by JBG » Wed Dec 29, 2004 5:07 pm
It is strange Michael. I have always followed Boro closely given my family connection there, and for a while in the late 1990s, they were getting great crowds, especially in the first 2 or 3 years when Bryan Robson was manager.
I think a lot of it was novelty value in that long suffering fans who previously were used to watching Bernie Slaven, Jamie Pollock, Ian Baird and Curtis Flemming were suddenly seeing the South American Player of the Year (Juninho), Branco, and Ravenelli playing for them. They increased the capacity of the Riverside to 35,000 such was the demand for tickets, but once Robson REALLY started to struggle and Terry Venables was brought in, crowds began to dwindle and despite their very good current team, still haven't fully recovered.
Jolly Bob Grumbine.