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Case studies

Riverside Stadium now in 13th year

Built in only 32 weeks in 1995, the Riverside Stadium was the first stadium designed and constructed to comply with the Taylor report.
One of their main areas of concern was the flooring. They needed something that looked good, remained durable to the millions of footfall, could be installed quickly and above all was easy to clean.

Cleaning up after 30,000 people 40-50 times a year would be a costly operation if they chose the wrong floor. We showed them a 15 year old Acrylicon floor in Norway that was as easy clean today as it was when new - Middlesbrough were impressed. Coupled with the fact that Chewing gum does not stick, fast curing time and installation, aesthetically pleasing colours and extreme longevity Middlesbrough made the right choice – Acrylicon.

4000m.sq. of Acrylicon Flake System was laid at approximately 1-2mm thick. Now, 13 years and over 100 million footfall later, it is still performing the same job it was bought for.

Now that is undoubtedly good economics.....

About the Riverside Stadium

Opened on August 26th 1995, the capacity was amended to 34,988 in June 2008. The stadium represents a proud and bold statement of Middlesbrough Football Club’s progressive thinking as well as its vision for the future.

Long before work began on the magnificent stadium, Boro officials had been considering their options. Hemmed in by terraced housing, it was obvious that the only way to expand Ayresome Park was by building upwards, but the fact was that to have any hope of getting planning permission, they would have to limit themselves to a 20,000 capacity.

“That would have meant condemning the team to second class football forever” Boro’s cheir executive Keith Lamb.
Former chairman Colin Henderson believed redeveloping Ayresome Park could work, but new chairman Steve Gibson, director George Cooke and chief executive Keith Lamb disagreed.

They decided to look for a new home and discussions were opened with Middlesbrough Council. Teesside Development Corporation offered them the Middlehaven site and The Miller Partnership put together the best design of the 14 that were tendered.

Contractors Taylor Woodrow and engineers Ove Arup were brought in to begin work. When it opened its doors for the start of the 1995-96 season, it was the biggest new football stadium to be built since the war and the first stadium in the country to be built in line with the Taylor Report.
Its name – chosen by the fans themselves – incorporated the name of the club’s new sponsors – The Cellnet Riverside Stadium.

The first ever goal to be scored there was a Craig Hignett effort in Boro’s 2-0 win over old rivals Chelsea.