What a sad day - This day 1990

Erimus74

Erimus74

Well-known member
Up there in my top 3 Boro managers of all time

9th March 1990 just after one in the afternoon I got up after my nightshift, made my way downstairs & noticed a crunched up note someone had pushed through the letter box, on opening the note I couldn't believe what I was reading & immediately turned on the kitchen radio for the local news

On the note was written, 'Bruce Rioch has been sacked', I was shocked & gutted, yes we were struggling in the 2nd division after, unluckily, being relegated the previous season, but this man had, IMHO, saved our football club from falling in to the football abyss, while guiding us to our 1st ever wembley cup final under the twin towers

I'm a great believer that a club & person can be an ideal fit, no matter where they were born, John Hickton, Gary Hamilton, Bernie Slaven, players who came to the Boro & left as legends
Bruce Rioch fitted into that category, I think if we had turned to any other manager when Willie Maddren was dismissed those incredible seasons under Bruce would have been pipedreams & we would have become a third, even 4th division team
Willie Maddren, who made some excellent signings, to me Bruce was the late, great WM's most vital signing

When he took charge of his 1st match v Grimsby on the 4th March, we looked a team, the following seasons were unbelievable & most likely never, ever repeated, to finally take us to Wembley after beating 1st division, 2nd place Aston Villa on 6th February over 2 legs & a month later, dismissed was cruel

1st match 4th March 1986 v Grimsby Town at Ayresome Park, Boro won 3-1
Last match, 7th March 1990, Boro 1 Watford 2 at Ayresome Park

Met the great man a few times at former player reunions & his love for the Boro still shines through

Thanks for the ride Bruce, it was as good a ride as anytime in my Boro supporting lifetime

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Never mind 3rd or 4th division. Without Bruce I don't think we would have had a team to fulfil that fixture at Hartlepool.
The punishment for that would have been expulsion, not just 3 points.
 
Erimus74 said:
Up there in my top 3 Boro managers of all time

9th March 1990 just after one in the afternoon I got up after my nightshift, made my way downstairs & noticed a crunched up note someone had pushed through the letter box, on opening the note I couldn't believe what I was reading & immediately turned on the kitchen radio for the local news

On the note was written, 'Bruce Rioch has been sacked', I was shocked & gutted, yes we were struggling in the 2nd division after, unluckily, being relegated the previous season, but this man had, IMHO, saved our football club from falling in to the football abyss, while guiding us to our 1st ever wembley cup final under the twin towers

I'm a great believer that a club & person can be an ideal fit, no matter where they were born, John Hickton, Gary Hamilton, Bernie Slaven, players who came to the Boro & left as legends
Bruce Rioch fitted into that category, I think if we had turned to any other manager when Willie Maddren was dismissed those incredible seasons under Bruce would have been pipedreams & we would have become a third, even 4th division team
Willie Maddren, who made some excellent signings, to me Bruce was the late, great WM's most vital signing

When he took charge of his 1st match v Grimsby on the 4th March, we looked a team, the following seasons were unbelievable & most likely never, ever repeated, to finally take us to Wembley after beating 1st division, 2nd place Aston Villa on 6th February over 2 legs & a month later, dismissed was cruel

1st match 4th March 1986 v Grimsby Town at Ayresome Park, Boro won 3-1
Last match, 7th March 1990, Boro 1 Watford 2 at Ayresome Park

Met the great man a few times at former player reunions & his love for the Boro still shines through

Thanks for the ride Bruce, it was as good a ride as anytime in my Boro supporting lifetime

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Totally agree Erimus, the Rioch era not only transformed the football club, it gave the whole area a much needed lift in the midst of Thatcherism, which helped decimate Teesside. I was absolutely gutted when Sir Bruce was sacked and him not leading us out at Wembley just looked (and was) plain wrong
It was a helluva team, never felt we were beat in a game until the final whistle went.
 
Im not into naming stands after ex players, managers, everyone would have their favourite & valid reasons why but for me, Steve Gibson apart, with BR's unbelievale, never to be repeated seasons, taking us from near abyss in our darkest hour to the 1st division & so unlucky to be relegated, should have stand named after him

IMHO, Bruce is one of the reasons we are where we are as a club
 
Erimus74 said:
Up there in my top 3 Boro managers of all time

9th March 1990 just after one in the afternoon I got up after my nightshift, made my way downstairs & noticed a crunched up note someone had pushed through the letter box, on opening the note I couldn't believe what I was reading & immediately turned on the kitchen radio for the local news

On the note was written, 'Bruce Rioch has been sacked', I was shocked & gutted, yes we were struggling in the 2nd division after, unluckily, being relegated the previous season, but this man had, IMHO, saved our football club from falling in to the football abyss, while guiding us to our 1st ever wembley cup final under the twin towers

I'm a great believer that a club & person can be an ideal fit, no matter where they were born, John Hickton, Gary Hamilton, Bernie Slaven, players who came to the Boro & left as legends
Bruce Rioch fitted into that category, I think if we had turned to any other manager when Willie Maddren was dismissed those incredible seasons under Bruce would have been pipedreams & we would have become a third, even 4th division team
Willie Maddren, who made some excellent signings, to me Bruce was the late, great WM's most vital signing

When he took charge of his 1st match v Grimsby on the 4th March, we looked a team, the following seasons were unbelievable & most likely never, ever repeated, to finally take us to Wembley after beating 1st division, 2nd place Aston Villa on 6th February over 2 legs & a month later, dismissed was cruel

1st match 4th March 1986 v Grimsby Town at Ayresome Park, Boro won 3-1
Last match, 7th March 1990, Boro 1 Watford 2 at Ayresome Park

Met the great man a few times at former player reunions & his love for the Boro still shines through

Thanks for the ride Bruce, it was as good a ride as anytime in my Boro supporting lifetime

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Great Post @Erimus74, totally agree.
 
It was an incredible roller coaster ride with Brucie, but sometimes things just change and something has to be done. But no doubt he was as crucial as Gibson for keeping our club alive and the two promotions that then followed truly deserve a place in football history as one of the great Managerial spells ever.
 
Erimus74 said:
Im not into naming stands after ex players, managers, everyone would have their favourite & valid reasons why but for me, Steve Gibson apart, with BR's unbelievale, never to be repeated seasons, taking us from near abyss in our darkest hour to the 1st division & so unlucky to be relegated, should have stand named after him

IMHO, Bruce is one of the reasons we are where we are as a club
Click to expand...
Rioch is vital to the Boro story and it was an amazing ride but in that last season something seemed to have changed. The first match v Wolves was superb but then things started to go wrong. Comfort getting injured certainly didn't help, but the fight seemed to have gone out of us. Did it all start with the Pallister sale, I don't know?

If he had stayed until the end of the season his legacy might have been tarnished by taking us back where he had rescued us from.

It was a bit naff that he went before Wembley, but I suppose once the decision to remove him was made then no sentimental reasons were going to get in the way.

Todd taking over was a bit weird and he went through his own boom and bust in a very short period of time from Newcastle to Warnocks Notts County in just over 12 months.
 
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