PREMIER LEAGUE

Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have all qualified for the Champions League. The top three will go straight to the group stage, while the fourth-placed team will face a play-off.

English clubs are offered three places in the Europa League (formerly the Uefa Cup) - for the FA Cup winners, the Carling Cup winners and the fifth-placed team in the Premier League.

If, like me you're still trying to get to grips with the play-off semi-final second leg defeat at the Abbey Stadium on Monday then I've found the best thing to do is begin to look forward to next season. In my opinion there's a lot to be excited about. For the first time in years we should have more or less the same squad and management team in August.

After a two year absence, Torquay United returned to the Football League after beating Cambridge United 2-0 this afternoon at Wembley, in the Blue Square Conference Play-Off Final.
The game was watched by a crowd of over 35,000.

by Joseph Millar It's great to have the EPL back. The famous names and great teams have returned - Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool - as have the not-so-great and not-so-famous -...

Wrexham Association Football Club (nicknamed The Red Dragons, or more traditionally, The Robins, their previous nickname) are a professional football team based in Wrexham, north-east Wales, who play in the English football pyramid. They currently play in the Conference National / Blue Square Premier following their relegation from Football League Two at the end of [.

All this week Soccerlens will be preparing for the big kick-off on August 8th with a full preview of the English leagues from Championship downwards. We start off with the Blue Square Premier, better known as the Conference. Can Luton Town bounce back? Will AFC Wimbledon take a third successive promotion?

The Big Story

UEFA again expressed concern at the spending by the likes of Man City, with general secretary David Taylor commenting "I would say in this financial climate, it is surprising - a little bit destabilizing of the market".

Oxford United stay top of the Blue Square Premier after beating Boro this afternoon. Goals from Alfie Potter and Adam Murray were enough to give the U's victory although one of their former strikers, Yemi Odubade hit back late on, but it was too little too late for Graham Westley's side.

Westley dropped Lee Boylan in favour of a 5 man midfield which welcomed back Joel Byrom after an impressive substitute appearance against Ebbsfleet on Tuesday night.

Rushden & Diamonds are next up for Boro as they look to bounce back from their defeat last weekend to Oxford United. The 2-1 loss at the Kassam Stadium was Boro's only defeat of the season so far although the Hertfordshire club have also only won 1 match out of the 5 played. Rushden have faired slightly better recording 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in their opening 5 games.

Boro travel down to Salisbury this weekend as they continue their pursuit of top spot in the Blue Square Premier. With leaders Oxford playing in the FA Cup against Barrow tomorrow afternoon, Stevenage have the perfect opportunity to close the gap ahead of the midweek fixtures in the Blue Square Premier.

Another game and another win for Stevenage as Weymouth were brushed aside at the Wessex Stadium on Saturday. Boro are now back up to 3rd in the Blue Square Premier table and are becoming serious contenders for the promotion spots come the end of the season. Graham Westley's side are gaining in confidence in every [.

Not much of a preview, just a short blog today as I don't have much time. Boro travel to Manchester this afternoon to face Altrincham as they look to extend their unbeaten run further. Last season saw PT's Boro win convincingly there, while the season before Mark Stimson's side lost on the opening day.

Up next for Stevenage in their push for the play-offs is Oxford United at Broadhall Way. Chris Wilder's side, along with Boro are one of the form teams in the league and are making a late push for the last realistic play-off spot. The ex Halifax boss has transformed the fortunes of the U's and [...]

The games are coming thick and fast and next up for Boro is a trip up North to face York City in what is a warm up for the FA Trophy Final in May. Graham Westley's side are 23 games unbeaten in all competitions and face another difficult away trip in their pursuit of a play-off [...]

Stevenage Borough v Kidderminster Harriers. Tomorrow night's game is arguably bigger than the FA Trophy Final between the two sides in 2007 at the new Wembley Stadium. Boro are a point away from Harriers who are currently in the last remaining play-off spot with just two games remaining. Kiddy drew at the weekend away at Histon, while Stevenage were held by Torquay United in a frustrating encounter at Broadhall Way.

A big game tonight and another big win for Graham Westley's side. If only we had hit the ground running back in August!

Stevenage have been superb since December. If the season had begun at the beginning of that month, then Boro would be comfortable winners of the Blue Square Premier.

Stevenage's 16th consecutive season in the Blue Square Premier will kick off at home against newly promoted Tamworth on the 8th August. The opening week of the new season couldn't of been nicer for Graham Westley's side with a home fixture against a newly promoted club to start off with and then two away fixtures against two teams liklier to be at the bottom end of the table come April.

I'm pretty sure that Graham Westley's idea of a good start to the new season wasn't drawing at home against newly promoted Tamworth. It was a poor game and a poor result which will hardly help bring back the 2130 supporters that turned up at Broadhall Way yesterday afternoon.

Surprisingly Mitchell Cole returned to the squad and was named on the bench.

A trip to table toppers Oxford United awaits Stevenage Borough as Graham Westley's side look to build on the first win of the season in midweek against Ebbsfleet. The Kassam Stadium is not an easy place to go at this level and Boro's record there in the past 3 seasons highlights that point even further.

