Everything about Middlesbrough F C totally explained
Middlesbrough Football Club, also known as
The Boro, are an
English football club based in
Middlesbrough,
who play in the
Premier League. Formed in 1876, they've played at the 35,100 capacity
Riverside Stadium since August
1995, The club's main rivals are
Newcastle United and
Sunderland.
The club's traditional kit colour is red, with a varying amount of white. The various crests throughout the club history, the most recent of which was adopted in May
2007, incorporate a lion rampant.
History
FA Amateur Cup in
1895 and again in
1898. The club turned professional in
1889, but reverted to amateur status in
1892. They turned professional permanently in
1899. After three seasons, they won promotion to the
First Division, where they'd remain for the next 22 years. Over the next few years, their form fluctuated greatly, rising to sixth in
1907–08 before dropping to seventeenth two seasons later. The club rose to their highest league finish to date, third, in
1913–14.
The First World War soon intervened and football was suspended.
Before competitive football resumed, Middlesbrough won the Northern Victory League, but the team were unable to maintain their previous form and finished the
1919–20 season in mid-table. They remained in the First Division for the next few seasons, but were relegated in
1923–24 after finishing bottom, ten points adrift of their nearest rivals. Three seasons later, they won the
Division Two title. During that season, debutant
George Camsell, who had signed from
Third Division North side Durham City the previous season, finished with a record 59 league goals, which included nine hat tricks. He would continue as top scorer for each of the next ten seasons. Their tenure back in the top flight lasted only one season, and the club were relegated. They were promoted at the first attempt in
1928–29, winning another Second Division title. The club remained in the First Division until 1954.
The decade before the war saw the emergence of
Wilf Mannion and
George Hardwick, both of whom would go on to become
England internationals in the years ahead. Middlesbrough climbed to fourth in the last full season before
the Second World War and were expected to challenge for the title next season, but the war intervened. Over that period, Middlesbrough maintained reasonable progress in the Second Division but were never serious contenders for promotion. After a fourth place finish in
1962–63, the club endured a steady decline and were relegated to the
Third Division for the first time in their history in 1966.
New manager
Stan Anderson returned the club to the second flight at the first attempt. Middlesbrough wouldn't finish below ninth during the next eight seasons. Middlesbrough won their first silverware as a professional side in
the 1975–76 season, lifting the
Anglo-Scottish Cup in its inaugural season after a two-legged final win over
Fulham.
The club experienced severe financial difficulties during the mid-1980s. Middlesbrough were dropping down the table, and finished nineteenth in the
1984–85 season. In April 1986 the club had to borrow £30,000 from the
PFA to pay wages. The final game of the season saw Middlesbrough relegated to the Third Division once more. However,
Steve Gibson, a member of the board at the time, brought together a consortium and with ten minutes to spare before the deadline, they completed their registration with the Football League for the
1986–87 season. Following the registration came both a change of club crest and a change of the official company name to Middlesbrough Football and Athletic Club (1986) Ltd.
Over the next two seasons, Middlesbrough gained successive promotions into Division Two and then into Division One. The next season though, they came straight back down to Division Two, and with it came the then British transfer record move of
Gary Pallister to Manchester United for £2.3 million. Despite constant promotion and relegation, Middlesbrough were founder members of the
FA Premier League for the
1992–93 season.
Player-manager
Bryan Robson, from
Manchester United, took charge in 1994 and Middlesbrough were brought back into national attention. Following promotion to the Premier League and high-profile purchases like diminutive Brazilian
Juninho, many considered Middlesbrough were on the way up. However, a difficult
1996–97 season was compounded by a deduction of three points imposed just after Christmas, as punishment for the club's failure to fulfill a fixture against
Blackburn, which ultimately resulted in relegation. Without the points deduction, the club would have had enough points to avoid relegation. At the same time, the club managed to reach both the League and
FA cup finals for the first time, but lost out in both. They were again runners up in the League Cup final the next year too, despite being in the second tier. This success also ensured that Middlesbrough would qualify for Europe — the
UEFA Cup — for the first time, in which they reached the last 16. UEFA cup qualification was achieved for the second consecutive year after a dramatic 1–1 away draw with
Manchester City thanks to a late penalty save from
Mark Schwarzer in the last game of the season.
