Stevenage knocked on the door of League One promotion last season, reaching the play-off semi-finals, and now the club are wanting to continue on their upward trajectory off the pitch, as well as on it with an ambitious stadium move.

Stevenage Borough, as they were then known, established itself as a football club in 1976 following the bankruptcy of Stevenage Athletic and the club, now in its 50th year, appears to continue to be going from strength to strength.

The phoenix club has risen from tenth-tier in the English football pyramid all the way to the third-tier, first entering into the Football League in the 2010-11 campaign – and they have not been out of it since.

In the 2011-12 season, following back-to-back promotions, Stevenage finished sixth in League One, which had been their best ever finish until equalling that last season ahead of a defeat to Stockport County in the play-off semi-finals.

With the club continuing to overperform on the pitch through impressive decision-making and general running of the club, ‘Boro are now seeking to take steps off the pitch to sustain themselves at their current level and beyond.

Stevenage intent on a new stadium like Luton and Cambridge

When Stevenage Borough, now just Stevenage, was formed 50 years ago, the club was forced to play at the town’s King George V playing fields due to a dispute before returning to previous home, Broadhall Way, in 1980.

Broadhall Way, which has gone on to be called the Lamex Stadium and now the SPORTA Arena, has remained their home ever since but, in a club statement released on Tuesday, chairman Phil Wallace has outlined ambitions to move on with the hope of increased income to sustain their competitiveness.

Wallace says: “For all the progress we have made, however, there is one fundamental part of the club that has not kept pace with our growth; our stadium.

"We are still operating on the same footprint that was provided 50 years ago for a non-league football club with 500 fans. Today, we are regularly attracting crowds ten times that size, with ambitions to go considerably further. Over the years, we have invested substantially in improving our home, increasing capacity to approximately 7,800. However, even with further investment to replace and expand the East and West Stands, the physical limitations of the site would restrict capacity to around 10,000 and the footprint would be unchanged. The reality is that our current stadium footprint is increasingly a constraint on our future.

"If we genuinely want to compete consistently at the upper end of League One and give ourselves the opportunity to establish Stevenage FC in the Championship, we must think differently.

"Over the Summer, we opened discussions with stakeholders to explore potential opportunities and sites for a new stadium-led development that becomes a significant community and commercial asset for Stevenage, bringing together sport, leisure, hospitality, retail, business and more, creating a destination that generates employment, attracts investment, and delivers well beyond matchdays. That search is now well under way.

"Other clubs are already recognising the opportunities presented by new stadium-led regeneration; Luton Town has commenced a new stadium development, while Cambridge United has recently outlined its own long-term ambitions for a similar project. Stevenage cannot be left behind and there are important questions to answer around location, funding, infrastructure and the wider needs of the town. However, I firmly believe both the ambition and the timing are right.

"We have always been a challenger club, taking on teams with greater resources and proving what can be achieved through hard work, smart investment and determination. Our next chapter should build on those foundations.

"But none of this means anything without our supporters. We want to compete at the highest level we can and to achieve that, we need the whole town behind us.

"We have achieved an enormous amount in our first 50 years. Let’s make the next 50 years even greater.”

Those clubs mentioned in the same local and regional area as Stevenage, Luton Town and Cambridge United, are themselves looking to expand.

Luton are further along in the process with The Hatters due to move out of their famous home, Kenilworth Road, and to the Power Court site in central Luton for the 2028-29 campaign. The new stadium is set to hold 25,000 as opposed to Kenilworth Road’s capacity of 12,056.

As for Cambridge, The U’s are exploring plans for a 15,000-capacity stadium in the east of the city as they seek to move away from the 7,937-capacity Abbey Stadium, which has been their home since 1932.

Phil Wallace wants Stevenage to get to the Championship

Stevenage have more or less been on an upward trajectory since their reformation in the 1970s and then kicking on in the 80s, with the club suffering just two relegations in their history; from Isthmian Division One in the 1987-88 campaign and then from League One in the 2013-14 season.

Having finished ninth, 14th and then sixth since returning to the third-tier in 2023; it is therefore now not unreasonable to suggest Stevenage will eventually likely batter down the door and get themselves into the second-tier, which would be an overachievement for many neutrals but one that similar sized clubs such as Lincoln City and Wycombe Wanderers have managed in the recent past.

The impressive off-field decision-making that has allowed for Stevenage to remain competitive is something Wallace also mentioned in his statement.

He said: “As the club celebrates its 50th anniversary, I believe this is the right moment to reflect on how far we have come and set out our ambitions for where we go next.

"We cannot predict what football will look like in 50 years. But we can, and absolutely should, plan for the next 10, 20 years and beyond.

"We have never been a club that stands still. Our philosophy has always been to build for the future, often ahead of where we are on the pitch. That approach has taken us from local non-league football to an established EFL club, competing nationally against clubs with significantly greater resources.

Over the past 15 years, we have transformed our football operation through sustained investment in our training grounds, stadium, Academy, and women’s team. More recently, we have expanded into new areas, including Rookies nursery and a new Padel facility, creating additional revenue streams that support the long-term future of the club.

"Pound for pound, I believe there are few clubs in English football that make better use of their resources than Stevenage FC, both on and off the pitch. Last season, we were the most efficient club in League One when measured by points achieved against playing budget, demonstrating what can be accomplished through intelligent investment and sound financial management.

"Our football recruitment strategy is a further example of that approach. We have built a model focused on identifying the right characters and talent, recognising untapped value. So far in 2026, we have generated more than £2.25 million in net player revenue while continuing to rebuild a competitive first-team squad and staff structure.”

An example would be that in the summer transfer window, manager Alex Revell had to deal with the sales of a couple of key players such as Filip Marschall and Jamie Reid, while Charlie Goode and Harvey White also departed.

Despite that, Stevenage continue to compete with their 1-0 defeat of Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium in the FA Cup first round at the weekend backing up a 2-2 draw with Leicester City away from home, leaving them six points off the play-off places with a steady but improving record of four wins, four draws and four defeats in their 12 League One matches thus far.

Mixed reaction from Stevenage supporters

Despite the club remaining in a competitive spot on the pitch and clearly impressive work has been done to sustain their rise off the pitch, there has been a mixed response to the update from chairman Wallace.

Both Stevenage supporters and fans of other clubs, such as Huddersfield Town and Plymouth Argyle, have proffered the point that Stevenage don’t tend to sell out their current stadium and so a bigger one would surely just have the same issue and is therefore unnecessary.

Others, though, have acknowledged that the ambition of the club is exciting and the intentions of stadium regeneration is a further example of that.

Division and debate is a part of football and Stevenage may have to navigate some dissenters but Wallace and the club have made clear their plans to continue to push ‘Boro onto the next level.