We've all been there. It's the last minute and your team is clinging on to a vital, undeserved win away from home. You stand and bellow support for your lads with their backs against the walls, frantically throwing themselves in front of every ball headed toward the goal to break your heart.

Barrow AFC's home ground, Hoker Street, after a match against AFC Wimbledon in the Blue Square Premier. November 14th, 2009.

Photo credit: Chalfont Don on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Boro face Barrow at Broadhall Way on Saturday after a week away from Blue Square Premier action. Barrow are struggling at the wrong end of the table at the moment and were knocked out both the FA Cup and FA Trophy since their last BSP match against Forest Green, which also ended in defeat. Funnily [.

Matches were played across the Blue Square Premier tonight and here's how they affect Boro's position in the race for the play-offs. Table toppers Burton Albion visited crisis club Weymouth aiming to get back to winning ways after last Thursday night's defeat away at Ebbsfleet United. They did that in style beating the South Coast [.

As the season draws to a close, I thought it would be worth taking a look at the leagues above and below the Blue Square Premier to see who Boro could face next season, if they don't get promoted. If we do go up, believe me I will be doing a profile of every single club we could face in League 2, the Carling Cup and the Johnstone's Paint Trophy throughout the summer!

After the 4-2 defeat away at Kidderminster on Saturday, tomorrow night's game has just got that bit bigger. If playing Cambridge at home isn't a big enough motivation for both players & supporters anyway, it certainly will be after the weekend's result at Aggborough. Boro need to win. Anything less and they can kiss goodbye to the Blue Square Premier play-offs for yet another season.

The day they hoped would never come. Luton's draw with Chesterfield yesterday, coupled with Grimsby's win at Notts County, saw the Hatter's relegated from the Football League and into the Blue Square Premier.

It's been a mixed 10 days for Luton. Crowned winners of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Wembley, in front of 40,000 of their own supporters; to the confirmation of losing their league status.

Tomorrow night's game is the next biggest game of Stevenage Borough's history. It seems like every game at the moment just keeps getting that bit more important and the visit of Cambridge United to Broadhall Way for the second time in the month promises to be another end to end affair. Boro ran out 2-1 winners a few weeks ago with goals coming from Junior Mendes and Lee Boylan.

Tomorrow night's game is the next biggest game of Stevenage Borough's history. It seems like every game at the moment just keeps getting that bit more important and the visit of Cambridge United to Broadhall Way for the second time in the month promises to be another end to end affair. Boro ran out 2-1 winners a few weeks ago with goals coming from Junior Mendes and Lee Boylan.

A big game tonight and another big win for Graham Westley's side. If only we had hit the ground running back in August!

Stevenage have been superb since December. If the season had begun at the beginning of that month, then Boro would be comfortable winners of the Blue Square Premier.

All this week Soccerlens will be preparing for the big kick-off on August 8th with a full preview of the English leagues from Championship downwards. We start off with the Blue Square Premier, better known as the Conference. Can Luton Town bounce back? Will AFC Wimbledon take a third successive promotion?

Its the battle of 17th versus 18th in the Blue Square Premier tomorrow night. Boro are still unbeaten, but have struggled so far this term, while opponents Ebbsfleet are still finding their feet after a traumatic summer which saw just 3 players remain from last season's squad. Even their official website is having problems at the minute!

I may as well get this out in the open straight away: I'm a York City fan. One who is aiming to get to every single one of our Conference league matches next season, starting on Saturday. Those two sickening revelations out of the way, it's only fair to tell you that I'm planning to do the whole thing on my pushbike.

Well, no-one saw this coming: Ebbsfleet United, the "world's first web community owned club", has lost most of its community in its second year of operation and the club is spiralling towards disaster on and off the field.

It's hard to say just how unsurprising this is.

Tomorrow night see's the league's bottom club, Chester City visit Broadhall Way for the first time since the opening day of the 2003/2004 season. Chester won the Conference that season after finishing 1 point clear of Hereford United, who were arguably the better side. Stevenage, with Westley at the helm, finished in 8th position, but took 4 points off the eventual champions which included a 2-1 win at the Deva Stadium.

Stevenage carried on their unbeaten run in the Blue Square Premier as they recorded a 1-0 win away at Salisbury City thanks to a Charlie Griffin strike just before half-time. Boro are now just 2 points away from Oxford United, who were held at home against Barrow today in the FA Cup 2nd round.

It was a year ago yesterday that Stevenage were last beat at Broadhall Way in the league. That 2-1 defeat by Wrexham now feels like a very long time ago and the team has come a long way since then.

Boro could find themselves top of the Blue Square Premier tomorrow night if they win away at Ebbsfleet and Oxford lose against Crawley at the Broadfield Stadium.

As usual, it has been a busy festive period for Stevenage Borough. Graham Westley's side had not played a league game since the 5th December before they visited Cambridge United on Boxing Day and then hosted AFC Wimbledon 2 days later at Broadhall Way. It's not over yet either with Cambridge visiting again on New Years Day.