It is almost exactly 30 years since goals from Craig Hignett and Jan Åge Fjørtoft secured Middlesbrough a Premier League victory against Chelsea as they played their first game at a brand new Riverside Stadium. Even the presence of Ruud Gullit at sweeper in a visiting side featuring Mark Hughes in attack could not deny Boro a 2-0 win as an exciting decade peopled by, among other luminaries, Juninho, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Nick Barmby, Gareth Southgate, Gaizka Mendieta and Bolo Zenden dawned.
Along the way Boro would reach three League Cup finals, winning one, while also losing FA Cup and, most excitingly, Uefa Cup finals. Not to mention bouncing back from a one-season second-tier sabbatical.
