The football club was originally formed by Middlesbrough Cricket team players so they could stay fit during the winter. Middlesbrough won the FA Amateur Cup in 1895 and again in 1898. The club turned professional in 1889, but reverted to amateur status in 1892. Middlesbrough turned professional permanently in 1899. After three seasons, Middlesbrough won promotion to the First Division, where they would remain for the next 22 years.
In 1903, Middlesbrough moved to Ayresome Park, their home for the next 92 years. In 1905, Middlesbrough sanctioned the transfer of Alf Common for £1,000, a record fee. Over the next few years, their form fluctuated greatly, rising to sixth in 1907–08 before dropping to seventeenth two seasons later. Middlesbrough 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. Middlesbrough 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, Middlesbrough 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 Middlesbrough were relegated. Middlesbrough were promoted at the first attempt in 1928–29, winning another Second Division title. Middlesbrough 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. The team 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. After the war, the team were unable to recover the form of the previous seasons and hovered around mid-table and exited in the early rounds of the FA Cup. Soon afterwards Middlesbrough began to falter, eventually suffering relegation in 1953–54. This was the start of a 20-year spell outside the top division, but saw the emergence of one of the club's top goalscorers, Brian Clough, who scored 204 goals in 222 games, before he left for Sunderland. Over that period, the team maintained reasonable progress in the Second Division but were never serious contenders for promotion. After a fourth place finish in 1962–63, Middlesbrough 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 would not finish below ninth during the next eight seasons. By 1974, Jack Charlton had taken over as manager and guided the team back to the top flight. Middlesbrough ensured promotion as early as 23 March, and with eight games of the season left, they became runaway champions, finishing with a record 65 points. 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.
Middlesbrough 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. That summer, the club called in the Provisional Liquidator and shortly afterwards, the club was wound up and the gates to Ayresome Park were padlocked. Without the £350,000 capital required for Football League registration, a new rule, it seemed inevitable that Middlesbrough would fold permanently. However, Steve Gibson, a member of the board at the time, brought together a consortium and with ten minutes to spare before the deadline, Middlesbrough 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, Middlesbrough 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 fulfil a fixture against Blackburn, which ultimately resulted in relegation. Without the points deduction, Middlesbrough would have had enough points to avoid relegation. At the same time, Middlesbrough 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.[21]
Despite losing high profile players Fabrizio Ravanelli, Juninho and Nick Barmby due to relegation, Middlesbrough were promoted back to the Premiership at the first attempt in 1998. The following season saw Middlesbrough settle well and they enjoyed a 12-game unbeaten run midway through 1998–99, including a 3–2 win at Old Trafford in January during which they took a 3–0 lead. It was United's only home defeat during their treble winning season. Middlesbrough continued to stay secure in midtable the following season, thanks mainly to the goals of Hamilton Ricard and the signings of big name players such as Paul Ince and Christian Ziege. In 2000–01 Middlesbrough had a brief relegation scare that was solved with the arrival of Terry Venables as co-manager, and a 3–0 win away at Arsenal in March was the team's best result. The trend of buying European stars continued with the acquisitions of Christian Karembeu and Alen Boksic.
Bryan Robson left Middlesbrough before the start of 2001–02 season, having served as manager for 7 years, and was replaced by Manchester United assistant coach Steve McClaren. The following seasons saw Premiership security maintained as Middlesbrough slowly improved and were seen as a tough side to beat when playing at the Riverside Stadium.
The 2003–04 season was the most successful in the club's history as they finally won a major trophy after beating Bolton 2–1 in the League Cup final under manager Steve McClaren. 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. During the 2007–08 season, Southgate broke Middlesbrough's record transfer fee, paying £12 million for Brazilian striker Afonso Alves. Southgate's managerial career so far has seen the club finish in twelfth and thirteenth places, while twice reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. |