Stevenage promotion: 'Five years of dross to this is fantastic'

Stevenage striker Danny Rose celebrated with fans after the final whistle

Stevenage have secured a return to League One after beating Grimsby Town 2-0 at the Lamex Stadium. The Hertfordshire side have languished deep inside the League Two table each year since 2014, and narrowly avoided relegation three years ago. So what does promotion mean to diehard fans?

'The club's absolutely amazing'

Fiona Brook, pictured with Boro midfielder Dean Campbell, says she got "hooked" as a fan in her 20s

Fiona Brook, 55, describes herself as a true football fan and says from "the last five years of dross to this is just fantastic".

She grew up in North London, moved to Stevenage aged 21 and has been a season ticket holder for 31 seasons.

"I went to a game, got hooked and my kids, Eloise and Taran, have been going since they were two," says Ms Brook.

"The club's absolutely amazing, it's always been family orientated and that's why I took the kids.

"As a female I was in the minority, there was only one other female I could see, I made a lot of friends and my husband and I pretty much met at football."

Ms Brook did not expect to warm to manager Steve Evans but says he has "completely" turned the club around.

"If he walks away I'll always be thankful and grateful for a man who turned us around as we were struggling at the bottom."

'This season has been one of the most memorable'

Pete Johnson, pictured here with Nathan Garrod, Harrie Aldrich and his son Tom, says the club is "in the lifeblood of my family"

Season ticket holder Pete Johnson, 63, says growing up in Stevenage means the club "runs through my bones".

His father, Les Johnson, who would later become the club's vice-chairman in the 1970s, started going to games from about 1961 and took him to his first game in 1966.

"Basically it's in the lifeblood of my family, through thick and thin, win or lose, promotion or relegation - I've been going ever since," he says.

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He now lives in Stotfold, over the border in Bedfordshire, but still loves going to watch as many games as possible with his son and his friends.

"The first half of the season, we were just pinching ourselves every game as we were doing so well.

"Like every football team we've had our injury problems since January, and it's become very nervy towards the end," he says.

"This season has been one of the most memorable as a supporter."

'It has been a phenomenal year'

Jay Drackford, pictured at the Lamex Stadium, says he got the job of announcer for Stevenage as "I have a big mouth"

Lifelong fan Jay Drackford, 43, is Stevenage "born and bred", and has volunteered at the club as its announcer for the past nine seasons.

"Over the years it's been really hard work being a fan, we were nearly kicked out of the league completely but were saved by Macclesfield going under, so we've had some really dark times at the club," he says.

"We've also had some serious highs - beating Aston Villa in the FA Cup, that was the best day me and my son, Orryn, 12, have ever had at the football."

Mr Drackford, who works at a secondary school, points out that only a "few hundred" were at the games when he was a child, compared with nearly 7,000 through the turnstiles this year.

"This season has been a phenomenal year, it's just been absolutely amazing, we weren't expecting it and it's extraordinary," he adds.

"We've got a real fan base this year."