WHEN the Ayresome Park gates had been cleaned, released from storage and unveiled in front of Middlesbrough's modern Riverside Stadium home, memories of a proud, albeit less glamorous, past came flooding back.

The old main entrance to Ayresome may have taken ten years to follow the rest of the club to the bank of the River Tees but now they stand tall and admired by thousands of football supporters every other week.

Now every Boro supporter can associate the £16m Riverside with their former haunt - a venue since bulldozed and replaced with a housing estate.

It is testament to the chairmanship of Steve Gibson that he had the vision to throw tradition into the Tees and relocate his beloved hometown club to an expensive state-of-the-art arena on the other side of the North-East port.

The thoughts of the club's liquidation plight - it was 20 years ago when they had to play a league game at Hartlepool's Victoria Ground as the club looked destined to crumble - are far removed and Gibson's millions have ensured those days should never return.

The man from South Bank, whose vast wealth has been accumulated from the haulage business, used the switch to the Riverside to herald a new era and, a decade on, the club has not looked back.

It was ten years ago on Friday that Boro marked their return to the Premiership by playing their first game at the new ground.

One of Bryan Robson's Tiny Twins, Craig Hignett, pounced in the box six minutes before half-time on August 26, 1995, against Chelsea to go down in history as the first ever goalscorer at the Riverside Stadium. Not that he realised what he had done.

"I didn't think much of it at the time and it was Robbie Mustoe who came up and made me realise how important the goal was. I didn't know what he was on about but looking back I'm really proud," recalled Hignett.

That day Ruud Gullit graced the stage for the Blues - just one of the world-famous names that have been on show on Boro's turf.

And Boro have had their own fair share. Juninho, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Paul Gascoigne, Alen Boksic and Gaizka Mendieta to name just five.

There have been highs in that time. Ravanelli's debut hat-trick in August 1996 against Liverpool, the two cup finals reached in 1997, the League Cup semi-final second leg victory over Liverpool in February 1998 and their win over Arsenal in the last four of the Carling Cup en route to becoming 2004 champions.

And there have been lows: The never to be forgotten Juninho in tears after a season that ended in relegation and the ill-fated campaign of five years ago when Robson's call for help from Terry Venables led to the sacking of Captain Marvel.

But lessons have been learned and, under the stewardship of Steve McClaren, Boro are a club on the up.

They are embarking on Boro's second consecutive UEFA Cup run and, despite yesterday's defeat, have eyes on a Champions League place in the long run.

And McClaren is aiming for the club's recent success to be maintained. "This club has come a long way under Gibson's chairmanship. New training facilities, a new stadium and the team is now regarded as an established Premier League club. It has ambitions of getting in the top six," he said.

"Things are looking up and credit to the chairman for that. When we ask players to sign now they always ask are you in Europe? We can say yes now. And that shows how far this club has come in the ten years it has been at the Riverside Stadium."

And, providing McClaren can sign the two midfielders he is after before Wednesday's transfer deadline, there is every chance yet another season of European football will be arriving at the Riverside next season too.