The Twe12th Man Website

This Saturday sees the launch of the Twe12th Man’s new website as an alternative source for Boro fans to post their ideas for improving the atmosphere at the Riverside.

“I am delighted to hear of the launch of this new site. I hope that Boro fans will use it to exchange ideas, invent new chants and songs that can be used on match days and improve the atmosphere at the Riverside. In years gone by on packed terraces it was easier to get new chants going, nowadays in the sterile atmosphere of all seater stadiums it does not seem as easy. The Riverside for the big game can be an intimidating place to visit, but consistent with many other grounds the run of the mill games are played out in front of theatre type audiences that only get involved when the team lifts them.

Surely if you are going to pay a fortune to go to games then you might as well enjoy yourselves. The away game atmosphere needs to be recreated at home games. The addition of flags and banners that the Twe12th man have been instrumental in bringing to the ground has added colour and character, now for the next step, in bringing back the noise to the stadium.

I wish the Twe12th man every success with this new venture and hope that the fans will get involved for the benefit of the team and in so doing enhance their own match day experience and enjoyment.

Jeff Winter

The Boro fans over many seasons have always been very passionate about their football and can really make a difference to the team.

My first experience of a great atmosphere was at Ayresome Park in 1967, when a capacity attendance roared the team to promotion with a 4-1 win over Oxford United,the fans were so noisy that night that they were compared to the Kop at Anfield in terms of volume levels!

The Ayresome Park spirit still lives on at the Riverside and not just in the banners that brighten the match day experience or the popular name for the North Stand as the "New Holgate End"

The noise that can come from the fans, as we heard in the semi final night against Liverpool back in 1998 or the UEFA Cup matches with Basle and Steaua Bucharest, can sometimes be the difference between success or failure.

Long may the fans roar Boro onto glory and I wish the Twe12th Man every success.

As Bernard Gent used to say on Radio Ayresome

"Lets have plenty of Come on Boros!!!"

Ali Brownlee

It's often said that football clubs would be nothing without the fans, but sadly these days it's a message that seems easily forgotten. The fact of the matter is it's true.

No matter how often we're told that football is a business and fans are consumers, it isn't and we're not. Football is a game, which exists to excite, antagonise and baffle us in equal measures but most importantly, to bring people together who often have little or nothing in common other than the shared bond of support for "their" club.

Being swept away in the atmosphere of a big or important game is one of the greatest things about sport.

My two personal favourite memories are the second leg of the Second Division Play Off Semi Final against Bradford City at Ayresome Park in 1988, when as a nine year old, my dad took me into the North Stand to see Gary Hamilton's extra time winner send us into ecstasy and some old bloke gave me his Newbould's pork pie at half time. The first of my young life!

The second is seeing Fabrizio Ravanelli's debut for Boro against Liverpool at the Riverside in 1996. A European Cup winner scoring a hat-trick on his debut on a gloriously sunny day, backed up by the imperious talents of Juninho, Emerson and Neil Cox(!) was good enough. But seeing 30,000 Boro fans pull their shirts over their heads in celebration is a sight that will live with me forever.

There are other memories of course, the final game at Ayresome Park against Luton, Juninho's debut and the UEFA Cup comebacks, but for some reason, those two games always stick in my mind as personal favourites. The great thing about football is they could be replaced this weekend, or the next. You just never know.....

Mark Drury

BORO need an injection of new energy and maybe one of two inspirational signings if the special match day atmosphere is to be re-created at the Riverside Stadium.
A full house in every game will help to pave the way for the return of the electrically charged atmospheres which can making Boro supporting an absolute joy.
To achieve that, Boro have to win back the missing fans - not an easy task at a time when anybody can pop down to their nearest pub and watch the game live by satellite.
That's not to mention the fact that the days are probably gone when Boro could compete in the transfer market for the next Juninho.
I can vividly remember the first couple of season at the Riverside and the wonderful atmospheres which were created game after game.
The noise was so intense that, in the days before laptops, I had great difficult y in making myself heard to copy-typists on the other end of the Evening Gazette's telephone line.
In attempting to relay my match reports, I alternated between the landline and my mobile phone, never at any time being able to hear the typist on the other end. I never knew for definite that my match report was being received.
This went on for a long time and, for a while, I began to wonder whether there was a problem with the phone.
In the event, as noise levels within the stadium walls gradually dipped, the voices of the copy-typists became evident and ever clearer.
There have been many occasions since when my phone calls have been drowned out. The Coca Cola Cup semi-final tie against Liverpool, when Boro went two up after a couple of minutes, was a perfect example. It was one of the great nights in the history of the Riverside.
But then the stadium was full and the anticipation was high.
That's what we need more off. Boro need to contribute towards generating a sense of excitement within our fans before they even walk through the turnstiles.
It's a fact that players have to earn the right to receive the plaudits of the crowd. But when there's a buzz throughout the stadium before the kick off, it can make a big difference.
So the belief and expectation that an exciting game is lying ahead is paramount for all fans, and a full house certainly helps to increase the atmosphere.
Let's hope for more full houses at the Riverside in the future, and when we get them I won't have any reason to criticise the telephone - as long as my laptop is working well.
Good luck to The Twe12th Man, both with this website and the hard work they carry out on behalf of the fans.

