Leaving Newcastle and heading south to Sunderland on my way eventually to the Riverside Stadium, home of Middlesbrough FC, for Forest's next attempt to win a match. The first stop after Newcastle is just a short hop, but for North East football fans it could be a hundred miles. I am going to the Stadium of Light, home to Sunderland AFC since moving from Roker Park in 1997. Like so many clubs, Sunderland needed to make a decision when the Taylor report declared that stadiums had to be all-seater. Roker Park, their home for 100 years simply could not be brought up to the required standard and capacity and so was demolished for housing and the club moved the half mile to the site of the disused Monkwearmouth Colliery. Sunderland were formed in 1879 and joined the football league in 1890, being the first club to join after the formation of the League in 1888; they replaced Stoke who had failed to gain re-election. The Black Cats have won the First Division title on 6 occasions and the FA Cup twice, but only one of those trophies has been won since WWII, the Cup in 1973.
Several features round the stadium provide reminders of the mining heritage of this place. Between the stadium and the river is a sculpture depicting men rolling boulders up the river bank and is said to pay homage to generations of miners who worked at the colliery. Then a few yards closer to the ground is a Colliery Flywheel. Between the Sunderland Aquatic Centre and the Stadium of Light there are two mesh sculptures entitled Looking Out Facing In, which in reality, as well as being works of art, enclose two essential ventilators attached to the old mine workings.I arrived at the ground down a broad dual carriageway and this time had no problem finding the entrance. Sited just off the roundabout by the ground was a giant Davy Lamp (another mining reminder) and a modern detached building, Black Cat House, which houses the ticket office and other executive offices.
Between this building and the main stadium is a large car park. As is my wont, I parked the car in the most convenient location and started wandering round. I noted an impressive ground, but one which showed little individual character in the general architecture. There are, of course, individual touches, but the ground itself is a modern bowl with much architectural use of the structural steel tubing as found on many similar grounds.
First stop was behind the South Stand to see the statue of Bob Stokoe, manager of the club when they won the FA Cup in 1973.A notable achievement as the club were in the Second Division at the time, making the club one of the few to achieve such a feat. Then a walk down behind this stand to the West Stand and the front of the stadium facing over the broad reach of the River Wear. Several features here are of interest. Another fine pair of gates guard each side of the façade, each set bearing the club crest with the words "Into The Light" and "Ha'Way the Lads" and the name of the club framing the crest. Directly in front of the stand is another statue, a group of adults and children, celebrating fans of all ages who have supported the club over the years.
I think the ground is beautifully situated, being in a slightly elevated position right by the river with plenty of open space around it. Mind you, I might have been influenced, too, by the finest spell of weather we have had since last summer. I walked into reception in the West Stand, a most impressive open atrium, and asked at the desk if it was possible to pop into the ground for a look. I was advised that such things were handled by Black Cat House, so I continued my walk around the ground and finally arrived back at HQ. In reception there a most helpful lady spent several minutes on the telephone trying to persuade the relevant person to admit me into the stadium ( I must admit I was prompting her continuously from the sideline) eventually with success. However, this gentleman was back over in reception in the West Stand! So I hot footed it back over to the stadium to meet my helper. So kind. He took me straight from the reception area to the pitch area. I was somewhat nonplussed to find that we were half way up the lower tier, despite not having climbed any stairs. I was informed that the pitch is actually several metres below the ground level outside.
The inside of the stadium is very functional, but hardly very interesting. The West and North Stand have a large lower tier and a smaller upper tier separated by executive boxes.The other two stands just have the large lower tier. However, there appears to be a very good view of the action on the pitch from every seat, which is the main purpose. The phrase "Ha'way the Lads" is spelt out on the seats in the North Stand where there is a screen situated on the roof. This screen is replicated on the roof of the South Stand. On the seats of the East Stand the club crest is picked out with the name
It was time to make a move to Hartlepool to see the ground where Brian Clough and Peter Taylor started their rise to European Cup success as managers. At that time the club were known as Hartlepools United, but the 's' was dropped a few years later so today the club is Hartlepool United FC. Founded in 1908 the club have played at the Victoria Ground during their whole existence. However, the ground was in place long before that. In 1886 West Hartlepool RFC bought an old limestone quarry owned by the North Eastern Railway Company and played rugby there until they went bust in 1908. Along came The Hartlepools Football Athletic Company Limited and they moved in. The name of the ground was changed to Victoria Park in 1996 and is affectionately known as the Vic to fans.
As usual, I had a problem finding the entrance to the ground. Finding the ground was easy as the floodlight
The ground has four stands, the main stand is the Niramax Stand with (as at Carlisle) seating in the upper tier and terracing lower down. Behind the southern goal is the Town End terracing where the keen, vocal fans congregate. Opposite this is a newish stand, the Rink End which is all-seater and for the away fans. Along the Clarence Road side of the ground is the other new stand, the Cyril Knowles Stand. Between the Town End terrace and the Niramax Stand is a small scoreboard and the control post.
I found the liberal use of grey breeze blocks and white and light blue paint and the low stands gave the ground a rather unprepossessing air.Time was moving on and I had to leave Hartlepool to get to the venue of the next match in Nottingham Forest's season, The Riverside Stadium, home of Middlesbrough FC.
