2005-06 Season

14th in the Premier League
League Cup: 5th Round, Blackburn Rovers h. 0-1
FA Cup: Semi Finals, West Ham United 0-1
UEFA Cup: Final, Sevilla 0-4.

Highlight:
4-1 win over Steaua Bucharest to go through on away goals after being 0-3 down on aggregate 27/4/06

Low Spot:
0-4 home defeat to Aston Villa 4/2/06

Good:
Franck Quedrue
His return from injury was one of the main reasons behind Boro's revival. A strong defender who knows how and when to tackle Quedrue rarely offers much encouragement to the opposition. He can play a bit as well.
George Boateng
Boateng is the real driving force behind Boro, stopping the other team and backing up his own forwards as well.
Hugely influential and the team fell apart without him.

Bad:
Doriva
These Brazilians are not always all they're cracked up to be. Annoyingly average.
Abel Xavier
The bizarre Portugueezer was snapped up from Roma on transfer deadline day but the only positive thing to come out of his short stay on Teeside was his drug test after the UEFA Cup tie with Xanthi.

In Brief:
An absolutely ridiculous season down by the Riverside.
Boro couldn't make their minds up whether they were brilliant (whipping Chelsea, Arsenal and Man U) or rubbish (home defeats to Sunderland, Charlton and Villa) but then a shocking run saw them emerge as real relegation candidates.
Thankfully the traumatic home drubbing by Aston Villa proved the nadir and they then rallied to mount two serious cup campaigns.
Boro were unlucky to lose to West Ham in the FA Cup semis but were outclassed in the UEFA Cup final by Spanish opposition.
Their progress to that final provided the club and its' fans with a lifetime of memories, however, as incredible odds were overcome on several occasions.

Middlesborough Football Club - History

Middlesbrough Football Club was formed in 1876. The idea may have been first suggested at a tripe supper at the Corporation Hotel but the formation was actually arranged by members of the Middlesbrough Cricket Club at a meeting at the Albert Park Hotel.

The club turned professional as early as 1889 but quickly reverted to an amatuer status. Boro became a professional outfit again in 1899 when they gained entry into Division Two of the Football League.

Beginning life in the league with a team of mostly local men Middlesbrough developed rapidly and won promotion to Division One in 1902 behind West Bromwich Albion.

Surviving in the top flight proved difficult at first and the club caused a stir in 1905 when they paid Sunderland £1,000 to sign Alf Common, the first time a four figure transfer fee had occured.

This did, however, help the club to establish itself in the first division although there was little sign of Boro actually achieving anything major in either league or cup.

Middlesbrough were finally relegated to Division Two in 1924 but returned to the first division in some style in 1927 as Division Two champions. Boro finished eight points clear at the top and rattled in 122 goals, George Camsell scoring 59 of them.

The club then bounced between the top two divisions for a few seasons, relegated in 1928 then promoted as champions again in 1929.

This time the club managed to survive in the first division and retained their status up to the Second World War, relying heavily on the goals of camsell who would finish with 326 league goals in total.

In the immediate post war period Boro provided two members of the England side many believe to be their finest. The cultured full back George Hardwick and "Golden Boy" Wilf Mannion were also vital in keeping the club in the first division.

Hardwick had lost his best years to the war, however, and Mannion would eventually be one of the players whose career was affected by a contractual dispute with his club.

In 1954 the club was relegated back to Division Two and it would be 20 years before it would manage a return.

Despite having a strikeforce of Brian Clough and Alan Peacock, both of whom would be capped by England while at Ayresome Park, Boro were unable to clinch a promotion in the late 50's or early 60's.

In 1966 the club was actually relegated into the 3rd division but were promoted from that division the following year as distant runners up behind Queens Park Rangers.

Stan Anderson was the manager who achieved this promotion and he proceeded to build an extremely strong side which he somehow could not quite take to Division One.

In 1973 the club replaced him with Jack Charlton and he immediately led Boro to the most emphatic of promotions.

In the days of two points for a win Boro finished 15 points clear of their nearest challengers, Luton Town.

Charlton's side managed a 7th place finish in their first season back in Division One and then progressed to the League Cup semi finals in 1976. Boro managed a narrow 1-0 win at Ayresome Park in the 1st leg of their semi against Manchester City but then crashed to a 4-0 defeat at Maine Road in the return.