On
27 April 2006, Middlesbrough reached the
UEFA Cup final in
Eindhoven, following two comebacks from 3–0 down. However, the team lost 4–0 to
Sevilla. Following the cup final, McClaren left to head up the
England team, and captain Gareth Southgate took over, despite not having the coaching qualifications, but he was allowed to continue after receiving special dispensation.
Colours and crest
Middlesbrough's original home kit upon election to the Football League in 1899 was a white home shirt with blue shorts, and they didn't adopt their colours of red and white until later that season. Previous kits included a white shirt with a blue and white
polka dotted collar from around 1889. The Middlesbrough kit has remained broadly the same over the years with a red shirt and socks and either red or white shorts. The distinctive broad white stripe across the chest was introduced by Jack Charlton in 1973 (following an attempt to change the home shirt to a
Leeds United-style white shirt) and brought back for a one-off in 1997–98 and then again for the 2000–01 and 2004–05 seasons due to popular demand. The club subsequently announced in December 2007 that the club would allow the fans to decide via an online and text vote whether the white band should return for the
following season. On
8 January 2008 the club announced that the white band was to return, with 77.4% of voters voting in its favour, with the fans to choose the final shirt design from a selection of three designs, of which the winner was announced on
7 May 2008.
The Middlesbrough crest has gone through four changes since the formation of the club. Initially, the badge was simply the town of Middlesbrough's crest with a red lion instead of a blue lion in order to fit in with the club's colours. Following the adoption of the white band on the shirts in 1973, only the red lion remained with the letters "M.F.C" underneath in red. This was further adapted following the reformation of the club in 1986 to a circular crest with the lion in the middle and the words "Middlesbrough Football Club 1986" around the circle in order to reflect this new era. In 2007, Middlesbrough changed their crest once again, this time with the lion inside a shield and the words "Middlesbrough Football Club 1876" underneath.
The kit is produced by
Errea and is only available in the UK from the official club shops and Middlesbrough's online store. The club's shirt sponsor was announced on
20 July 2007 as
satellite navigation device manufacturers
Garmin. This contract has since been extended until the end of the
2008–09 season in a deal described as "the biggest in the club's history".
Stadia
Albert Park in Middlesbrough. After seeing the damage being caused by players and supporters, the Park Committee ordered the club to find an alternate venue. The club moved to Breckon Hill, behind the present-day
Middlesbrough College, after agreeing to rent the land from its owner. However, two years later in 1880, the owner increased the rent and the club decided to move. They moved into the
Linthorpe Road Ground in 1882, home at the time of Middlesbrough Cricket Club. The cricket club departed in 1893–94 to move to the Breckon Hill field, and Middlesbrough Football Club became sole users of the ground. The club now trains at
Rockcliffe Park, in
Hurworth, on the outskirts of
Darlington.
The
Riverside Stadium, named by the supporters of the club after a vote, became the club's home in 1995. It was the first stadium to be built in line with the Taylor Report's recommendations on all-seater stadia for clubs in the top two divisions of the
English football league system. It was originally a 30,000 seater stadium, constructed for a modest fee of £16 million, before it was expanded in 1998 to its 35,100 capacity for an extra £5 million.
Supporters
Traditionally supporters come from
Middlesbrough itself and towns in the immediate area. Middlesbrough have one of the highest proportions in Britain of locally-born season ticket holders at 80%, and one of the highest proportions of female fans at 20%. A survey at the start of the 2007–08 season found Middlesbrough supporters were the seventh loudest set of fans in the Premier League. Middlesbrough Official Supporters Club, which features their own team in the local football league, has links with supporters' clubs across the globe. The largest supporters' clubs include the Official Supporters' Club, the Middlesbrough Disabled Supporters' Association, Yarm Reds, and Middlesbrough Supporters South.
Middlesbrough supporters' main rivals are
Newcastle United (with whom they contest the
Tyne-Tees derby),
Sunderland, and
Leeds United, a fact confirmed by planetfootball.com's 2004 survey, where Newcastle and Sunderland fans also considered Middlesbrough to be amongst their top three rivalries (in third and second places respectively).
