I've posted this before, but here it is again:
Born and bred in South London. My nearest club was Crystal Palace, with Charlton and Millwall also in contention, and as a kid I loved playing and watching football, but I reached the age of 10 without having chosen a team to support. My dad nurtured my love of the game, but he was a huge non-league fan so he didn't push me towards any of the teams in the 92. I'm sure if he'd been a Palace or Charlton supporter then I would've done the same and that would've been it.
Anyway, I was 10 years old and I randomly decided that Nick Barmby was my all-time hero, just as he made his move to Boro, so I announced that I was now going to support them. I had no idea that Boro was one of the furthest possible clubs from where I lived, let alone the misery and heartbreak they'd bring to my life. My dad laughed and told me it would never last. But it did. Even when Barmby moved on. I stuck faithfully with the Boro and it's now been 28 years of dedicated support and love. I adore the Boro with all my heart and I can only hope to be accepted (much like Yusuf and some others) as an adopted Teessider even though I have absolutely no connection to the area.
I currently live in the US, so unfortunately I haven't been to the Riverside for a long, long time. My last Boro game was the first game back after Covid - when we drew 1-1 at Fulham with a Bola equaliser.