Riverside Stadium
Encyclopedia
The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough
, North Yorkshire
, England
, which has been the home of Middlesbrough F.C.
since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,988 all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place to expand that to 42,000 if required.
after the Taylor Report
, which required all top division football stadia to be all-seater. After the report was delivered in January 1990, Middlesbrough needed an all-seater stadium by August 1994, and were unable to expand Ayresome Park outwards owing to its location in a residential area, and expanding the stadium upwards would have limited the club to a capacity of around 20,000 seats - the club wanted a considerably larger capacity. The decision was taken by club officials to build a new stadium; Teesside Development Corporation
offered them the Middlehaven site by the River Tees
for development.
The new 30,000 seater stadium was constructed by Taylor Woodrow Construction
for £16 million, taking 32 weeks to complete after work began in the autumn of 1994. The name of the stadium was chosen by the club's fans, following a vote during the final game at Ayresome Park. The other choices available were Middlehaven Stadium, Erimus Stadium and Teesside Stadium. When first opened, the name was amended to Cellnet Riverside Stadium (and then BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium) as part of a £3 million sponsorship deal with Cellnet, but this deal ended after the 2001–02 season.
The first game was played against Chelsea
in front of a 28,286 crowd (the highest home attendance in 14 years) on 26 August 1995. Middlesbrough won the game 2–0, with Craig Hignett
taking the honour of scoring the first ever goal at the stadium, Jan Åge Fjørtoft
scoring the second. Their first season at their new stadium was also their first back in the FA Premier League
following promotion after two seasons away.
In their second season at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough were runners-up in both of the domestic cups but a points deduction in the league meant that they were relegated from the Premier League.
In 1998 – when Middlesbrough were promoted back to the Premier League at the first attempt – the capacity was increased by 5,000 by filling in the north and south west corners at a cost of £5 million. This expansion gave the stadium its current 35,000 capacity.
In 2005 the club resurrected the old Ayresome Park gates which had been famously locked when the club went in to liquidation. They were erected outside the Riverside Stadium as a new entrance, a reminder of the past. The club have the Council's permission to extend the capacity by another 7,000 if demand made it necessary, which would bring its capacity to 42,000. Another addition has been statues of former players, George Hardwick
and Wilf Mannion
. The entrance is also the location for the "Borobrick Road" where fans making a donation can have a message, often in memory. For Armistice Day
2008, a set of bricks commemorating 8 players who died in the World Wars was unveiled.
In July 2008, planning permission was granted by Middlesbrough Council to construct a wind turbine
at the site of the stadium, standing 125 metres high and capable of generating 3 Megawatts
of electricity. The turbine will be used to power the stadium, with the excess being sold to the National Grid
.
, the Riverside Stadium has played host to international football. During the construction of the new Wembley Stadium
, the England national football team
toured the country, playing at varying grounds. The Riverside was chosen to host the Euro 2004
qualifying match against Slovakia
on 11 June 2003. England won the match 2–1 with a brace from Michael Owen
after Vladimír Janočko
had put Slovakia ahead. The match is also notable for pitting Middlesbrough's England defender Gareth Southgate
against their own Slovakian striker at the time, Szilárd Németh
.
The North stand backs on to the River Tees and is where the majority of the more vocal home support congregates. The roof houses an electronic scoreboard.
The West stand runs along the length of the pitch and is the stadium's largest stand. The stand contains a number of executive boxes along its length as well as restaurants etc. The stand houses the changing rooms, and the players tunnel emerges from the middle of the stand. The main television gantry and commentators / press box is located at the back of the stand. White seating in the top tier spells out the club's nickname "BORO".
The East stand opposite the main West stand greets the players as they walk out the tunnel. White seating in the top tier of the stand spells out "MFC". The roof houses five flagpoles with various flags flying, usually representing the league and cup competitions the club are participating in, as well as a flag of the team crest.
The South stand generally houses the away support (on the South-West side), although home supporters can be accommodated (on the South-East side). The roof houses an electronic scoreboard similar to that in the North stand roof.
games only.
Championship Attendances
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, which has been the home of Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough F.C.
Middlesbrough Football Club , also known as Boro, are an English football club based in Middlesbrough, who play in the Football League Championship. Formed in 1876, they have played at the Riverside Stadium since August 1995, their third ground since turning professional in 1889...
since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,988 all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place to expand that to 42,000 if required.
