History of Middlesbrough F.C.

The following year, 1899, Middlesbrough turned professional again in an attempt to gain entry to the Football League, and on 18 May 1899, backed by local neighbours Newcastle United and Sunderland, they were admitted to the Second Division, narrowly ahead of Blackpool.

By February 1905, Boro had not won an away game for two years, and in an attempt to remedy this the board sanctioned the controversial transfer of Alf Common for a then record fee of £1,000.

While striker George Elliott and keeper Tim Williamson were still at the top of their game, the team's chance at the championship had faded and they finished mid-table.

For their fifth game, injury meant George Camsell, signed from Third Division North side Durham City the previous season, got a start.

After several seasons of milling around the bottom reaches of the table, 1936–37 saw the emergence of Wilf Mannion, whom Boro had signed from local club South Bank St Peter's.

[5] After the war, the club was unable to recover the form of the previous seasons and hovered around mid-table and the early rounds of the FA Cup.

Midway through the season, Hardwick also left the club to become player-manager of Oldham, and afterwards the team began to falter, eventually falling to relegation in 1953–54.

However, the club's youth system turned out talent such as David Armstrong, Graeme Souness, Stan Cummins, