the office but at this point we had no idea what the squad would deliver so fair play to them for doing what they did that evening. It was another one of those nights at The Lamex Stadium where there was a good crowd, a great atmosphere, and some of the best football you’ll see anywhere. The office was buzzing on Wednesday.

Later in the week Scott Laird came in and was kind enough to model the new Puma training and leisure wear for us, and for a lad that says he doesn’t like having his photo taken he was a natural! It was like a scene from Austin Powers as he worked the camera.

On top of this, the limited edition third shirt also came into stock; this was massively popular amongst the fans and it was nice to see them dotted around the ground last Saturday as those that got their hands on one proudly donned them for the Notts County game.

It was a shame about the result that day, but we’ll move on from that and continue upwards and the lads will be working hard all week to deliver at Carlisle this coming weekend. It’s almost a 10 hour round trip for that one; it’s funny, I couldn’t imagine someone driving that far to spend an hour and a half with their family, but an hour and a half of football in the middle is a completely different prospect…

Come on the Boro!

Mitchell Jones is the Stevenage FC web editor, and writes an off-beat monthly column for The Comet.