It wasn’t only Middlesbrough Football Club that was celebrating the end of its 128-year wait for a trophy – the Teesside Evening Gazette also had good reason to welcome the Carling Cup victory on Sunday.
In the run-up to the final, the Gazette brought out two “Boro for the Cup” supplements.
One was was sold as a 36-page standalone special and published two weeks before the clash with Bolton Wanderers.
Sales of the special could reach 10,000. The second, on the eve of the final, was a 24-page free pullout with the main paper.
At the weekend the Saturday Gazette and the pink Sports Gazette were transformed into cup final specials.
On Sunday night the production team came in at 4pm to put the next day’s victory edition together. Monday’s issue celebrating Boro’s 2-1 win had a total of 12 broadsheet pages on the victory and the print run was upped by 20,000.
Editor Steve Dyson, said: “For Middlesbrough to have won their first cup in its 128year history is an incredible achievement for the town and the whole of Teesside. The efforts of the staff we sent down to Cardiff and those who came into the office to get the souvenir edition out was highly impressive.
“This was a moment that everyone at the Gazette wanted to be a part of, and that pride, passion and skilled ability has shone out in the exceptional coverage we were able to provide.”
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