29 years ago today - The start of a new era

[erimus74]

Another historical day in our beloved Boro FC calendar

26th August 1995 - Boro played their 1st ever game at the Riverside Stadium

Our brand new sparkling stadium, the ideas & blueprints were printed in the Evening Gazette on the 23rd December 1993 & here we are, just under 2 years later, with a gleaming new football stadium, our new home after playing at Ayresome Park for 92 seasons
A very warm sunny day seen thousands of Teessiders excitingly flock to the Riverside, in probably the biggest event in Middlesbrough for many, many years, promoted from the 1st division, life in the top flight has never looked this good, or as exciting as it did that day
Making his home debut, after scoring on his away debut the previous weeks seasons opener away at Arsenal exciting young England international Nick Barmby, record signing, registered No655,
Chelsea were our visitors for this showcase fixture, Dutch international Rudd Gulllit in their ranks, thankfully, it was one of our own who went on to make history that afternoon
Step forward Craig Hignett, who will be be going in to the record books as the 1st ever goalscorer at the Riverside with Boro winning  2-0, Jan Åge Fjørtoft getting the 2nd
It was a race against time to get the ground finished & the game to go ahead, the day of the game was a dry one with no alcohol license granted for this fixture, but the day went smoothly, the sun came out, the Boro played well & we won

Bryan Robson started life in our new home with a victory, a perfect afternoon without a doubt
I took my camcorder along & videoed the whole event from walking to the ground to sampling the atmosphere leading up to kickof
From the standing Riverside storage tanks back in December 1993, the demolition of the area, through to the building of the Riverside & to cap it all, to the Chelsea game itself

The Boro team on that historic day

Alan Miller - RIP
Neil Cox
Chris Morris
Nigel Pearson
Steve Vickers
Derek Whyte
Robbie Mustoe
Jamie Pollock
Nick Barmby
Craig Hignett
Jan Åge Fjørtoft
Attendance - 28,826

From the day we went into voluntary liquidation in 1986, to the UEFA cup final, including the crazy time we failed to turn up at Blackburn Rovers, which cost us dearly, we were 11 days short of 20 years, life as a Boro fan is never dull

21st May 86 - Liquidated & gates locked
23rd Aug 86 - Boro saved - we played at Port Vale @ Hartlepools ground, thanks Pools
May 87 - Promoted as runners up from the 3rd division
May 88 - Finished joint 2nd with Villa on 78 points & identical plus 27 goals, it was Villa who went up due to scoring 5 more goals, we actually done the double over them that season too
May 88 - Blessing really, with us winning the play offs over two legs & promotion to the 1st division (now PL)
May 89 - Relegated from Div 1
March 90 - ZDS Cup final (first ever Wembley appearance)
May 90 - Survive relegation by the skin of our teeth by beating Newcastle on the final day of the season even then we had to rely on Leeds winning at Bournemouth to guarantee survival relying
Oct 90 - John Hendrie, IMO, scores one of the greatest goals ever seen at Ayresome Park.
May 91 - Lost the 2nd division play off semi final to Neil Warnock's Notts County
May 92 - Lenny Lawrences Boro secured automatic promotion to the 1st ever season in the PL with a 2-1 win at Molineux
May 93 - Relegated from the PL
Jul 93 - Our move to the Riverside announced
April 94 - Bryan Robson is named as our manager
Aug 94 - Neil Cox becomes our first £1m footballer
Apr 95 - Last ever league game at Ayresome Park v Luton Town
May 95 - Promotion guaranteed -  Boro are 1st division Champions without kicking a ball after Bolton draw at Stoke.
4th August 1995 - Boro record signing Nick Barmby for £5.25m from Spurs
August 26 1995 - Opening of the Riverside with a 2-0 against Chelsea
14th October 1995 - Boro sign Juninho for £4.75m
Sold out season tickets along with waiting list
4th November 1995 - Mass hysteria, Brazilian footballer of the year makes his Boro debut against Leeds at a packed Riverside
Finish 1995-96 in a respectable 12th position.
14th May 1996 - Boro sign Samba superstar Emerson & for the 1st month or so, probably the best player I have seen in a Boro shirt.
4th July 1996 - Scoring the Champions League final winner to signing for Boro... The White Feather arrives
August 1996 - Ravenelli scoring a hat trick on his debut against Liverpool, 1st hat trick at the Riverside
1996-97 - Juninho, Ravanelli, Emerson, Barmby, Hignett the media & the world loved the Boro
1996-97 - FAC matches, League Cup matches we were blessed
Not turning up at Blackburn
1st ever appearance in a major Wembley final.
1996-97 - 2 Cup final appearances & relegation.
3 points deducted & relegated, we never lost one game after scoring 1st, quite remarkable for a relegated team, while only winning one game from a losing position.
Summer of 97 - court cases regarding the three points
1997 - Ayresome Park was demolished
1998 - Another cup final after beating Liverpool over 2 legs in the semi final
Promotion back to the PL
February 2004 - Carling cup winners
2004 - Playing in European competition for the 1st time
10th May 2006 - UEFA cup final

After that we seemed to have reverted back to the normal Boro we grew up to know & love

[In With the Lurpak]

I took my camcorder along & videoed the whole event from walking to the ground to sampling the atmosphere leading up to kickof
From the standing Riverside storage tanks back in December 1993, the demolition of the area, through to the building of the Riverside & to cap it all, to the Chelsea game itself



Fantastic stuff Erimus