Despite losing Bolo Zenden (who left on a free to join Liverpool), the signings of Yakubu, Abel Xavier and Emanuel Pogatetz bolstered the squad and made it appear a lot stronger.

During the course of the season, Middlesbrough lost to all three promoted clubs, yet somehow managed to beat Manchester United 4–1, Arsenal 2–1 and Chelsea 3–0.

This resulted in poor league form, and following a dismal 4–0 home defeat to Aston Villa, a fan ran onto the pitch and threw his season ticket at Steve McClaren in sheer frustration at the lack of coordination the team seemed to have.

A positive for the Boro fans was the final Premier League game of the season against Fulham, where 15 of the 16 squad members were from the local area (the exception being Malcolm Christie).

When Josh Walker replaced Malcolm Christie after 62 minutes the 11 players on the field were all born within 30 miles of Middlesbrough and all graduates of the club's academy.

Despite making hard work of seemingly easy matches, the team reached the semi-final where they lost 1–0 to West Ham.

Nuneaton had exceeded all expectations to even reach the 3rd round and it seemed a comfortable win on paper for Boro.

The match went onto a replay at the Riverside where Middlesbrough ended up 5–2 winners, but credit went to Nuneaton for a spirited display.

The 4th round drew Middlesbrough away at Coventry, were again they were held to a draw by lower league opposition, again the score was 1–1.

The 5th round was away at Preston North End and proved to be slightly more straight forward with Boro winning 2–0.

The replay at the Riverside was a total opposite to the first match, and a fantastic display of attacking football by a Boro side inspired by Mark Viduka led to a 4–2 win and a place in the semi-finals.

More bad news for Boro was that they lost Mark Schwarzer, who received a fractured cheekbone after an elbow by Dean Ashton.

The UEFA Cup campaign was a rollercoaster ride for Boro fans, which ended up with a loss in the final to Sevilla.

With time running out, Massimo Maccarone scored the winner to send a jubilant Boro team through to the semi-finals.

The final didn't go to plan though, and a very tired performance from the Boro team gave Sevilla a 4–0 victory.

Despite the loss, the cup run was an amazing experience for the fans and it will stay in their memories for a long time.

After Sven-Göran Eriksson announced he would resign as England manager after the 2006 World Cup, the FA began their search for a new coach.

The fans experienced highs and lows with Boro under McClaren, including their first ever trophy and a UEFA Cup final.