BRYAN Robson is excited about returning to Teesside later this month – but he won’t be wearing a suit jacket with football shorts and socks this time!

That’s how he was unveiled as Middlesbrough in 1994 as the club embarked on the most memorable of periods.

Robson has been back home in the North-East to catch up with his family in Chester-le-Street and to celebrate his 61st birthday.

A global superstar, Captain Marvel's illustrious career brought more than 500 appearances and just shy of a century of goals in a 13-year spell with Manchester United, while he had also earned 90 caps for England.

Robson recalled: “I remember the excitement of it all and how thrilled my family were that I was going to working back home in the North-East. I remember joking with my mam on the way up that I would be back over for my tea and Sunday dinners!

“It was Friday, May 18 1994 and I remember the incredible excitement within Ayresome Park that day.

“Lots of school children were invited into the ground on that lovely afternoon and I can still picture the scene.

“Boro’s press team asked me if I would enter the pitch unveiling in a jacket and tie and mix it with my playing strip with my shorts and socks.

“The ground was packed with press people from different parts of the world, and as I was to be player / manager they thought it would be good fun to mix the clothing for the launch.

“It certainly hit the media as it not only appeared on so many back pages - but the front pages too, the positive PR scheme worked like a dream.

“It had all been planned by the Boro media team to maximize publicity for the club at the start of a new era. I still laugh when I see those photos but they are packed with great memories.’’

He recalled: “In the negotiations, Steve Gibson had already been planning the switch to a new stadium and it was difficult not to make so much more of the exciting switch on that first day.

“Ayresome Park was in a poor old state in so many ways and in need of desperate attention.

“The fun and surprising launch was a theme that we all really embraced and during my time we were always looking to stir the imagination – the samba dancing arrival in October 1995 when Juninho was welcomed to Middlesbrough was another memory that will always be crystal clear to me.

“The students from the Stockton and Billingham Technical College joined us and there was just a sea of happy Boro fans on that special day.

“I guess so many of them will tag a memory of how life was for them on that memorable day it was always eventful!

“Playing in that season was brilliant for me personally and those lads and lasses in the Holgate End were truly brilliant.

“The other stand-out moment was being there as we said our farewell to Ayresome Park.

“All of the legends were with us to remember the special people that made the ground so unique with people on and off the pitch.’’

Robson will be interviewed by BBC Tees presenter Paul ‘Goffy’ Gough at the anniversary supper on January 23 at the Dormans Club in Middlesbrough, with the evening also featuring many memorable videos of the period on giant screen.

Robson said: “Goffy, asked me to let him have some of my favorite photos and recordings for the screens and the memories of that seven years period just rolled out.

“These days I work around the world via my Global Ambassador role at Manchester United and on my weekly travels people still want to talk to me about Juninho, Ravanelli, Emmerson, Merson, Gazza , Barnby, Ince the trips to Wembley and those days in the Premiership when the Riverside was rocking.

“I will never tire of talking about those magical days and I promise the Boro fans a great time when I get back to Teesside.

“I talk about everything - even those sometimes difficult days of when my old friend Terry Venables was working with me.

“The Boro result is always on I look out for on my many trips, and my visits to see such pals as Steve Gibson and Gordon McQueen on Teesside are always something that I look forward to.’’

  • An Evening with Bryan Robson, presented by Goffy Media, takes place at the Dormans Club, Middlesbrough on January 23.
  • Tickets are £25 and includes a hot supper. Tickets are available online www.wegottickets.com/goffymedia via the Dormans Club, Oxford Road, Middlesbrough or by calling 07990 – 588 424.