1995 was a big year for me as well as for Middlesbrough FC, but more on that later. This was the year that saw the collapse of the Barings Bank and the arrest of Rogue Trader Nick Leeson, the Oklahoma City bombing, the farce that was the OJ Simpson trial, the end of the Bosnian war and the arrival on the scene of a new digital medium - DVDs. “Toy Story” was top-grossing film of the year, with “Apollo 13”, “Casino” and “Seven” also placing in the top ten. In music, the Oasis versus Blur battle for domination grabbed the headlines, whilst Coolio‘s “Gangsta‘s Paradise“ was top selling single. In the world of sport, a young golfer called Tiger Woods won the US Amateur Championships, South Africa won the Rugby Union World Cup, Michael Schumacer won the Formula 1 World Championship and Ajax of the Netherlands won the UEFA Champions League.

 For Boro and for me, there were big moves and big changes. Boro started the 1995-96 season back in the Premier League and in their new stadium. I got married and moved to the magical, hall-of-mirrors landscape of Ingleby Barwick, essentially to be closer to my job for a firm of quantity surveyors in Stockton-on-Tees. My move north gave me even more of an excuse to follow the team that was slowly, but surely, gaining my admiration and affection. I felt at times like I was being carried along on the tangible tide of excitement and hope…something that seemed quite new to many people in the region. The people I worked with were ready to roll up the sleeves on their perple werk sherts and get Boro ‘a’oos on their aaaaarms.  The pre-season did little to dampen their enthusiasm with the arrival of Nicky Barmby from Spurs. This was a young, ambitious player with a bright future who had chosen to leave an apparently more glamourous team…not just some aging journeyman looking for a nice cushty pay-day. Boro fans were promised that more players like Barmby would be brought in. The fans just couldn’t wait to get into their spanking new stadium and get stuck into the likes of Man U and Liverpool.  Teething problems with access to the ground and a delay in obtaining a safety certificate meant a bit of a shuffle with the early fixtures, so Boro had to wait a few days more to play in the Cellnet Riverside Stadium. Even the curtain-raising friendly against Sampdoria had to be postponed until well into the season. Their first league fixture of the season was against Arsenal at Highbury in a televised match that saw Boro take a deserved lead before being pegged back by the hosts. A 1-1 draw away to the likes of the Gunners was a good, solid start. The following week, on Saturday 26^th August, the waiting was over… for Boro fans and for me. Whilst the Boro took to the field and saw off Chelsea with a comfortable 2-0 victory, I found myself getting married at a church in a small North Yorkshire market town under rainy skies…the previous five or six weeks had seen glorious, sunny weather. I only found out the result at the reception later, when some friends from work arrived on a mini-bus.