08-01-2023, 17:41
Stevenage manager Steve Evans has extended his contract with the automatic promotion-chasing League Two club until June 2025.
When the 60-year-old Scot was appointed in mid-March, Stevenage had not won in nine games and sat 22nd in League Two, three points above the relegation zone.
But they lost just two of their last seven games of the 2021-22 season.
Having stayed up, this season they have lost just three times in 24 games to sit in second place in League Two.
They are just two points behind leaders Leyton Orient - with a 12-point cushion to fourth-placed Carlisle United, who currently head the play-off contenders.
Latest League Two table
"Our results since Steve arrived speak for themselves." said chairman Phil Wallace.
"We have increased our budget this season, but it is the selection of players that has made the difference.
"Steve and Leon Hunter, working together with players and agents respectively, have brought not only good players, but great characters.
"We are still determined to run a tight ship financially and conduct smart business, but the spirit and camaraderie that Steve has built amongst the group is admirable.
"We have had too many seasons in dark places, and we are enjoying where we are now."
The news of Evans' extended deal came on the day his side head to the Midlands to face Aston Villa in the third round of the FA Cup.
Stevenage is Evans' eighth club, after starting with the first of two spells at Boston United in 1998.
He has since also managed Crawley Town, Rotherham United, who he guided to the Championship in 2014, Leeds United, Mansfield Town, Peterborough United and Gillingham, who he left in January 2022.
Evans has taken charge of more than 1,000 games as a manager, almost 600 of them in the EFL.
When the 60-year-old Scot was appointed in mid-March, Stevenage had not won in nine games and sat 22nd in League Two, three points above the relegation zone.
But they lost just two of their last seven games of the 2021-22 season.
Having stayed up, this season they have lost just three times in 24 games to sit in second place in League Two.
They are just two points behind leaders Leyton Orient - with a 12-point cushion to fourth-placed Carlisle United, who currently head the play-off contenders.
Latest League Two table
"Our results since Steve arrived speak for themselves." said chairman Phil Wallace.
"We have increased our budget this season, but it is the selection of players that has made the difference.
"Steve and Leon Hunter, working together with players and agents respectively, have brought not only good players, but great characters.
"We are still determined to run a tight ship financially and conduct smart business, but the spirit and camaraderie that Steve has built amongst the group is admirable.
"We have had too many seasons in dark places, and we are enjoying where we are now."
The news of Evans' extended deal came on the day his side head to the Midlands to face Aston Villa in the third round of the FA Cup.
Stevenage is Evans' eighth club, after starting with the first of two spells at Boston United in 1998.
He has since also managed Crawley Town, Rotherham United, who he guided to the Championship in 2014, Leeds United, Mansfield Town, Peterborough United and Gillingham, who he left in January 2022.
Evans has taken charge of more than 1,000 games as a manager, almost 600 of them in the EFL.
Have you heard about the news on Mizar 5
People got to shout to stay alive
People got to shout to stay alive