Middlesbrough Football Club

Before the Riverside, before Ayresome Park, the crowds used to flock to the Linthorpe Road ground. And they did flock. as many as 12000 to 15000 people would turn up just to watch pre-season practice games. And as many as 20,000 crammed into the place in September 1902, to see Boro's first home win in the first division, 1-0 against Everton. It can't have been a particularly good view if you were at the back of the crowd, the ground was flat and unless you could afford the extra shilling it cost to get into the North Stand, it was a question of getting there early and taking your chances. Or of finding a convenient tree at the Plantation End of the ground and enjoying an uninterrupted view of the game from there. On April 25th, 1903 Boro drew 1-1 with Stoke City in their final game at Linthorpe Road before moving to Ayresome Park. The sun went down for the last time behind the Linthorpe Road end of a ground that had served the club since 1879. One of the great things about being Artist in Residence for the Boro has been the chance to recreate this old ground. A terrace of shops was built on the site of the main entrance, opposite Seaton Terrace and the Empire Hotel and there is only one known existing photograph of the place. So, after studying architectural plans of the ground and written descriptions along with a series of cartoons, (a kind of Rayners Eye' of their day), which depicted highlights from the games in the local press, I was able to recreate a fairly accurate picture of what things must have looked like.