BORO'S Riverside Stadium playing surface has been shortlisted in the prestigious Groundsman of the Year awards.
 
The field has been narrowed down to just three Coca-Cola Championship pitches, based on a combination of referees' reports and marks awarded by away managers throughout the campaign.

Dr Stephen Baker, Head of Soils and Sports Surface Science at the Sports Turf Research Institute, will inspect the three shortlisted grounds, as he has for each of the previous 15 seasons.

Boro have always maintained their pitches to a particularly high standard and the Ayresome Park surface was famously one of the best in the league.

Head groundsman Tony Bell and his team put an impressive level of technical knowhow and horticultural care into maintaining the 7,000 square metres of pristine turf.

Since the pitch was first laid the irrigation system has been upgraded and undersoil heating was installed for the first time in 2006.

The award is given by the Football League/Premier League Pitches Committee.