The final league game at our famous 93 year old ground was here, all the wonderful & not so wonderful, happy & sad memories, us Boro fans will have seen, Bryan Robson in his 1st managerial position had us on the verge of promotion
December 1971 our dad took me & our Kev Kevin Rees in to the boysend, he could never remember who the opposition was on our 1st ever Boro home game, he would stand in front of us in the bob end, separated by a small wall & that was it, we were hooked
18th January 1972 when I was 11, me & our Kev went to our 1st ever cup match when top 1st division Man City were the visitors for a FAC 3rd round replay following our 1-1 draw at Maine road 3 days earlier, our 1st floodlit game, showing a snow covered Ayresome Park, with snow piled up against the advertising boards, Boro won 1-0, courtesy of iconic legend Mr Middlesbrough, John Hickton scoring the only goal
I can't ever remember missing more than a couple of home games in a row from late 72 until we left AP, attending all the very low & very low, low attendances we had, the Boro at home was a must in our household
Charlton's Champions was my favourite era, 51 years & still remembered as a great team, with great players
John Neal's teams were awesome too, exciting times & very good young, exciting players, we should have won a trophy, invincible at home, not so away
Bobby Murdoch's era brought us down to earth mind with a bump & reality that it wasn't set in stone we would have great players, in very good Boro teams
Malcolm Allison was next through the door, I really enjoyed big Mal's reign as manager, you felt part of something with the dwindling crowds & back's to the wall at times of struggle
Willie Maddren's term as manager, following big Jack's short temporary return to steer us from relegation, well he was just so unlucky, the best way to put his term in office, the right man at the right time, he managed the club at our lowest ebb, made some excellent signings, tried unsuccessfully to make one or two other exceptional signings, but it just wouldn't work for him, one of his major signings was bringing Bruce Rioch to the football club
Willie knew it wasn't going to be at the Boro & after a succession of defeats was relieved of his duties, he had brought a group of players to the club who would go on to become household names, Boro legends in their own right
Bruce was given temporary charge of the Boro, with one request, try & keep the Boro in the 2nd division, Bruce tried but was unsuccessful & the Boro were relegated to the 3rd division away to Shrewsbury on the final day of the season
On the 21st May 1986, following relegation, the Boro went in to voluntary liquidation, what followed that summer was to become one of the most incredible seasons that many of us were fortunate to witness & most likely never will again.
Boro & Bruce, the last person Willie Maddren brought to the Boro & most certainly, Willie Maddren's finest purchase, were made for each other & 3 fantastic season's followed
I can still see the celebrations before the Luton game, a number of ex-players paraded around all sides of the cinder path, Mannion, Maddren, Hickton, Boam, Platt, Hardwick, Mogga, Craggs, Ashcroft, Hodgson to name but a few
I was lucky enough to be at the front of the holgate taking plenty of photos & getting my season ticket book signed by some of the ex-players
A fantastic sight to see when all 4 stands, with scarves waving, sang in unison 'walk on', followed by the naming of the new stadium being unveiled
The party atmosphere could make the players complacent, a very important game was to be played, the Luton game was massive, with one team going up automatically this was a game we HAD to win, not only avoiding the dreaded playoffs, but to push us ahead of our closest promotion rivals for that one spot, plus, we lost our very 1st home league game at Ayresome Park on the 3rd of September 1903, we certainly didn't want to lose the last one
The match kicked off with the Boro players understandably feeling nervous, the atmosphere was quite muted, IIRC, then gerrriinn there, the ref awarded the Boro a penalty, the final spot kick awarded at Ayresome Park, Neil Cox took the responsibility of taking the penalty, unfortunately he stepped up with the kick, the crowd held their breath, the Luton keeper saved, this certainly didn't help the nervous Boro fans one bit, but super cool John Hendrie was to be our saviour, scoring 2 goals, either side of a Luton equaliser, in the 45th minute bang on half time & again in the 72nd minute, putting us Boro fans in dreamland, in the final stages chances were created which went begging, again not helping easing our nerves, eventually the ref blew the full time whistle for the final time for a league game at Ayresome Park, the sun was shining & the Boro had won, a victory parade followed, fan spilled on to the pitch to celebrate with the players, the party atmosphere continued, at this point we weren't sure of automatic promotion, this came a few days later when Bolton drew at Stoke & Boro were up
In my time following the mighty Boro, we should have won the 1st division, now the PL, we should have won the FAC & could & should have won the League cup, went in to liquidation, locked out of our ground, numerous promotions & relegations, one of the best ever players in Graeme Souness, though we did win one piece of silverware when we won the ASC in 1975, beating Fulham 1-0 over 2 legs
Seen success at the Riverside, which I hoped I would have seen at AP with some of the excellent teams we had, but still doesn't hold the same emotions as Ayresome Park has, me, my dad, my brother, mates going in the holgate, scrambling over the holgate wall from the General hospital side & many years later my wife got a job in an office that faced the very wall we use to climb over in the early 70's
Some 26 managers & approx 600 players have played for the mighty Boro & graced Ayresome Park to name a few
As well as Charltons aces
Bruces legends
George Camsell
Tim Williamson
Micky Fenton
George Hardwick
Wilf Mannion
Brian Clough
Alan Peacock
George Elliott
Carr brothers
Andrew Nesbit Wilson
Harold Shepherdson
Willie Whigham
Gordon Jones
Stand Anderson
John Neal
Craig Johnston
Heine Otto
David Hodgson
Mark Proctor
And many, many more to many to mention
Boro team on this historic day
Alan Miller
Neil Cox
Derek Whyte
Steve Vickers
Nigel Pearson
Clayton Blackmore
Bryan Robson
Jamie Pollock
Jan Aaga Fjortoft
John Hendrie
Alan Moore
Subs
Uwe Fuchs
Janie Mareno
Stephen Pears, our 1st ever loanee
Attendance, 23,903
I told my kids, once the Boro break your heart they have you for life
Ayresome Park thanks for the memories
UTMB - erimus
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Managers at Ayresome Park
John Robson 1903 - May 1905
Alex Makie June 1905 - October 1906
Andy Aitken Nov 1906 - Feb 1909 - First Boro player manager
John Gunner Feb 1909 - June 1910
Andy Walker June 1910 - January 1911
Board/committee directors picked the team from January to the end of the season
Tom McIntosh August 1911 - Dec 1919
Jimmy Howie April 1920 - July 1923
Herbert Bamlett August 1923 - January 1927
Peter McWilliam January 19277 - March 1934
Wilf Gillow March 1934 - 1944
David Jack November 1944 - April 1952
Walter Rowley June 1952 - February 1954
Bob Dennison July 1954 - January 1963
Raich Carter January 1963 - February 1966
Harold Shepherdson from Feb to April - His 1st of 3 times as temporary manager
Stan Anderson April 1966 - January 1973 - Our first ever player coach ( not manager back then)
Harold Shepherdson from January to May 1973 - His 2nd of 3 times as temporary manager
Jack Charlton May 1973 - April 1977 - OBE
John Neal May 1977 - July 1981
Bobby Murdoch June 1981 - October 1982
Harold Shepherdson took temp charge for 3 games in October 1982 - His third of 3 times as temporary manager
Malcolm Allison October 1982 - March 1984
Jack Charlton March 1984 - June 1984 - Temporary manager
Willie Maddren June 1984 - February 1986
Bruce Rioch March 1986 - March 1990
Colin Todd March 1990 - June 1991
Lennie Lawrence July 1991 - May 1994
John Pickering one game v Charlton away 1994 won 5-2
Bryan Robson May 1994 - May 2001
Record signings at Ayresome Park
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