It is almost exactly 30 years since goals from Craig Hignett and Jan Aage Fjortoft secured Middlesbrough a Premier League victory against Chelsea as they played their first game at a brand new Riverside Stadium. Even the presence of Ruud Gullit at sweeper in a visiting side featuring Mark Hughes in attack could not deny Boro a 2-0 win as an exciting decade peopled by, among others, Juninho, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Nick Barmby, Gareth Southgate, Gaizka Mendieta and Bolo Zenden dawned.
Along the way Boro would reach three League Cup finals, winning one, while also losing FA Cup and, most excitingly, Uefa Cup finals, and bounce back from a one-season second-tier sabbatical.
Teesside was firmly on not just the UK but the European map. Or at least it was until the economic profile of football ownership changed and Steve Gibson’s club could no longer compete at the very highest level. These days the Riverside rarely rocks to capacity crowds and, after eight seasons out of the Premier League, a relatively modest 26,286 congregated to see how they shaped up under another new manager, Rob Edwards,.
The good news for Boro fans is that the answer is so far, so good, after Dael Fry’s winning header secured three points. Edwards is big on connectivity and he has taken the admirable step of attending supporters’ events over the summer, canvassing opinions while attempting to tap into the local psyche.