This was much easier to find. I got on the main road and just followed it in until the ground appeared on my left-hand side. It is a fine looking ground situated in an isolated position on the banks of the River Tees.
Middlesbrough FC, known by all as The Boro, were formed in 1876 and moved to the Riverside Stadium in 1995 from their previous home Ayresome Park where they had played since 1902. Though with a long and proud history, it was not until 2004 that the club won a major honour, the Football League Cup. They traditionally play in red so Forest were again going to have to turn out in their new away strip of white shirts with blue trim and blue shorts. I regard this kit as unlucky, because since it was introduced against Blackpool we have only won one game and that was wearing our red strip.
The ground is quite striking. The front façade is impressive especially if seen from the road leading to the stadium. There are two statues flanking what looks like a road, but is in fact a stretch of memorial bricks named the Borobrick Road leading to the old gates taken from Ayresome Park and now in pride of place directly in front of the main reception area of the West Stand. The statues are of George Hardwick,
regarded by many as the best defender Boro ever had, and Wilf Mannion nicknamed the Golden Boy(because of his blond hair)who played over 350 games for Boro. The football careers of both players were interrupted by WWII, Mannion fighting with distinction in France and Italy.
I walked around the ground and was amused by an old photo of Ayresome Park up on the wall of the stadium giving a sort of trompe l'oeil effect. Some seats have been placed in front of this picture and sitting on these seats with a carefully placed camera shot gives the impression of being back at the old ground.Otherwise there is little of interest around the stadium, certainly not up to the standard of the front of the ground. Inside, the ground is much like the Stadium of Light with little to wax lyrical about. The West Stand has a higher roof line than the other three stands, with a small lower tier, a row of executive boxes and a larger upper tier. At the top of the upper tier seating is the media area, both print and broadcast. The players tunnel and dugouts are in this stand on the centre line. The other three stands are slightly lower with just plain banks of seats separated into upper and lower tiers by an exit/entrance concourse. Above the seating area in the South Stand is the police control box. Otherwise the interior is plain and functional.
Returning to the car, I then drove into town looking for Albert Park, where there is a statue of Brian Clough who used to walk through the park every day on his way to Ayresome Park. His home on Valley Road was just by the southern corner of Albert Park and Ayresome Park was just beyond the gates where Cloughie's statue now stands.Albert Park played a big part in his life as a youngster, from tennis with Wendy (oh, Wendy!) to collecting the unused council wallflowers to put in the family garden at Valley Road. But mostly because it was a big open space, ideal for kicking a football about, which was his real passion. The park itself is much bigger than I imagined and I wandered around in the sunshine for some time before heading towards the information centre, which was closed. But, luckily, there was an engineer sorting a problem and he readily supplied the information I needed. I headed towards the West gates and there was Brian, striding across a slight rise in the grass, boots jauntily slung over his shoulder.
Forest came to the Riverside in poor form, having lost three games on the trot. Boro were hardly any better off having won only one of their last eight games and during that run going 12 hours without a goal. What chance a 0-0 tame draw? Forest still had injury problems, but no new ones. Two changes were made from the team which played at Barnsley, Collins and Greening came in for Gomis and Halford. And Andy Reid was on the bench, making a very quick return from his hernia operation. Forest have a very loyal away following (we took nearly 3,000 to Barnsley) but a Tuesday night in the North East is difficult for many fans and, despite Fawaz's offer of free transport to the game, only 892 managed the trip. In fact, there was a very small crowd in a stadium with a capacity of 35,000, but there was a fairly lively atmosphere.
The first half simply went by in a flash, they had a few chances, most notably a header cleared off the line by Lascelles, but Forest dominated the game. Once again a Jamie Mackie header went wide and a similar effort by Cox went straight to the keeper. Abdoun had a great chance towards the end of the half when a Boro defender (our ex-loanee Chalobah doing just as he did with us) sent a pass wildly across his own defence, but the Algerian sent his shot straight at the keeper.
Just about five minutes into the second half and our defence opened up invitingly for the Middlesbrough attack and sure enough, they scored. Catch-up again!! Forest continued to attack, but despite a few close shaves nothing of note happened. With 20 minutes to go Billy's stand-ins in the technical area (he was still banned and banished to the stands) began to make changes, among them Reidy and Henderson. And, with ten minutes remaining, these two combined to produce our goal. Reid got away down the left and squeezed the ball towards the near post. Henderson got across his marker and 'bundled' the ball over the line. Now, I'm not going to say it was hand balled over the line because I can't be sure, but it did look suspiciously like it. However, the referee gave it and that's what counts. Boro defenders, particularly the goalie, ran around the pitch slapping their hands, but to no avail. Middlesbrough came back at us and hit a post in a last ditch assault. All to no avail, 1-1. No doubt entertaining for the neutral, but another nerve-wracking night on the road with NFFC.
All that remained was to extricate myself from my parking position (a matter of minutes) and I was on the way home, only five hours driving through the night. Actually, a pleasant drive through deserted roads, foggy to start with, but clear later. And than goodness for 24 hour facilities these days. A stop for petrol was followed for a stop to buy the week's food (shopping at 3 o'clock in the morning is still a major novelty for me) and then home. Wonderful weather for a change and more interesting grounds visited, from the mighty to the humble, but all with one purpose in mind, to provide the beautiful game for their local fans.
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