The nucleus of this excellent side was provided by Jim Platt, John Craggs, Stuart Boam, Willie Maddren, Graeme Souness, Dave Armstrong, David Mills and John Hickton.

Middlesbrough missed out on a golden opportunity in the FA Cup of 1978. Having knocked out three first division teams, Coventry City, Everton and Bolton Wanderers, to reach the quarter finals they then lost in a replay to second division Orient.

In 1982 Middlesbrough ended a season of struggle by dropping back into the second division and then, after four tough seasons, they dropped down into the third division after losing on the last day of the season at Shrewsbury.

The clubs' problems were even greater off the field at this time and, suffering from crippling debts, they went into liquidation in July 1986.

After the Official Receiver had sacked the entire backroom staff and locked the gates to Ayresome Park the club was saved by a consortium of businesses and a new company was formed, Middlesbrough Football and Athletic Company (1986) Ltd.

Despite all these problems and having to play their first home game of the next season at Hartlepool's ground the club re-instated Bruce Rioch as manager and emerged from the crisis stronger.

Perhaps crucially Rioch was able to put together a fine side which clinched promotion from the third division at the first time of asking.

Steven Pears, Gary Parkinson,Gary Pallister, Tony Mowbray, Colin Cooper, Stuart Ripley, Brian Laws and Bernie Slaven helped comprise a formidable outfit and in 1988 this nucleus helped Boro back into the first division.

Boro missed out on automatic promotion to Aston Villa on goal difference but won through in the play offs. They knocked out Bradford City 3-2 on aggregate in the semi finals before overcoming Chelsea 2-1 in the two legged final.

The club then made an encouraging start to life back in the first division but ended up relegated after winning only one of their final 17 games.

More surprisingly Boro then struggled badly back in Division Two. Going in to the final fixture they were in a relegation place but escaped after pounding Newcastle 4-1 while Bournemouth lost at home to Leeds United. To make the day even sweeter their victory also cost Newcastle any hope of automatic promotion.

Middlesbrough bounced back the following season to claim a plave in the play offs but lost disappointingly to Notts County in the semi finals, 2-1 on aggregate.

Boro made no mistake in 1992, however, clinching promotion as runners up behind Ipswich Town to take their place in the first ever Premier League.

Once again the top flight proved too much and Boro were relegated immediately.

In 1995 new manager Bryan Robson led Middlesbrough back into the Premier League as Division One champions and the club safely negotiated their first season back with the big boys.

Expectations rose as the club then introduced a series of high profile signings. The Brazilians Emerson and Juninho were joined by the Italian Fabrizio Ravanelli and great things were expected.

In an astonishing season Boro made it to both domestic cup finals but also ended up relegated from the Premier League.

Remarkably the club faced second division opposition in the last four of both competitions and made heavy weather of despatching both Stockport County in the League Cup and Chesterfield in the FA Cup.

The tie with Chesterfield at Old Trafford was particularly fraught with Boro going down to ten men and escaping when a shot bounced down over their goalline from the underside of the bar only for play to be waved on. After eventually drawing the game 3-3 they had no such scares in the replay which they won 3-0.

Both finals were lost, however. Leicester City dashed their hopes in the League Cup winning a replay at Hillsborough 1-0 while Chelsea cruised to a 2-0 victory in the FA Cup.

Boro won promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking in 1998 as runners up behind Nottingham Forest and also made it through to another League Cup final.

They produced an excellent 2-0 2nd leg victory over Liverpool in the semi finals to win through 3-2 on aggregate but then lost again to Chelsea in the final.

The score was again 2-0 but only after the game had gone to extra time on this occasion.

At last Middlesbrough were then able to establish themselves in the top flight and in the last two seasons the club has looked to push on and challenge for honours.

In 2004 the club claimed their first major trophy after lifting the League Cup. After defeating Arsenal 3-1 on aggregate in the semi finals Boro edged out Bolton Wanderers 2-1 in the final to lift the trophy.

This allowed the club a first venture into European football in the UEFA Cup. Boro headed their group above Villarreal, Partizan Belgrade and Lazio but after knocking out Sturm Graz of Austria in the 3rd round they then lost to Sporting Lisbon 4-2 on aggregate.

By finishing 7th in the Premier League last season Boro ensured themselves another European campaign.

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Regards,