Ayresome Park was a football stadium in the town of Middlesbrough, North East England, and was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995.HistoryMiddlesbrough had previously played at Linthorpe Road West cricket ground, but election to the Football League meant that an improved stadium was required. Ayresome Park was built at Paradise Field, adjacent to the old Paradise Ground of Middlesbrough Ironopolis, who had played in the Football League in the 1893–94 season.The highest attendance at the ground (53,802) was set on 27 December 1949, when Middlesbrough played their North East rivals Newcastle United. Ayresome Park was also one of the venues for the 1966 FIFA World Cup. Three games were played at the ground, involving the Soviet Union, North Korea, Italy and Chile. North Korea famously beat Italy 1–0 at the ground, to knock out of the World Cup one of the most powerful footballing nations, and advancing the Koreans to the quarter-finals in the process. However, the attendances at Ayresome Park were among the lowest in the entire tournament, with a low of 15,887 fans at the game for North Korea versus Chile.

The Paradise Ground was a football ground in Middlesbrough in England. It was the home ground of Middlesbrough Ironopolis.HistoryThe Paradise Ground was initially a field behind Oldgate Farm to the south-west of Middlesbrough town centre. When Middlesbrough Ironopolis began using the ground in 1889, there were no spectator facilities. However, later developments included small covered stands being built on three sides of the pitch and some uncovered seating. However, players and officials had to change at the County Hotel, which was far enough away to require transport to be provided to reach the ground.The ground's record attendance of 14,000 was set on 18 February 1893 for an FA Cup match against Preston North End. Later in the year Ironopolis were elected to the Second Division of the Football League, and the first Football League game was played at the Paradise Ground on 2 September 1893, with Ironopolis losing 2–0 to Liverpool in front of 2,000 spectators. However, attendances began to drop rapidly, with only around 200 watching the 25 November match against Small Heath, well below the official lowest Football League attendance of 469 set by Thames in 1930. Ironopolis resigned from the league at the end of the season and subsequently folded. The last Football League game at the ground was played on 3 March 1894, with Ironopolis beating Northwich Victoria 2–1 in front of 2,000 spectators.