Eric Paylor

The 12th Man - never went away, but now their back

By now most Boro fans will be aware of the 12th man, or men, well you know they exist.

They’ve pulled off a few spectaculars since they came into existence. Card displays in the North Stand? Check. Huge surfer for the North Stand? Check. Banners ? Check.

The 12th man are brave, they had a go. It would have been easy to avoid the flack (much of it personal) and done nothing. Instead they’ve had a go. They’ve never claimed to be superfans. They’ve never claimed that you have to be a superfan to be a member. Quite the opposite, they’ve done their best to engage with the average fan and encourage them to make some noise, show a bit of passion, and hopefully have some of this passion rub off on the team.

Of late theres been a few “musical differences” between the people in the group. OK, this will happen, when you get a group of individuals who are determined to have a go and make a difference, your bound to get different views and perspectives. Thats life, they have dealt with it and moved on.

And in moving on the 12th man website is in the process of being updated and, for want of a better term, reactivated. Hopefully by the time of the game against the barcodes from up the road.

B17 is more than happy to wish the 12th Man and it’s various members all the best with the re-launch of the web site.

More power to their flag waving, surfer launching, chant encouraging elbow.

chopper - Block 17

It is a fantastic coup for Middlesbrough FC to have an ever expanding group of fans intent on improving the atmosphere and the whole matchday experience at the Riverside.

I would have to describe the Twe12th man as a fan movement along similar lines as the fanzine movement that Fly Me To The Moon jumped on 20 years ago. Back in 1988 clinging on to rotten terraces, angered and frustrated by being labelled as the enemy within we decided to strike back. The pen was mightier than the sword back then and we were able to show that football fans could think and joke outside the (penalty) box.

Now in 2008, supporters are again doing it for themselves. You can complain on fan forums until you are Boro black'n'blue in the face.
Constantly harp on back to some golden age of terrace welfare and atmosphere at our former Ayresome home. Or you can you join the twe12th man and seek to do something about turning up the volume, adding colour and identity to our Middlesbrough; Pimp my riverSide.

Don't get me wrong I loved Ayresome Park so much so that I bought part of it and moved in. I treasure those memories but equally I still love the Boro experience. From cup finals, to distant shores in Europe, through cup battles and Premier ups and downs it has been a special time. As well as the highlights on the field it is the crazy banners, the stand up if you love the Boro's, the screaming at the linesman, the shared yells and yelps of encouragement and delight that still make the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. I want to plump up that background volume and push it into the foreground in each and every game I attend. I'm greedy I want every match to be an event.
That's why I'm so behind the efforts of the twe12th man. Their positive energy is going to improve my Boro watching no end.

I wish you every success with your new website. I hope it will be a sounding board for new ideas and perhaps the catalyst to spark the Riverside to its finest hour yet. I didn't think we would ever experience anything as dramatic as the Robbo cup final/relegation helter-skelter ever again. Then came the once in a lifetime UEFA Cup comeback. Twice. There are no certainties anymore. No longer much typical about Boro. Except I hope the passion of the fans and the desire to build the best possible atmosphere and experience. When the supporters unite to form the twe12th man right around the stadium, home and also away then you feel in your heart of hearts that anything is possible. Then we'll take some stopping. Just watch us go we'll be shooting well beyond the moon.

Robert Nichols
fly me to the moon/www.fmttmboro.com