We all know the stick that Boro received in the press for not filling the Riverside for a number of high profile cup games this season.
In fact Boro's average gate fell below 30,000 for the first time in four seasons, and that was after a couple of unmemorable seasons with Bryan Robson at the helm.
There was a marked increase in Boro's attendances towards the back end of the season when Steve McClaren started reaping the rewards on the pitch although Boro failed to sell out any single game throughout the season.
The club have now hit back at the critics by stating that Boro are the best supported team of the North East's big three, based on the average attendance aginst the population.
Boro's average home attendance represented 19.7% of the towns population with Newcastle and Sunderland trailing with 18.8% and 16.1% respectively.
Who are Boro kidding, in my book the best supported team is the team that gets more bums on seats and at the moment we are trailing well behind the Geordies and the Mackems.
Boro constantly bleat on about begin a community club with an excellent localised fan base, which is great, but if we are to succeed on the bigger picture we need to be nationaly recognised.
We showed the country that we can support the Boro at Old Trafford in the FA Cup semi-final, we now need to move on. We need to sell the Boro brand around the country and beyond, not in two Boro based retail stores.
A start would be flooding stores around the country with replica kit so that when young Luke walks into a store in Bristol he doesn't just see Man. United, Arsenal or Chelsea kits.
Come on Boro think BIG.