History
The stadium was built to replace Ayresome ParkAyresome Park
-External links:**-References:...
after the Taylor Report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
, which required all top division football stadia to be all-seater. After the report was delivered in January 1990, Middlesbrough needed an all-seater stadium by August 1994, and were unable to expand Ayresome Park outwards owing to its location in a residential area, and expanding the stadium upwards would have limited the club to a capacity of around 20,000 seats - the club wanted a considerably larger capacity. The decision was taken by club officials to build a new stadium; Teesside Development Corporation
Teesside Development Corporation
The Teesside Development Corporation was a government-backed development corporation that was established in 1987 to fund and manage regeneration projects in the former-county of Cleveland in North East England....
offered them the Middlehaven site by the River Tees
River Tees
The River Tees is in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines, and flows eastwards for 85 miles to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar.-Geography:...
for development.
The new 30,000 seater stadium was constructed by Taylor Woodrow Construction
Taylor Woodrow
Taylor Woodrow was one of the largest British housebuilding and general construction companies. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged with rival George Wimpey to create Taylor Wimpey on 3 July 2007.-Early years:Frank Taylor was...
for £16 million, taking 32 weeks to complete after work began in the autumn of 1994. The name of the stadium was chosen by the club's fans, following a vote during the final game at Ayresome Park. The other choices available were Middlehaven Stadium, Erimus Stadium and Teesside Stadium. When first opened, the name was amended to Cellnet Riverside Stadium (and then BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium) as part of a £3 million sponsorship deal with Cellnet, but this deal ended after the 2001–02 season.
The first game was played against Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in front of a 28,286 crowd (the highest home attendance in 14 years) on 26 August 1995. Middlesbrough won the game 2–0, with Craig Hignett
Craig Hignett
Craig Hignett, , is an English former professional footballer who now works as an agent and a commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live...
taking the honour of scoring the first ever goal at the stadium, Jan Åge Fjørtoft
Jan Åge Fjørtoft
Jan Aage Fjørtoft is a former Norwegian footballer. A powerful centre forward with netting ability , he played professionally in Norway, Austria, England and Germany...
scoring the second. Their first season at their new stadium was also their first back in the FA Premier League
FA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
following promotion after two seasons away.
In their second season at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough were runners-up in both of the domestic cups but a points deduction in the league meant that they were relegated from the Premier League.
In 1998 – when Middlesbrough were promoted back to the Premier League at the first attempt – the capacity was increased by 5,000 by filling in the north and south west corners at a cost of £5 million. This expansion gave the stadium its current 35,000 capacity.
In 2005 the club resurrected the old Ayresome Park gates which had been famously locked when the club went in to liquidation. They were erected outside the Riverside Stadium as a new entrance, a reminder of the past. The club have the Council's permission to extend the capacity by another 7,000 if demand made it necessary, which would bring its capacity to 42,000. Another addition has been statues of former players, George Hardwick
George Hardwick
George Hardwick was an English football player and coach. During his time as an active player, he played left defender for Middlesbrough...
and Wilf Mannion
Wilf Mannion
Wilfred James Mannion was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward, making over 350 senior appearances for Middlesbrough. He also played international football for England...
. The entrance is also the location for the "Borobrick Road" where fans making a donation can have a message, often in memory. For Armistice Day
Armistice Day
Armistice Day is on 11 November and commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, France, for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I, which took effect at eleven o'clock in the morning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day...
2008, a set of bricks commemorating 8 players who died in the World Wars was unveiled.
In July 2008, planning permission was granted by Middlesbrough Council to construct a wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
at the site of the stadium, standing 125 metres high and capable of generating 3 Megawatts
Watt
The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...
of electricity. The turbine will be used to power the stadium, with the excess being sold to the National Grid
National Grid plc
National Grid plc is a multinational electricity and gas utility company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its principal activities are in the United Kingdom and northeastern United States and it is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world.National Grid is listed on...
.
International matches
Like its predecessor Ayresome ParkAyresome Park
-External links:**-References:...
, the Riverside Stadium has played host to international football. During the construction of the new Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
, the England national football team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
toured the country, playing at varying grounds. The Riverside was chosen to host the Euro 2004
2004 UEFA European Football Championship
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, better known as Euro 2004, was the 12th European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European national teams. It was hosted in Portugal, for the first time, between 12 June and 4 July 2004, following its selection by UEFA, in...
qualifying match against Slovakia
Slovakia national football team
The Slovakia national football team represents Slovakia in association football and is controlled by the Slovak Football Association , the governing body for football in Slovakia. Slovakia's home stadium is Štadión Pasienky and their head coach is Vladimír Weiss...
