| |
|
The BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium - my second home
Cellnet Riverside Stadium
Middlesbrough Football Club's home since 1995. We all remember that fantastic day - August 26th 1995 when the first visitors to our new home were old enemies Chelsea. Straight from the pages of a fairy tale the Boro triumphed 2 - 0 and crowd favourite Craig Hignett had the honour of scoring the first ever goal at the new stadium.
The ground was christened The Riverside Stadium following a vote by the fans. Little did we know that corporate sponsorship would eventually win the day and following a deal with BT Cellnet the stadium was officially named The BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium.
The stadium was the first to be designed and constructed to comply with the Taylor Report. When the stadium was opened at the start of the 1995 - 1996 season it was the biggest new football stadium to be built since the war.
Another 5,000 seats were added to the West Stand in 1998 and planning permission is available to add another 7,000.
Sadly, five years on, the ground is still in the middle of nowhere. The town centre is a good 20 minutes walk from the stadium, although this makes the bar and catering facilities popular because there is nowhere else to go!
Parking is also a nightmare and don't think the local bobbies have too much to do on match days to dispense the odd parking ticket. They don't!
For a pre match drink (make it early or you'll miss kick off) try The Ayresome Park on the corner of Albert Road. The pub offers decent enough grub and is choc a bloc with Boro memobabilia. Particularly admire the stained glass windows depicting heroes from the past.
If you like to arrive at the ground in good time the concourse offers bars and fast food and TV concourses offer SKY TV and Boro TV. Usual fare on offer to eat - hot dogs, pies, decent pizzas, burgers etc. Hot and cold non alcoholic drinks are also on offer. Prices not bad by football ground standards.
One thing to note - smoking is not allowed in the ground, only on the concourses so at half-time these become a fume filled nightmare and best avoiding unless you are desperate for a nicotine hit and believe me watching Boro does that to you.
Toilet facilities are civilised and clean. Gone are the days of peeing on the wall at Ayresome Park and walking through a river of urine to get back on the terraces - and that was only us girls!
Views inside the ground are good from all angles. Away fans sit in the South stand behind one of the goals.
Finding the place
Basically follow my method when going to away grounds and follow the traffic and park when the home fans do!
A19 - A66 is the usual route and abandon your car. Middlesbrough railway station is about 25 minutes walk away but can be the focus for trouble when certain teams play here. Normally the ground and its surroundings are well policed and trouble free.
Beware of the A66 underpasses if you park in the town centre. They are smelly, dirty and can take a while to get through after the match.
Redevelopment of the area has been on the cards for a while now but various council and political wrangles seem to be causing problems and for the foreseeable future we will have to put up with a great ground in the middle of an urban wilderness
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 May 08 
Liverpool Football Club