Nick Waits (left) received a personalized shirt from his favorite club after reaching the 750-match mark // Photo: bbc.com
January 10 was the 1400th consecutive time Nick was in the stands at a meeting with the participation of “smoggy”. Waites attended the away match in London with Fulham in the 1/16 finals of the FA Cup.
Despite the defeat of his favorite club with the score 1:3 and departure from the tournament, the fan experienced special feelings in connection with the achievement of the mark of 1400 attended matches in a row. For almost 30 years he has attended all home and away matches of Middlesbrough in the Premier League, EFL Championship (the team now plays in the second division of the championship of England – author’s note), FA Cup, English League Cup and European Cups.
That said, the 64-year-old told the BBC that he has come close to breaking the streak on numerous occasions over nearly 30 years. “I remember one Wednesday I had a hernia operation and on Saturday I went to Leicester to attend the Middlesbrough away match. I don’t know how I managed to get on the train and certainly have no idea how I got into the stadium, but I did,” said the fan.
Even the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t stop him, and a photo of Waites with a red armband on his face with the hashtag #UTB (“Up The Boro” – a call for the team to win) appeared online.
All these years later, the Riverside Stadium, where Middlesbrough take on their opponents, cannot be imagined without a loyal fan.
He admitted that after reaching the 1,000-match mark in 2016, friends asked him to “quit his addiction” and several people “threatened to kidnap” him.
“Taking a break” from the matches “smoggy” (as fans call the team because of the smog that fills the industrial city of Middlesbrough – author’s note), Waites manages only in June and July, when the team is first on vacation and then holds pre-season friendlies that do not interest him.
The Englishman admits the series will eventually come to an end, but is only guessing how exactly. “I often wonder how it will end: will I get stuck in traffic, will the train be delayed or something? But for now, I just keep driving on,” Nick Waits said.
“Middlesbrough is one of the oldest clubs in England, it was founded in 1876. The club was one of the founding members of the Premier League in 1992, when the top division of the English Championship took on a modern format. The club was also the first in the world to launch its own TV channel – “Boro TV” (named after another nickname of the club – author’s note). In 2004 Middlesbrough won the English League Cup. In 2006 Middlesbrough reached the UEFA Cup final, in which they lost to Spanish club Sevilla 0:4, and in 1997 they lost to Chelsea 0:2 in the FA Cup final.
Middlesbrough, who are second in the EFL Championship and have every chance of making it to the Premier League next season, play their next game away to West Bromwich late in the evening on January 16. There can be little doubt that Nick Waits will be in attendance 300km south of his hometown.
