Ayresome over Riverside

I was there in the proper low crowds of the early 80s but I still love Ayresome. It will always be home for me.
 
The nostalgia behind ayresome park still fills my soul with the very best of childhood memories.
For departed dad reasons....
For becoming a "man" in the Holgate
For the sheer initiation itno the heart of the boro....
The top class banter with the visiting keeper.
The crazy levels of abuse levelled at basically everyone on the pitch including ground staff /police/ ball boys 😁 substitutes referee's....the caged TV box up in the gods for shoot highlights on a Sunday....

And the joys of a huge circle suddenly opening around you ...you look down and a firework the size of a shuttle about to explode under my borg elite trainers....

The Riverside....well for Europe it was first class...I love the Riverside....but my spiritual home will always be ayresome...always
 
NorthumberlandBoro said:
If the Holgate held 17k the old east end(pre seats) must have held at least 25k. It was massive.
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Probably about right. Record attendance was pushing 54k, and it's not like there were really that many seats in the upper tiers of the North and South.

Fantastic memories of Ayersome, first in the North and then in the Holgate.
But there were bad times too: crowds of 6k in the 93/94 season. You think the Riverside can be bleak during the hard times? The snow and wind whipping round a deserted Holgate was worse.
 
I’ll never, ever forget walking through the back of the Holgate and seeing the pitch for the first time, gives me goosebumps now. It will always be AP for me but to grow we had to move.

Why can’t something be done around the outside of the ground at the Riverside, it still looks like someone dropped a stadium on to some wasteland. I thought the ‘Fan Zone’ outside Reading’s Ground was quite a good idea.
 
Smog On The Medway said:
I’ll never, ever forget walking through the back of the Holgate and seeing the pitch for the first time, gives me goosebumps now. It will always be AP for me but to grow we had to move.

Why can’t something be done around the outside of the ground at the Riverside, it still looks like someone dropped a stadium on to some wasteland. I thought the ‘Fan Zone’ outside Reading’s Ground was quite a good idea.
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The Riverside has a fans zone ? 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
Loved ayersome, went to my first game in the late 80s, think it was against Bradford, and got beat 3-0. Was hooked! My old man used to get tickets for the 100 club as he worked at ICI. Then got a season ticket in the north stand with my uncle, a row behind chubby brown. But watching that video, how long after the ground closed was that shot? What an absolute dive it was at the end.
 
First game was a 3-3 draw with Cov in mid 70s.
I used to love going to the Holgate with my mates and had some great times over the years, The cynical Boro mindset always gave up some gems at the games and It was a completely different era then , one where you could watch the team beat Millwall in the old first division and then be talking to the players the same night in Macmillans. It just felt more personal and more connected then.
I've also seen some real desperate times as well , being in the boys end and watching us loose 3 consecutive home games 4-1 in the early eighties , was a particular low light.

The riverside is right for us now and its a credit to the people that saved us and made us a better club. Red faction are doing a cracking job of getting us away from the manufactured atmosphere that was part of our match days there.
Its a close run thing but I have to say Ayersome will always be my favorite ground out of the two.
 
Dirtyderekbracken said:
First game was a 3-3 draw with Cov in mid 70s.
I used to love going to the Holgate with my mates and had some great times over the years, The cynical Boro mindset always gave up some gems at the games and It was a completely different era then , one where you could watch the team beat Millwall in the old first division and then be talking to the players the same night in Macmillans. It just felt more personal and more connected then.
I've also seen some real desperate times as well , being in the boys end and watching us loose 3 consecutive home games 4-1 in the early eighties , was a particular low light.

The riverside is right for us now and its a credit to the people that saved us and made us a better club. Red faction are doing a cracking job of getting us away from the manufactured atmosphere that was part of our match days there.
Its a close run thing but I have to say Ayersome will always be my favorite ground out of the two.
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Think it was 4 - 4.
Highlights on the other thread about songs from Ayresome.
 
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