Remembering Ayresome Park, 25 years after Middlesbrough’s final home game there

These wistful words were spoken by the inimitable Brian Clough, one of Middlesbrough’s most famous sons, as he surveyed his old kingdom of Ayresome Park when deep in conversation with another esteemed footballing figure in Brian Moore in a documentary about his life in the early 1990s.

Cloughie’s comments will forever chime with thousands of Teessiders, whose stories of Ayresome are regaled as freely as the beer used to be poured in the pre-match pubs nearby – the Yellow Rose, the Wellington, the Linthorpe Hotel and many more.

Particularly in this of all weeks.

A quarter of a century ago this week, Boro played their last competitive match at Ayresome Park – their home of 92 years – in a fixture of immense significance against Luton Town in the old second division.

It was a spring Sunday which began with reminiscence and a quick nod to the future – with the name of the club’s new ground unveiled as the Riverside Stadium ahead of kick-off – followed by 90 minutes of unremitting tension in front of a capacity crowd of 23,903.

After that, there was relief as Boro took a giant step to promotion to the Premier League and the carnival returned.

But eventually, the music would die down, with supporters taking one last look at the spot where they used to stand or the seat where they used to sit before heading off into the sunset with a lump in their throats.

I was among that throng on that day of April 30, 1995 as I departed the Holgate End for the last time. It seems like yesterday.

My paternal grandfather – raised in London, but someone who was stationed on Teesside in the Second World War and would never leave – had been similarly resident at Ayresome for a number of years before.

Yet he would not go again after Clough’s transfer to Sunderland in June, 1961, so upset was he that the club sold their top-scorer to the rival up the road. But that’s another story. Thankfully, other family members would carry on the tradition.

The great and the good who once graced the old ground were all there to say farewell. George Hardwick, Alan Peacock, Willie Maddren and David Armstrong among others – and, of course, Ayresome’s ‘Golden Boy’ in Wilf Mannion.

It was a fitting end, in more ways than one.

Boro triumphed 2-1, thanks to a brace from John Hendrie, who also scored one of the greatest goals seen at the stadium against Millwall in October, 1990 following a magical box-to-box run.

Other than a local lad scoring the winner, the fact that a Scot scored the final goal at Ayresome – given the rich history of Tartan talents who strode out on the turf from Souness to Slaven and Murdoch to McAndrew – was about right.

As was the fact that the decisive second goal arrived in front of the Holgate – a home end not as big as Sunderland’s Fulwell End or Newcastle United’s Gallowgate End, but similarly belligerent and cacophonous and imposing in its own way.

That day represented one last glorious hurrah at Ayresome, a stadium which would also hold historical significance for clubs other than the hosts – and two nations in particular.

Ayresome was chosen ahead of St James’ Park as one of the playing venues for the 1966 World Cup and was the stage for arguably the greatest shock in the global competition.

A goal from Pak Doo-Ik saw tiny North Korea – who had the full backing of the locals – stun Italy 1-0 and knock them out of the World Cup in a result which reverberated across the globe.

It remains the darkest hour in the proud history of the Azzurri.

For Liverpool fans, Ayresome is the place where Kenny Dalglish made his league debut for the Reds in August, 1977, finding the net after seven minutes.

It also played a major part in the history of Aston Villa.

Exactly 39 years ago today, a late brace from Boro striker Bosco Jankovic saw the hosts beat Ipswich 2-1 on the final day of the 1980-81 season and win the title for Villa, who had lost at Arsenal and were sweating on events in the North Riding.

Ever since, May 2 has been celebrated as ‘Bosko Jankovic Day’ by many grateful Villains.

Ayresome was the venue for a key moment in the history of another Yorkshire club in Huddersfield Town – a 1-1 draw in March, 1970 securing promotion after a 14-year absence to the top-flight for the Terriers, captained by Trevor Cherry, whose passing has so stunned the world of football this week.

For wholly different reasons, the ground entered into folklore for Sheffield Wednesday, who were routed 8-0 in Boro’s final home game of the 1973-74 campaign, arguably the greatest witnessed by the home faithful when Jack Charlton’s all-conquering side won the Second Division by record margin of 15 points – in an era when it was two points for a win.

Ayresome also witnessed an emotional homecoming after that torrid summer of 1986 when Boro were on the brink of oblivion.

Boro were forced to play the first match of the 1986-87 season at Hartlepool after bailiffs locked the Ayresome Park gates. Ironically, Pools were the opponents for the club’s first game back at home, a League Cup tie on September 2, 1986 as Boro’s feted ‘Class of 86’, managed by the incomparable Bruce Rioch, set sail for the most remarkable voyage in the club’s history.

Yet amid the Ayresome tale, there is also tragedy.

January 12 marked the 40th anniversary of the death of Boro season-ticket holders Norman and Irene Roxby.

A wall had collapsed as they were as they were leaving the South East corner of the ground after the 1-1 draw with Manchester United in early 1980.

Ayresome Park; a ground which evoked emotions of pride, joy and sorrow.

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