9. Riverside Stadium-Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough 1-1 Crystal Palace
Coca Cola Championship
Saturday 3rd April 2010



Ground: Riverside Stadium
League: Coca Cola Championship
Score: Middlesbrough 1-1 Crystal Palace
Admission: Adults: £26 Children: £13
Programme: £3
Attendance: 18, 428
Capacity: 35, 049
Seated: 35, 049
Covered: 35, 049
Town/City: Middlesbrough
Opposition: Crystal Palace
Date: 3.4.10
Club shop: yes
Floodlights: yes
Step: 2

Middlesbrough is a largely populated formerly industrial town in North East England.
Between 1800 and 1950 the town made huge amounts of money through Steel and Iron. These were used to make ships which were kept in the docks.
Things have changed since then though. Middlesbrough now survives on the map by it's population, the ships that are here and it's football team.
However the Middlesbrough institute of modern art in centre square is rather popular with tourists and contains some very good pieces.
A lot of people going from the North to the south of the country, or in reverse, will go via Middlesbrough on purpose so they can have their car carried across the river by the Transporter Bridge. Down the river is also the Newport Bridge The vertical lifting one in England, being 76 years old.

Middlesbrough football club has a long history. They were founded way back in 1889 when they joined the Northern league. In their 1st three seasons they were runners up twice. In 1894 they went one better and won the Northern league title. Pleasant Deja Vu next season as they strolled to a second title. They also beat Old Carthusians 2-1 at Leeds in the FA Amateur Cup Final.
Two seasons later they won their 3rd Northern league title.
The season after that they won the FA Amateur Cup again, this time 2-0 against Uxbridge at Crystal Palace.
In the 1899/1900 season they joined the Football League Division 2. Two seasons later they were promoted. 21 years later they were relegated back to division 2. It took 3 years for them to get back up again. This time it took just one season for them to go back down to division 2. Next season they were back up to division 2.
Although memorable for most, 1966 was a season to forget for Middlesbrough as they were relegated down to division 3. Next season they were back up again.
In 1974 they were promoted to division one. Two seasons later they were the Anglo Scottish cup winners, beating Fulham 1-0 in the final.
In 1982 they were relegated to division 2. 4 years later they went down to division 3. One year was all it took to get them back to division 2. Next season they were promoted to division 1 via the play offs. Next season they were relegated back into division 2.
In the 1990/1991 season they were promoted to division 1 which became the Premiership. One season later they were back in the Football league division 1 through relegation. In 1995 they were promoted back to the Premiership. In 1997 they were relegate to the Football league division 1. One season later they were back in the Premiership. In 2004 they won the Football league cup to qualify for the Uefa cup in which they finished runners up.

Todays opposition Crystal Palace were desperately trying to drag themselves away from relegation as they faced a Middlesbrough side that were still fighting for the play offs.
A win for Boro could see them being 4 points off the play offs if other results went their way.
Meanwhile Palace could get out of the dropzone with a win, if Sheffield Wednesday and Watford both failed to win.
There were a lot of empty seats at the ground with only about half being filled. Middlesbrough started well getting a few shots on goal but Scott McDonald made the breakthrough neatly putting the ball past Speroni in the Palace goal.
Palace fought back though and a wonderful header from Alassance N'Diaye found the top corner, so they could go off at half time with a crucial goal.
The teams came out for the second half with a different attitude. It was poor football with sloppy passing, awful tackling and terrible shots.
The match finished 1-1 and bizzarely the Middlesbrough team and fans seemed happy with a point. But the Crystal Palace fans were more than happy. Their loud singing lasted until nearly ten minutes after full time. Pretty good as there were only about 200 fans.


The Riverside Stadium is very similair to the one at Darlington. It has seating all the way round with no gaps. The seats are red and have things like MFC spelt out in white around the ground.
The ground is all one tier except the main stand at the west which is two tiers. There are 35,000 seats in total. This however is rarely filled past half way as you'll see by the attendance.
The away fans are kept in one block at the top of the South Stand (well they were for this match).
Down the stairways are food and drink canteens, and a TV with score shows on. I was surprised how loudly the Palace fans cheered when they saw the N'Diaye goal replay, then they cheered even louder when they saw it in slow motion.

The match programme is like what you'll find at most clubs. It's a glossy product filled with player interviews, news and information on the visitors. A bit poor for a league production.

Overall quite a loud and exciting day out. The Crystal Palace fans volume was turned much higher, even though they were against 17, 800 home fans.
Middlesbrough matchday pictures