From The Archive: Stevenage Borough Win Conference Title in Season 1995/96

Words by Steve Whitney.

But it was Bromsgrove Rovers who were the surprise early-season leaders, joining Kettering Town as the only remaining unbeaten teams after the opening four games of the season.

Bromsgrove and Kettering both then lost their unbeaten starts, losing to Welling United and Kidderminster Harriers, respectively.

Netting a hat-trick for the Wings in that victory over Bromsgrove was 18-year-old winger Steve Barnes, who was being watched by a host of League sides.

Ten clubs begin their FA Cup campaign at the first qualifying stage and all had home ties, with only understrength Dover Athletic suffering a 'shock', losing 2-1 at home to Isthmian League Bognor Regis Town.

Hednesford Town moved top of the table as a record crowd of 2,480 at the Pitmen's new Keys Park saw them beat Telford United 4-0.

Woking ended October on top of the table after Clive Walker's hat-trick helped the Cards to a 4-2 win against Stalybridge.

Martin McDonald starred in one of Southport's biggest Conference wins of the decade – 7-1 against Farnborough Town.

Macclesfield Town beat Kidderminster to return to the Conference summit, while Dagenham & Redbridge propped up the table after losing 2-0 to Kettering.

Woking recorded seven straight victories with a 3-2 success at Slough Town.

Macclesfield's 4-0 away win at Altrincham took them six points clear at the top, while Runcorn's poor run of form saw the end of John Carroll's four-and-a-half-year term as manager – the final straw being an 8-0 hammering at home to Stevenage.

A Kidderminster nine-game unbeaten run came to an end when struggling Bath City won 2-1 at Aggborough.

Leaders Macclesfield were brought down to earth with a bump as Stevenage beat them 4-0 at Broadhall Way.

Meanwhile, Kidderminster's prolific marksman Paul Davies equaled the all-time Conference scoring record with 172 goals, pulling level with Mark Carter in a 3-1 win over Hednesford. The striker went on to break the record with a header against Slough.

Woking brought 1995 to a close by securing another home win, making them unbeaten at Kingfield throughout the year.

Stevenage Borough moved into second spot after New Year wins at Dagenham and Morecambe, while Kidderminster attracted the biggest crowd of the season to date – 4,481 – for the 1-0 New Year's Day win over neighbours Bromsgrove Rovers which took Graham Allner's side back to the top – Harriers' Leroy May scored after just 9 seconds!

Woking reached the furthest stage of the FA Cup out of the Conference clubs. They were beaten in the Third Round by Second Division Swindon Town.

Dover moved out of the bottom three for the first time since August after a late winner against Telford, but Slough were falling into danger due to a nine-match unsuccessful home spell stretching back to September 12th.

Stevenage's climb up the table hadn't gone unnoticed with a host of League clubs showing interest in striker Barry Hayles and Nigerian defender Efetobor Sodje.

Woking extended their unbeaten home record to 23 games as they opened their new £1.35 million stand with a 1-1 draw against Bromsgrove.

February ended with Stevenage and Macclesfield sharing top spot with 28 points.

'Boro extended their unbeaten run to 17 games by defeating Kidderminster 4-1 at Broadhall Way.

Welling's 16-year-old striker Richard Dimmock becomes the youngest player to score a Conference goal when he netted against Morecambe.

A season's best crowd of 4,583 watched Woking defeat Macclesfield 3-2 at Kingfield and a similar crowd saw the Cards lose the 'six-pointer' at Stevenage.

The title race was thrown wide open again as Stevenage were held at home by Stalybridge Celtic, while Woking won at Gateshead.

The first relegated club was confirmed as Runcorn ended their 15-year tenure as a Conference club following a 3-2 home defeat by Telford.

Stevenage clinched the title for the first time in their history and in only their second season at the top level of non-League football after sharing a 1-1 draw against Morecambe, while Woking were beaten at Northwich.

Dagenham became the next to drop out of the fifth-tier after losing at Stevenage. Only two teams were relegated as the Northern Premier League announced they had no suitable promotion candidates.

Woking finished as runners-up and became the first side since 1985 to go through a season unbeaten at home, while Hednesford ended up a very creditable third, thus becoming only the second promoted team in over a decade to earn a top-three finish in their inaugural campaign in the league.

Macclesfield lifted the FA Trophy after a thrilling 3-1 victory over Northwich.