ARTIST in residence Richard Piers Rayner has built up a unique record of Boro's progress through a stunning collection of drawings and paintings.

Pictures celebrating Boro's history now adorn the main stairway of the Riverside Stadium as part of the club's Artist in Residence project. 

Twenty-five of Richard's works tell stories from Boro's first ever goal, scored by Jackson Ewbank, through to the Carling Cup celebrations in Cardiff.

Richard was chosen from a host of quality applicants for the post, which allows him to get close to the matchday action, picking up every detail for his superb artwork.

His drawings have become a popular feature in the club programme over recent years.

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And when Boro uncovered new reseach about the club's earliest days for the book Who's That Team They Call The Boro?, Richard brilliantly recreated the scenes shown here from a game between Boro and local rivals, Middlesbrough Ironopolis.  



Richard has produced many superb drawings of current and recent Boro players, but the book sparked a new interest in recreating scenes from the club's earliest days.



This drawing shows the chaos after Boro won the 1895 FA Amateur Cup - only to find there was no trophy!

Holders and opponents Old Carthusians were so confident of retaining the cup they didn't even bring it along to the final, which Boro won 2-1 at Headingley.

The picture below shows Jim Kemplay's somewhat fortuitous second goal in the 1898 FA Amateur Cup final against Uxbridge, in front of 2,000 fans at Crystal Palace.



Uxbridge keeper Gumbrell tried to throw the ball upfield but hit Kemplay in the face - and the ball ended up in the back of the net.   

The drawing below is a recreation of Boro's Linthorpe Road ground, the club's home for more than 20 years.

Based on detailed research, it shows how the ground would have looked looking from the Linthorpe Road end towards the Plantation end in the late 1880s.



Since landing the role of Artist in Residence, Richard has found international fame though his graphic novel Road To Perdition, which inspired the Hollywood blockbuster starring screen legends Tom Hanks and Paul Newman.

The film-makers stuck closely to Richard's stunning illustrations of depression era Chicago from the book written by Max Allan Collins, which first caught movie mogul Steven Spielberg's eye.

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His latest projects include The Weeping Knight, co-written with his wife, Bernadette, which is being produced by Zenuck in Hollywood, the same company behind Road To Perdition.  

But whatever happens in his career, he is keeping his feet on the ground and certainly has no intention of moving to LA.

"I've got my priorities right - I shall be at the Riverside come wind, rain or snow!

"I will always try to do a picture for the programme and be there on the sidelines. I love it here in the country and I have the perfect lifestyle.

"The way things are now you can work from anywhere and I've always worked from home.

"I think it's unbelievable when you think of the quality that's in the team now.

"This is a great time to be a Boro supporter - maybe the Rayner and Boro fortunes are rising together in synchronisation.

"I was proud when Perdition came out, I sat next to my wife in the picture house and it was a great moment. Tom Hanks came up afterwards and said, 'All these people are here tonight because of your work' and that was wonderful, a great moment, but then it's over and you go home.

"You know, I'm probably more proud of this work at the Riverside because it's there now but it still isn't finished, I go home and start on the next one."

The work has been a labour of love for Middlesbrough-born Richard, a third generation Boro fan.

"I used to live on Tavistock Street right next to Ayresome Park, so it's in the blood," he explains. "I went to my first game in 1964, Dad and Grandad were also supporters.

"I've been there, my hands have been welded frozen to the barriers in the Holgate End! The images you see in the likes of Mackenzie Thorpe's work recreate the tobacco haze you used to see at games, especially in night matches at Ayresome Park. I like to think my work does the same, but in a different way."

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When Richard started as Artist in Residence at the Riverside he began capturing moments from matches, but, he reasons: "A photograph can capture that just as well.

"Pictures from the early days are so scarce. I hope to be able to recreate images of a bygone era which otherwise wouldn't be seen.

"I think there is just one known photograph of the old Linthorpe Road ground, but researching that I came across other little snippets, like goalkeeper Jeremiah Dawkins, who used to smoke his pipe during a game when play was at the other end and knock it out on a post when it looked like the action was coming his way!

"Then there was the occasion when a player took exception at being included in the Reserves so just spent the whole of that afternoon lying down in the penalty area.

"What I draw is as close to what actually happened as can be, plus as it happened over 100 years ago there are not that many people who can tap me on the shoulder and say ' Hey, it wasn't like that!' But the research I have done has even allowed me to know what the weather was like on the days in question."

While his work is impressive and extensive, Richard says there is so much still to contribute: "I haven't scratched the surface yet. From the more recent era I haven't done Bernie Slaven or Tony Mowbray and I haven't done Jeremiah Dawkins with his pipe! They're heroes going right back through the ages."

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To listen to an interview with Oscar winner Richard Piers Rayner free of charge, click here.

To see the collection of Richard Piers Rayner's stunning pictures, book on a guided tour of the Riverside Stadium by calling 0844 499 6789.