The Riverside Years – Bryan Robson shares his Middlesbrough memories before his Teesside return

The Riverside Stadium is celebrating its 20th year after Boro made the move from Ayresome Park in 1995, and with Robson at the helm in those early years at Middlehaven, Boro enjoyed rollercoaster success in their new home.

Robson is returning to Teesside this month to talk about his time in charge of Middlesbrough that involved two cup finals, two promotions and the transformation of Boro being considered a small-time second-tier club to a classy outfit capable of signing some of the world’s most promising players.

Having achieved promotion from Division One in what was their final season at Ayresome Park, Robson and Boro ensured that their first season in their brand new stadium would be in the top flight.

Robson, whose achievements as a player with Manchester United, West Bromwich Albion and England made him a star name before moving into management with Boro, will take part in An Evening With Bryan Robson at the Dormans Club on Oxford Road on January 27.

The Chester-le-Street born Robson, who went on to manage West Brom and Sheffield United, will talk about his years at Boro at the event, but here are some of his thoughts to whet the appetite ahead of the big event, which is organised by Goffy Media.

ON HIS BEST MIDDLESBROUGH MEMORIES

“The first game that we played at the Riverside, when we beat Chelsea 2-0, it was a great way to come back into the Premiership. The promotions were great, but at the Riverside when we were successful in the cup games, it was great to beat Liverpool, Newcastle, those were games when the atmosphere was fantastic, that always stays with you.

ON SIGNING EMERSON, RAVANELLI, JUNINHO

“The signings we managed to pull off came as a result of us actually going out and speaking to the player yourself. Sometimes only the chief executive goes out and tries to sign him, myself and Keith Lamb took a lot of time to speak to the players personally, and just to show them the plans that Steve Gibson had for the Boro.

“That was a selling point, the new stadium, the fact we were back in the Premiership, the plans for the new training ground. All of that was a big pull.

“But once you get decent players into the squad, people take note of that and it gets easier to sign them after that.”

ON THE LITTLE FELLA

“It was fortunate that at the time I was working with the England Under-21s squad under Terry Venables. We went into that Umbro Cup which was Brazil, Japan, Sweden and England and I noticed Juninho playing for Brazil, and Roberto Carlos. I came back to the Boro and told the chairman that I’d seen two fantastic players playing for Brazil and they’re only young lads.

“That’s where that came from, the scouting side of it. Juninho was great for us, he was great with the lads, a fantastic trainer and completely dedicated to the team. He was great for the fans, so I’d have to say that he was one of my best signings if not the best.”

ON SIGNING GAZZA

“With Gaz I knew the ability he had. It was trying to keep him away from injuries. When we were in second in Division One in 1998, I knew we needed a little spark to get us promoted, we still had the cup final to play in.

“He was the kind of boost we needed to get us over the finishing line. Unfortunately we didn’t get the result but to take Chelsea to extra time was a real achievement. When teams go down their heads go down, there’s a lot of people around the club aren’t happy. But to win promotion and get to a cup final, that was a fantastic effort from that squad of players.

“Unfortunately for Gazza he does have his problems and it’s well documented. It’s a shame. Gazza misses his football, he wants everybody to love him and that’s where he falls down, he misses all that. He’s always been a bit of a binger whether it be in the gym or with food and drink. He goes through his good patches and hopefully he’ll come through this bad time and see happier days.”

ON STEVE GIBSON

“Steve had a great vision for the club, Keith Lamb backed him up well. Once Steve noticed that we could go to where he wanted us to be, he supported me, he gave me the transfer funds and the wage bill to build Boro into a Premiership club. The season we were relegated was a disappointment but to be in the Premiership for the rest of the seasons was what Steve had always dreamed about. He didn’t want us to be a yo-yo club where we’d get relegated and come back up. Myself and Steve McClaren helped to create that at the club.

ON REGRETS

“Unfortunately for us, getting relegated in 1997 because we didn’t have a strong enough squad to deal with the cup games, we lost players. So Ravanelli went – instead of building on that we lost players.

“You can understand players who didn’t want to play in the Championship, they wanted to play in the Premiership. It was a bit disappointing. We were a good team and we were building nicely. It would have been nice to see how that developed, but that wasn’t to be.

“I think it was detrimental to myself when I brought Terry Venables in. But with John Pickering having his illness, Gordon McQueen having an ankle operation which meant he couldn’t go out on to the training pitch, I felt we needed someone with experience.

“I’d worked with Terry in the England setup and the last thing I wanted to do was undo all the good work at the club and get relegated, so I thought the experience of Terry would work well alongside me and it did, we stayed up. But looking back I don’t think it was a great decision for me.

ON MIDDLESBROUGH TODAY

“Boro deserve to be in the Premier League. Steve has built the club up brilliantly over the years. When I was there the fans were filling the stadium, 30,000 to begin with then 35,000 when the corners were filled in. When you’re getting 30,000 in the Championship there you deserve to be in the Premier League. I watched them against Brighton and that was a great performance, they’re full of confidence.

“They can make the step up. I always feel that when you get into the Premier League from the Championship it is about your recruitment. You’ve got to make a couple of real shrewd signings to stay in there. But you just have to look at how well Watford have done and Bournemouth’s recent results. It shows that it is possible. That recruitment policy has to be spot on if you want to stay in the division.”

ON AITOR KARANKA

“I’ve been told good things about him. I don’t know him personally but whenever I’ve spoken to Pally, or Gordon McQueen, who is good friends with Steve Agnew, they’re always saying good things about how he operates. He’s a very good coach.

“It’d be nice to see them back in the Premier League. It’d be great to see Steve Gibson at Old Trafford, that’s for sure.

ON MANAGEMENT

“There’s certain parts of it that I miss. I did have 12 years of management and sometimes you look and think, well, you’re working at Christmas, you’re away a lot. I get a lot more time with my family now, I have two grandchildren so I get to spend more time with them. But getting on to the training pitch and planning, spending time with the players, the camaraderie – you definitely miss that side of it.

“I would never say never going back into the job, but I enjoy my role with Manchester United, it’s an enjoyable job but if a real challenge came up I wouldn’t say no to it all.”

Tickets for An Evening With Bryan Robson on January 27 are available from The Dormans Club, Oxford Road, Middlesbrough, or Goffy Media on 07990-588424 costing £25 which includes a hot meal.