One of the features of Werdermouth’s previews of Boro’s matches is inviting bloggers to estimate what the crowd might be. Sometimes in the past crowd figures produced after a match were merely estimates, but nowadays official figures are registered although these often take into account season ticket holders whether they attended matches or not. So in an idle moment I delved into actual recorded figures for Boro’s three grounds and these are my findings of the highest attendance records:-
Paradise Ground
▫ 22,420 ... 20 Sep 1902 v West Brom ........... 1-1
Ayresome Park
▫*53,802 ... 27 Dec 1949 v Newcastle United .... 1-0
▫ 53,025 .... 1 Mar 1947 v Burnley ............. 1-1 (FA Cup)
▫ 51,080 ... 21 Jan 1939 v Sunderland .......... 0-2 (FA Cup)
▫ 46,747 ... 12 Mar 1938 v Arsenal ............. 2-1
▫ 45,854 .... 1 Jan 1938 v Sunderland .......... 2-1
▫ 44,523 ... 27 Mar 1937 v Arsenal ............. 1-1
▫ 43,754 ... 27 Dec 1926 v Manchester City ..... 2-1
▫ 38,067 .... 3 Feb 1922 v Sheffield United .... 1-1 (FA Cup)
▫ 35,753 .... 6 Nov 1920 v Sunderland .......... 2-0
▫ 32,986 ... 11 Nov 1911 v Newcastle United .... 1-1
* This is one of at least two matches where some spectators climbed onto the roof of the Holgate end to get a better view.
Riverside Stadium
▫ 34,836 ... 28 Dec 2004 v Norwich City ........ 2-0
▫ 34,814 .... 5 Mar 2003 v Newcastle United .... 1-0
▫ 34,687 ... 20 Feb 1999 v Tottenham Hotspur ... 0-0
▫ 34,563 ... 19 Sep 1998 v Everton ............. 2-2
▫ 34,162 ... 15 Aug 1998 v Leeds Utd ........... 0-0
▫*30,228 .... 3 May 1998 v Oxford Utd .......... 4-1
▫ 30,227 ... 21 Feb 1998 v Sunderland .......... 3-1
▫ 30,215 ... 19 Oct 1996 v Tottenham Hotspur ... 0-3
▫ 29,922 ... 15 May 1996 v Manchester United ... 0-3
▫ 29,191 ... 12 Sep 1995 v Southampton ......... 0-0
▫ 28,826 ... 26 Aug 1995 v Chelsea ............. 2-0
* The game against Oxford was a promotion decider in the final game of the season in which Craig Hignett scored the fourth in what turned out to be his last game for the club.
Note: a full capacity of 35,000 was recorded for the England v Slovakia international on 11 Jun 2003 (England won 2-1).
As the Riverside capacity has since been reduced, these figures will stand in perpetuity – unless of course ground extensions occur sometimes in the future.