on 11 June 2003. England won the match 2–1 with a brace from Michael Owen
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester United.The son of former footballer Terry Owen, Owen began his senior career at Liverpool in 1996. He progressed through the Liverpool youth team and scored on his debut in May 1997...
after Vladimír Janočko
Vladimír Janocko
Vladimír Janočko is a Slovak football midfielder who currently plays for FC Leopoldsdorf. Janočko was capped 42 times for Slovakia and scored three goals.-Austria:*Austrian Football Bundesliga: 2003, 2006...
had put Slovakia ahead. The match is also notable for pitting Middlesbrough's England defender Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate in Crawley, West Sussex is a retired English footballer and ex-manager. He is known as the "Penalty Misser of '96." He served as manager of Middlesbrough from June 2006, until he was dismissed in October 2009...
against their own Slovakian striker at the time, Szilárd Németh
Szilárd Németh
Szilárd Németh is a former Slovakian footballer who was last playing for German club Alemannia Aachen. He usually plays as a striker or right midfielder.-Club career:...
.
| Date | Result | Competition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 August 2000 | 6–1 | Under-21 Friendly | ||
| 4 September 2001 | 5–0 | 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship UEFA U-21 Championship 2002 was the 13th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Football Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Switzerland between 16 and 28 May 2002.Czech Republic U-21s won the competition for the first time.-Qualification:... qualification |
||
| 11 June 2003 | 2–1 | 2004 UEFA European Football Championship 2004 UEFA European Football Championship The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, better known as Euro 2004, was the 12th European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European national teams. It was hosted in Portugal, for the first time, between 12 June and 4 July 2004, following its selection by UEFA, in... qualification |
||
| 7 August 2004 | 3–1 | Under-21 Friendly | ||
| 29 March 2005 | 2–0 | 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification The qualifying groups for the UEFA U-21 Championship 2006, where possible, matched the 7- and 6-team World Cup 2006 qualifying groups of the senior European teams. The exceptions were where Andorra, Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, and Northern Ireland were involved; none of whom entered an under-21... |
Stadium
The stadium is fully enclosed with every seat offering an uninterrupted view of the pitch. The four main stands are commonly known as the North, East, West and South stands. The corners are commonly known as the North-East, North-West, South-East and South-West corners.The North stand backs on to the River Tees and is where the majority of the more vocal home support congregates. The roof houses an electronic scoreboard.
The West stand runs along the length of the pitch and is the stadium's largest stand. The stand contains a number of executive boxes along its length as well as restaurants etc. The stand houses the changing rooms, and the players tunnel emerges from the middle of the stand. The main television gantry and commentators / press box is located at the back of the stand. White seating in the top tier spells out the club's nickname "BORO".
The East stand opposite the main West stand greets the players as they walk out the tunnel. White seating in the top tier of the stand spells out "MFC". The roof houses five flagpoles with various flags flying, usually representing the league and cup competitions the club are participating in, as well as a flag of the team crest.
The South stand generally houses the away support (on the South-West side), although home supporters can be accommodated (on the South-East side). The roof houses an electronic scoreboard similar to that in the North stand roof.
Records
- Record Attendance (All teams): 35,000 EnglandEngland national football teamThe England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
v SlovakiaSlovakia national football teamThe Slovakia national football team represents Slovakia in association football and is controlled by the Slovak Football Association , the governing body for football in Slovakia. Slovakia's home stadium is Štadión Pasienky and their head coach is Vladimír Weiss...
, 11 June 2003, (Euro 20042004 UEFA European Football ChampionshipThe 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, better known as Euro 2004, was the 12th European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European national teams. It was hosted in Portugal, for the first time, between 12 June and 4 July 2004, following its selection by UEFA, in...
qualifier) - Record Attendance (Middlesbrough): 34,836 v Norwich CityNorwich City F.C.Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
, 28 December 2004 (FA Premier LeagueFA Premier League 2004-05The 2004–05 season of the FA Premier League began on 14 August 2004 and ended on 15 May 2005. Arsenal were the defending champions after going unbeaten the previous season....
)
Average Attendances
2002-2009 data for FA Premier LeagueFA Premier League
The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...
games only.
| Season | Attendance |
|---|---|
| 2002–03 | 31,025 |
| 2003–04 | 30,398 |
| 2004–05 | 32,012 |
| 2005–06 | 28,463 |
| 2006–07 | 26,092 |
| 2007–08 | 26,657 |
| 2008–09 | 28,428 |
Championship Attendances
| Season | Attendance |
|---|---|
| 2009–10 | 19,948 |
| 2010–11 | 16,269 |