MORE than 100,000 football fans thronged the streets of Middlesbrough to pay tribute to their Carling Cup heroes yesterday.

The victory parade by the team in an open-top bus marked the end of a 128-year wait for Boro supporters for a major trophy.

Fans with painted faces and Boro scarves let out deafening cheers as the cup made its way from Ayresome Street to Borough Road, led by a mounted police escort, and accompanied by more than 100 officers.

Even the drizzle failed to dampen spirits as the procession travelled at walking pace past the site of the club's old Ayresome Park ground, along Linthorpe Road, down Borough Road and across the A66 to the Riverside Stadium.

Homes along the route were decked out in Middlesbrough colours with music blaring through open windows and doors.

The town was temporarily transformed into a massive football ground with the sound of fans cheering and whistles and horns blowing.

The biggest cheer of the day was reserved for Boro manager Steve McClaren.

When the cup arrived at the stadium, he picked up the trophy, turned to up to 5,000 fans in the car park, and said: "This is for you."

A spokesperson from the club said: "It was a great occasion. The players were quite taken aback and emotional after the reception from the crowd."

On a great day for North-East football - with Sunderland beating Sheffield United to book an FA Cup semi-final place - many fans said they had begun to wonder when Middlesbrough's wait for a trophy would come to an end.

Great-grandmother Olive Cubbin, 78, from Marton, Middlesbrough, met her husband at a match at Ayresome Park in 1947.

She was at the parade with four generations of her family, despite recently coming out of hospital.

"I listened to the match on the radio and I was crying when I heard they won," she said.

"My whole family support Middlesbrough. We're here for my husband, Jack, who died 15 years ago. He would have been in his element.

"We have taken a lot of stick from friends who support other teams, but now we can say we won."

Christine Newton, 58, came from West Yorkshire to take part in the parade in memory of her father who died in August, aged 95.

"He never got to see Middlesbrough win," she said. "He would have loved to be here."

Police said the crowds' behaviour was first class and there were no arrests.

Chief Superintendent Mark Braithwaite said: "It was a carnival atmosphere.

"This was the biggest event in the town for many years and the people who turned out to watch the Carling Cup behaved in exactly the way we asked of them.

"They are a credit to the town, the club and English football. It was a superb performance."