The nickname
Smoggies was first used as a derogatory term by opposing supporters, but was later used by Middlesbrough fans in a somewhat self-deprecating manner before finally being adopted as a badge of pride by supporters of the club. An example of this can be seen on the banners carried to away games stating "Smoggies on Tour". Middlesbrough fans were notably praised by
UEFA Chief Executive
Lars-Christer Olsson after their behaviour during the
2005–06 UEFA Cup campaign. He commended that:
You have the satisfaction of knowing that, although your team didn't win the game, your supporters present in Eindhoven proved to the world that football fans can turn a match into a friendly, violence-free celebration.
Middlesbrough fans had also been praised by
Cleveland Police force for their behaviour in previous rounds, particularly in the light of aggravation prior to and during the match at
Roma.
Media relations
Middlesbrough were the first English football club to broadcast time-delayed full-match footage of their league games on their own channel, "Boro TV", in August 2001. Boro TV ran through
NTL cable television until July 2005. The club now show match highlights through a subscription-based scheme on their official website.
Middlesbrough's official matchday programme, Redsquare, was the 2006–07 Programme Monthly Programme of the Year. There are numerous other
fanzines available, most notably
Fly Me To The Moon, formed in September 1988 following Bruce Rioch's quote to Tony Mowbray, stating "If I'd to go to the moon I'd want you by my side".
Community
Middlesbrough Football Club in the Community was founded in 1995 by club chairman
Steve Gibson and is the largest community-based football scheme in the
United Kingdom. It is run separately from the football club but receives support from both the club in terms of providing players, staff, stadium facilities and
PR in the matchday programme and other publications, as well as support from other local organisations.
Since 2002 the club and MFCIC have also run the Middlesbrough Enterprise Academy, a scheme which helps local children improve their entrepreneurial skills and increase their awareness of business planning and finance. In March 2008 plans were announced by the Premier League to roll out the scheme nationally amongst all Premier League clubs.
It was announced in December 2007 that Middlesbrough football club had carried out more community work during
2006–07 than any other
Premier League club, rising from second place the previous year, with the club making 318 appearances – almost twice the Premier League average of 162.
Middlesbrough's mascot is Roary the Lion. The club runs Roary's Children's Charity Fund which purchases items for local children's charities.
Honours
Domestic
League
International
UEFA Cup » Winners 1976
Kirin Cup » Winners 1980
Club staff
As of 29 April 2008.
Executive members
Team management
Recruitment team
Players
Current squad
As of 22 May 2008.» For recent transfers, see List of English football transfers Winter 2007-08.
For appearance details for the current season, see Middlesbrough F.C. season 2007–08. » For career statistics relating to the squad, see List of Middlesbrough F.C. players.
Players out on loan
As of 22 May 2008.
Reserves and Academy
» For the team's reserve and Academy squads, see Middlesbrough F.C. Reserves and Academy.
Notable players
There have been many notable players, these have been classified as below. The Halls of Fame and top record holders are noted below.
Middlesbrough Legends
These players were voted for by fans as part of a campaign with the Evening Gazette.
George Camsell
George Hardwick
Wilf Mannion
Brian Clough
John Hickton
Willie Maddren
Tony Mowbray
Bernie Slaven
Juninho Paulista
Gareth Southgate
Top appearances
These players made more than 430 appearances during their time at the club. The number in brackets indicates the number of appearances in all competitions.
Tim Williamson (602)
Gordon Jones (532)
John Hickton (499)
John Craggs (488)
Jim Platt (481)
George Camsell (453)
Jacky Carr (449)
Mark Schwarzer (446)
David Armstrong (431)
Top goalscorers
These players scored more than 140 goals during their time with the club. The number in brackets indicates the number of goals scored in all competitions.
Steve Bloomer
Alf Common
George Camsell
Wilf Mannion
George Hardwick
Nobby Stiles
Graeme Souness
Bryan Robson
Paul Gascoigne
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at The National Football Museum in Preston, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of top English Footballers and Footballers who have played in England. These players appeared for or managed Middlesbrough at some point in their careers.
Paul Gascoigne (2002 inductee)
Brian Clough (2002 inductee)
Viv Anderson (2004 inductee)
Wilf Mannion (2004 inductee)
Jack Charlton (2005 inductee)
Bryan Robson (2002 inductee)
Managers
The following are all the full time Middlesbrough managers since the club turned professional in 1899.
References and notes
Further Information
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