Bernie Slaven: 'I achieved all my ambitions at Middlesbrough - Wembley, international football, the lot'

Boro legend Bernie Slaven has helped kick off a new sporting project by sharing his own favourite memories of his time at Ayresome Park.

A new project backed by the Boro legend is being rolled out across Teesside, aiming to engage older fans in activities to tackle social isolation, depression and dementia.

Thanks to a grant from NHS South Tees CCG community innovation fund, the Sporting Memories Network will be working with up to 10 venues across Middlesbrough and Redcar to run weekly sporting memories groups for sports fans to meet up and share their stories, enjoy hearing memories and try out a few sports themselves.

Recalling his own memories, Bernie said: “After two games on trial at Middlesbrough I signed a three-year contract. The fee was £25,000.

“In my opening four years I never missed a game. In my time at Middlesbrough between 1985-1993, I reached all my personal goals.

"It was always my ambition to sample full-time football, play at the top level, play at Wembley and gain international recognition.

"Thankfully I achieved all them at Middlesbrough and ended up making 381 appearances and scoring 147 goals making me the 6th top goal scorer in Middlesbrough’s history.”

Boro fans attending Bernie’s 30th anniversary on Teesside dinner at the Riverside on March 20 will be asked to share some of their own favourite memories whilst playing a special version of spot the ball.

Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation will be the venue for training the staff and volunteers involved in the project and plans are to host one of the groups at the Riverside.

Activities will take place in libraries and community venues, with sporting memories resources being used at James Cook University Hospital by the South Tees Foundation Trust dementia team.

Director of the Sporting Memories Network, Tony Jameson-Allen said: “People tend to focus on the dementia aspect, but I want to stress that this is open to all sports fans over the age of 50.

“First and foremost, it’s a great way to make some new friendships.”

At the heart of the project is the use of sports reminiscence to engage with and improve the wellbeing of older people aged over 50.

Sporting memories groups for older men have already been successfully established in other parts of the UK,

The project is also being supported by Middlesbrough Council and Redcar and Cleveland Council.

For more information, see http://bit.ly/19dVxTy.