The automatically relegated sides were Watford, Oxford United and Portsmouth.
Playing at their Ayresome Park ground in front of a crowd of 25,531, Middlesbrough duly won the first leg 2–0 with goals from Bernie Slaven and Trevor Senior.
In the second leg at Stamford Bridge, which was marred by violence perpetrated by some of the 40,550 spectators, Chelsea's Gordon Durie scored the only goal.
They were joined by runners-up Brighton & Hove Albion and playoff winners Walsall.
They also won the Sherpa Van Trophy final by defeating Burnley at Wembley.