Ayresome over Riverside

I'm torn on this one. I love old school grounds and the atmosphere and buzz they bring. I mentioned in another thread my study overlooks Griffin Park so I get to see one on a regular basis.

But I can remember some bleak and terrible matches there. I'm pretty sure we played Millwall once in the 90s and the Palace was practically empty?

Anyway the Riverside had to be build. It has far better facilities than AP and was a necessary evil I'm afraid. Plus with the thumping of city, Steau and Brighton it has its far share of lovely memories now.
 
The Riverside was fantastic when it first opened. There was such a buzz around the club and the town, it really was a fantastic part of the clubs progression. As soon as crowds started to dwindle it lost its soul. It now looks dated and the same as many other new grounds. The matchday experience over the last few years has been pretty poor if the truth be told.

I miss Ayresome. I miss the Holgate. I miss going in the Inn Off The Park for a few pints and a game of snooker before the match. I miss the team we had. Football has moved on, but for me it will never be as good as it was in the 80's.

As an aside, does anyone still have the info and pictures from when they were planning on developing Ayresome?
 
Loved Ayresome but the Riverside is a good ground. You can't blame the stadium for the poor quality of football for the last 12 or so years.

I remember Ayresome pre Rioch, it was a desperate place for about 5 years, same just before Robbo turned up.

The Riverside could be improved, no doubt about that, but it's a decent stadium and the place rocks when the football is good.
 
I loved everything about Ayresome Park, but it did feel like the right thing to move on.
The Riverside was a catalyst for an incredible era of cup finals, European adventures and Brazilian magicians.
Could that have been achieved at AP ?We'll never know, but for me, no regrets about the move.
 
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NorthumberlandBoro said:
I loved everything about Ayresome Park, buy it did feel like the right thing to move on.
The Riverside was a catalyst for an incredible era of cup finals, European adventures and Brazilian magicians.
Could that have been achieved at AP ?We'll never know, but for me, no regrets about the move.
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I sometimes wonder if we'd held on a bit longer, could we have moved the pitch west by maybe half it's length and the used the old general hospital site as development area, with more space at the east end too, and the school not restricting the north stand.

However, if we'd waited even a decade, I think we'd have missed the window in which a club like ours could have achieved what we did.

I think AP was also a bit of a nightmare for the local residents, or could be at times.
 
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I was there at all the famous days and nights at Ayresome post 1970.
Man U cup ties, City League Cup Semi v City, Charlton era, Cup runs in 70's, rebirth under Rioch, Play off promotion, Everton, ZDS semi, Local derby greats like Newcastle 4-1, Leeds 4-1, Man U semi final, Robson's launch season.
Some fantastic magical memories, but compared to the highlights at The Riverside, there is no way you can say it was better than the big occasions at The Riverside. More occasions, bigger matches, better full ground atmospheres.
That feel for the Brighton promotion match was extraordinary and it was an entire stadium bouncing.
We've had that a lot of times at The Riverside. As Corcaigh says when the football is good/stakes are high, The Riverside bounces.

I've been in far more small and crap crowds at Ayresome than I ever have at The Riverside.

The Holgate was special for us, but just look at highlights of most old matches to see how small it actually was and how spartan it often was. On its day, it was a joyful swaying mass of celebration, noise and intimidation, but that was far from regular.
 
indeedido said:
We've had that a lot of times at The Riverside. As Corcaigh says when the football is good/stakes are high, The Riverside bounces.
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I don't think it needs to be full. One of the best atmospheres I remember was the match in which we beat Birmingham 3-1 with 9 men. I guess it took the sendings off to get the crowd wound up, but it was electric. I don't think there was more than 17k in the Riverside for that one.

Just checked, it was about 13.5k
 
I sa
FabioPorkpie said:
I loved Ayresome because itā€™s where I saw my first football match and caught the bug. Sitting there with my dad and little brother, and us both giggling because it was the first time weā€™d heard proper grown up swearing, and my dad trying not to laugh at some of the comments coming out of the mouths of the wags around us. I remember him getting us both a cup of Bovril at half time and thinking ā€˜what the hell is this??ā€™. The chants and cheers and angry outbursts seemed to take on a different dimension as they bounced off the tin roof above us.
I remember leaving, absolutely hooked, and thinking I canā€™t wait to go back, even though we lost and didnā€™t even score (1-0 to QPR, Les Ferdinand I think). There is just something special about old grounds, how can there not be? All those raw emotions of pure joy and excitement and anticipation and despair absorbed by the concrete and metal for decades. So much soul! Even the walk to the ground was magical as a kid, through all those lived in terraced streets, seeing the floodlights poke through gaps between the chimneys as you got closer, the excitement building.
I only got a few years at Ayresome Park before we moved and itā€™s only when Iā€™ve been to old grounds now as an away fan, (which is very rare) that I remember that indescribable feeling that the old grounds create.
I donā€™t mind modern stadiums and Iā€™m a fan of all the mod cons and comforts, but itā€™s a different experience and I do wonder if Iā€™d have become quite so hooked if my dad had taken me to the Riverside for my first match.
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I sat down very rarely I can remember in the upper part of the stand a bloke stood up, shouted 'Mickey Mouse is a Rat' and sat down .

The atmosphere v Steau was as good as any at AP.
 
Londons_Moggie said:
**** drenched, death trap was Ayresome. Times change
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The match v Leeds after Hillsborough showed how bad Ayresome was from a safety perspective. I also remember a few times being lifted off my feet by sheer weight of crowd, at the time it was great but looking back, just shows what a part luck played in how these old stadiums operated.

I put a bit about Bolton disaster on Erimus's thread about 45-46 FA Cup thread which shows how safety seemed to be just an after thought.
 
My Ode to Ayresome .

Ayresome was like an old relative you had to invite to a family function and could never ignore . A once majestic Grandad who gave you loads of great memories when you were a kid growing up , who overawed you by his size and might .

But alas who became crippled and somewhat neglected by age and became a kind of a nuisance but nonetheless you could never dislike . Literally sitting out of the limelight smelling of unpleasant fluids but still able to tell great stories every now and then .

Didnā€™t matter because all the family and friends loved him anyway as he was a one off and were heartbroken when he passed away šŸ˜Ŗ

My Grandad Ayresome . Blimey I think Iā€™ve got something in my eye !
 
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NorthumberlandBoro said:
I loved everything about Ayresome Park, buy it did feel like the right thing to move on.
The Riverside was a catalyst for an incredible era of cup finals, European adventures and Brazilian magicians.
Could that have been achieved at AP ?We'll never know, but for me, no regrets about the move.
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Only if the general moved earlier & we expanded AP, which with the houses close by I don't think we could have built anything to resemble the Riverside
I don't think we'd have seen the success at AP as we have at the Riverside mind, but all that it's still AP for me
 
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