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Can Boreham Wood make history by winning the National League play-offs?
While Rochdale have quite rightly been garnering most of the attention ahead of the National League play-off final, Boreham Wood have been quietly making their own history.
Having only been promoted to the fifth tier via the play-offs last term, Luke Garrard's side now have the opportunity to achieve a second successive promotion and reach the Football League.
Zak Brunt clinches extra time winner against 10-man Carlisle United
Watch Carlisle vs. Boreham Wood highlights
The Wood have never played in the EFL in their 78-year history, meaning they will etch their names into the record books with victory at Wembley Stadium.
Building up to what is set to be a Sunday afternoon packed with hope, tension and drama, DAZN News delves into Boreham Wood's journey to the cusp of League Two.
Started from the bottom, now we're here
Founded in 1948, Boreham Wood was born following the amalgamation of Boreham Rovers and Royal Retournez.
Like any club starting, they had to begin at the bottom of the pile, working their way up from the Mid-Herts, Parthenon, Spartan and Athenian Leagues all the way up to the National League.
Within that time, the Wood achieved several significant achievements, including reaching the FA trophy semi-finals during the 2005-06 season, becoming the lowest-ranked club to reach that stage of the tournament.
In the 2013-14 campaign, the club tasted cup glory, defeating local rivals Bishops Stortford in the Herts Senior Cup final on penalties.
Following building developments in 2013, former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger opened the new 870-seater West Stand in front of a bumper crowd of 3,400.
Getty Images
Further success on the pitch shortly followed as Boreham Wood reached the National League play-off final in 2018, only to narrowly lose out 2-1 to Tranmere Rovers at the home of football.
While they might have thought it would be just a matter of time until they reached League Two, they had to do things the hard way to get another bite of the cherry.
To the brink and back again
Having reached the play-offs twice more, Boreham Wood were then relegated back to the National League South in 2024, but they made rather short work of returning to the highs of the fifth tier.
Garrard, who became manager in 2015, led the club to a fifth-placed finish in the sixth tier last term, overcoming Dorking Wanderers and Torquay United before beating Maidstone United 1-0 in an incredibly tight final.
Not many would have fancied Garrard's men to reach the top seven on their return to the National League, but they and Scunthorpe United did a stellar job in doing so at the first time of asking.
What sets the club apart from almost the entire division is their goalscoring ability, having totalled 95 goals in the regular campaign, bettered only by champions York City.
Indeed, the Wood boast four players to have scored more than 10 goals each this season, with Matt Rush, Zak Brunt, Abdul Abdulmalik and Lewis Richardson bagging 68 goals between them.
Garrard's side have scored an astonishing three or more goals in 16 league encounters already this term and did so in their victory over title-winners York back in March.
Getty Images
Why Luke Garrard is the symbol of Boreham Wood
While managers do tend to stay at clubs for longer periods in Non-League football, Garrard is still an anomaly in that he has been at Boreham Wood for 11 years.
What is even more remarkable is that he was just 30 when he took the job in 2015, making him the youngest manager in the top five tiers of English football.
The Barnet-born man followed a familiar path from player to manager, going from a Tottenham youth hopeful before taking up an assistant job alongside former Arsenal winger and then manager Ian Allinson.
Garrard did play for the Wood himself, having joined in 2010, helping them to win promotion to the Conference South and then into the National League.
Speaking after his side's victory over Carlisle United in the semi-final, he said: "I don’t want to play at Wembley – I want to win at Wembley.
“I want to make sure I feel like a bride as opposed to a bridesmaid. I want to win at Wembley.
“I’ve kept saying it – success for us now is being successful in a play-off game.
“And now we need to make sure we’re ready.”
To reign victorious at Wembley Stadium, Boreham Wood will need to do something that they have never done before and beat Rochdale on the fifth attempt.
Given that Dale finished second on 106 points, many will be hoping that they are victorious on Sunday as they have proved they are worthy of promotion back to the Football League.
However, it would also be hard to begrudge the Wood, who could top off an unbelievable journey up the Non-League pyramid to League Two for the first time in their history.
How to watch Boreham Wood vs. Rochdale exclusively on DAZN
The play-off finals for all three divisions in the National League will be available on DAZN for £14.99 with an NLTV Season Pass.
From next season, DAZN will have more National League coverage than ever before with:
- 400+ National League games live on DAZN from the 26/27 season
- Every National League team live at least 30 times a season
- A selection of National League North and National League South matches is available every month
- Every playoff game live
NLTV on DAZN is available on any device, including Smart TVs, mobile devices, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles, and, for viewers in the UK, your Sky box.
If you do not have the App already, then just follow these instructions....
- Download the free DAZN App from your normal App store on your TV, phone, tablet, or streaming device
- On a laptop or PC, visit www.DAZN.com/home
- Select 'Get started' or 'log in'
- Enter your email address, or sign up via the Apple, Google, or Facebook options
- You then have access to all of DAZN's free content, including the Matchroom boxing channel, LIV Golf, and FIFA+
- Then find the National League page and click 'buy now'
For more information and to sign up, head here now.
*3pm Saturday kick-offs are subject to TV blackout restrictions, but available to watch later on Saturday on demand.
