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Middlesbrough Football Club are an English football club, commonly known as Boro, that play in the Premier League. The club was formed in 1876. The team have played at the 35,100 capacity[1] Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough in North-East England since August 1995, their third ground since they became professional in 1889.
The current manager is Gareth Southgate who was appointed on June 7, 2006 by current chairman of the club Steve Gibson. Middlesbrough won the League Cup in 2004, the club's first and only major trophy.
The club's traditional kit colour is red with a varying amount of white. The club crests over their history, the most recent of which was adopted in May 2007,[2] incorporate a red lion. The official mascot is Roary the Lion.
Middlesbrough F.C was originally formed by Middlesbrough Cricket team players to stay fit during the winter. They won the FA Amateur Cup in 1895 and again in 1898. The club turned professional in 1899.[3] Their highest finish to date was third place in the top flight in the 1913-14 season before the First World War intervened,[4] a position many believed would be beaten following good results in the 1938-39 season, only for World War II to intervene.
The club's lowest ebb came in 1986 when they were relegated to the Third Division and found themselves in a financial crisis which looked likely to cause bankruptcy.[5] Without the £350,000 capital required for Football League registration, it seemed inevitable that the club would fold permanently. However, Steve Gibson, a member of the board at the time, brought together a consortium and with ten minutes to spare, the club avoided missing the deadline and completed their registration with the Football League for the 1986-87 season with both a change of crest and a change of name to Middlesbrough Football and Athletic Club (1986) Ltd.[6]
Middlesbrough continued to yo-yo in between the divisions. Financial constraints still applied to the club, and players like then British transfer record signing Gary Pallister were still being sold.[7] Despite this, Middlesbrough were nevertheless founder members of the FA Premier League for the 1992-93 season.[8] However, it wasn't until player-manager Bryan Robson took charge in 1994 was it that Middlesbrough were brought into the limelight.[9] Following the subsequent promotion to the Premier League and high-profile purchases like diminutive Brazillian Juninho, Middlesbrough was on the way up.[10]
A difficult 1996 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, resulting in relegation, which still remains a sore spot with fans to this day. They managed to reach both the League and FA cup finals for the first time, but eventually lost out in both.[6]
The 2003-04 season was easily the best in the club's history as they finally won a major trophy after beating Bolton 2-1 in the League Cup final.[11] This success also ensured that Boro 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 Man City at the end of the season.[12]
On 27 April 2006, Middlesbrough reached the UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven, following two amazing comebacks from 3-0 down.[13][14] However, the team lost 4-0 to Sevilla FC.[15]
Middlesbrough won twelve, drew ten and lost sixteen of their Premiership games in 2006-07, including a 2-1 home win over reigning champions Chelsea,[16] and a comprehensive 5-1 victory over Bolton, but they lost away to all three newly promoted sides.[17] The results left them in 12th place in the table, 8 points from a European spot and 8 points above the relegation places.
The cups saw the team knocked out of the Carling Cup by Notts County in their first game,[18] but reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup, losing out to eventual runners-up Manchester United after a run involving replays in every round.[19]
Although Middlesbrough F.C. was formed in 1876, it wasn't until 1899 that they adopted their current colours of red and white. Previous incarnations of the kit included an A.C. Milan-style red and black striped home shirt with black shorts and sock, and a white shirt with blue shorts and socks. The Middlesbrough kit 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[20] and was brought back for a one-off in 1996-97 and then again for the 2004-05 season due to popular demand. However, rumours abound that the band will not be on the next incarnation of the home strip - a move proving controversial with Boro fans.[21]
The Middlesbrough crest has gone through four incarnations 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.[2] The Club stated that this was to reflect the club's long history and not just its post-liquidation status.
The current kit is produced by Errea and is only available in the UK from the official club shops and Middlesbrough's online store.[22] The club's shirt sponsor since 2004 has been the Gibraltarian online gambling portal, 888.com in a deal worth approximately £1.5 million per year, though this contract expired at the end of the 2006-07 season.[23] The club are yet to announce their sponsor for next season.
Middlesbrough originally played at Linthorpe Road, before entry to the Football League forced them to move to an improved stadium and Ayresome Park was built for the start of the 1903 season. This was their home for the next 92 years until the Riverside Stadium was built in 1995 in the wake of the Taylor Report, which called for all major stadia to be all-seater. The Riverside Stadium was named by the supporters of the club after a vote.[24]
Middlesbrough fans can be found all over the world, in places as far apart as Norway,[25] Northern Ireland, South Korea,[26] Singapore,[27] Azerbaijan and New York.[28] Middlesbrough Official Supporters Club, which features its own team in the local football league,[29] has links with supporters' clubs across the globe. Prominent supporters clubs include the Official Supporters Club, the Middlesbrough Disabled Supporters' Association, Derbyshire Reds, and Middlesbrough Supporters South.
Traditionally supporters come from Middlesbrough itself and the immediate towns of Stockton, Redcar, Thornaby, Ingleby Barwick, Marske, Yarm and Billingham. Support from residents of Darlington and Hartlepool is limited due to those towns having their own teams. Middlesbrough have one of the highest proportions in Britain of locally born season ticket holders (80%) and one of the highest proportions of female fans at 20%.[30]
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 Boro supporters. An example of this can be seen on the banners carried to away games stating "Smoggies on Tour".[31]
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,[32] where Newcastle and Sunderland fans also considered Middlesbrough to be amongst their top three rivalries (in third and second places respectively). There is no notable rivalry with their immediate neighbours Hartlepool United and Darlington. This is mainly because the clubs have very rarely been in the same league. In fact some Middlesbrough fans indirectly support the two clubs by looking out for results and occasionally attending games when Middlesbrough are not playing. Middlesbrough also have a historical rivalry with Chelsea, mostly notably because of meetings in the Play Off final of 1988, the FA Cup Final in 1997, League Cup Final in 1998 and contrast in supporter backgrounds.
Famous supporters include:
Middlesbrough fans were notably praised by UEFA executive Lars-Christer Olsson after their behaviour during the 2005-06 UEFA Cup campaign.[38] He commended that <blockquote>You have the satisfaction of knowing that, although your team did not 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.</blockquote>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.[39]
Middlesbrough enjoy a good relationship with the media. Former reserve team coach Gordon McQueen for Sky Sports and Gary Pallister for the BBC tend to commentate whenever Middlesbrough are playing, and former player Bernie Slaven is a commentator as well as one of the "Three Legends" on their football phone-in for Century FM.[40] Notably from August 2001, Middlesbrough was the first English football club to broadcast full footage of their league games after a 48 hour period on their very own channel, "Boro TV".[41] Boro TV ran through NTL cable television until July 2005, when it was shutdown by NTL.[42] However, it is still possible to watch highlights of Middlesbrough's game through their subscription-based scheme on the official website, Boro World.
Middlesbrough's official matchday programme, Red Square, is currently the Programme of the Year, as awarded by Programme Monthly.[43] However, 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 had to go to the moon I'd want you by my side".[44] FMTTM is now available online as well as in its original paper format.
Staff members according to offical website.[47]
For recent transfers please see List of English football transfers 2006-07.
For more details see MFC History - Managers.