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INTERVIEW WITH GEOFF THOMAS OF THE TWE12TH MAN 1-8-07
Steve Goldby
Boro's journey to Eindhoven during the 2005/06 season was historic for the club, the town and all those associated with the fantastic roller-coaster ride. It is also synonymous with the formation of The Twe12th Man organisation, a body of hardcore Boro support dedicated to generating a positive and vibrant atmosphere at The Riverside Stadium.
The Twe12th Man was formed straight after two major supporter's events last season, namely the Boro surfer making it's debut at The Riverside stadium and the extremely impressive Eindhoven 2006 card display at the home leg of the Steaua Bucharest Uefa Cup semi-final.
The surfer came into existence as a result of the efforts of John Donovan, a man who by his own admission 'loves to organise things'. For those who are unaware of the surfer, it is an impressive sight and for those who have had the daylight blocked out as it does it's thing just before kick-off time, well, you will know about it.
The Boro Surfer
Three weeks later, Geoff Thomas spent the afternoon of the Steaua match laying cards out on the North Stand seats. The effort was well worth it as the resulting display was featured on the national media and drew admiration from far and wide.
The potential from these two events were quickly realised by Geoff and John and shortly afterwards, The Twe12th Man was formed over a few pints in Dr Brown's, Middlesbrough.
The Steaua semi-final card display
Now about to start it's second season of existence, The Twe12th Man has managed to make huge strides in it's attempts to establish itself as the ultimate supporter's body. It has however been much vilified with accusations of elitism being levelled and the over-riding feeling from some quarters that the organisation is merely a 'mouthpiece' for the club. Geoff Thomas refutes this.
"What we are trying to achieve is simply to create a positive and vibrant atmosphere at the Riverside and hopefully bring more fans into the ground."
"Our main focus is to support the team at all costs and we will work closely with the club on certain projects but we are essentially independent."
"We need to work with the club on projects like the surfer as certain permissions are required and safety regulations must be satisfied. Dave Allan has been absolutely brilliant in smoothing away problems with the authorities and has been incredibly supportive of our efforts."
Geoff is also quick to refute the 'elitism' claims and is also very realistic about the task ahead.
"We're just regular fans, no different from anyone else, and we are aware that we won't be able to change things overnight. We need to change the psychology of the fan as the match day experience is not what it could be and we are prepared to put our reputations on the line in an attempt to achieve this."
"All we are doing is offering a vehicle whereby fans can express themselves at matches without fear of ridicule as we will take any flak for it."
The Twe12th Man is not a membership based organisation. Everyone is welcome to attend the regular meetings and express their opinions and ideas. In fact, there is no form of official membership at all.
"We simply want visiting fans to leave the Riverside with a healthy respect for the way that Boro fans support the team. We're trying to achieve that by making the stadium a far more colourful and exciting place on match days. What we may lack in numbers, we'll make up for in presence."
The Twe12th Man have not been idle during the summer months as you will no doubt have noticed. The forthcoming legends banner has been heavily featured in The Evening Gazette (click here for more details) recently and you can expect to see twenty-seven new banners representing all Middlesbrough supporter's clubs worldwide on display at the stadium at some point in the future.
'The Spirit of Steaua' will be the theme this coming season as the two biggest hand flags in the Premier League make their bow and another blank red canvas is thrown open to the fans for their ideas.
The Twe12th Man deserve huge support for their efforts but will no doubt draw further criticism from the more negative elements of the fan base. It's a shame that those who do dish out such needless criticism don't attend the meetings as they would be made most welcome and their ideas would certainly be taken on board.
Fans interested in getting involved with the Twe12th should contact Geoff Thomas or John Donovan via email at contactus@twe12thman.co.uk or visit the website at www.twe12thman.co.uk.
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