GRAND RIVERSIDE

Opened in 1995 this is the grand Riverside Stadium – home of The Boro !
Relatively quiet now but tomorrow we host Blackburn Rovers in a key game. This is where Craig and I hope to be. Tickets collected today.

The stadium was built at a golden time for the football club. Recently promoted to the Premier League, star signings were made every year, including the mercurial Brazilian player Juninho.

Under the central nameboard are the Ayresome Gates - Ayresome Park was the old ground and these gates were preserved to remember the days in 1986 when the club nearly ended as financial problems closed down the club. One person, Steve Gibson, masterminded a rescue plan and he is Club Chairman to this day.

Sadly Boro now ply their trade in the Championship and the ground often seems empty with a crowd of around 15,000. Still we have high hopes of promotion under the direction of Aitor Karanka – our first Spanish Manager.

There are sporty bits below – feel free to read or ignore – but make sure you all have a grand weekend !

Sporty Bit 1 . . . Key games for Boro this month that will determine whether we gain promotion or not – keep waving your Karankachief !
Sporty Bit 2 . . . Cricket – no more KP in the England side – to say opinion is divided is an understatement !
Sporty Bit 3 . . . Sam Burgess wants to leave Australian Rugby League side South Sydney Rabbitohs and move to play Rugby Union for Bath. Interesting times ahead.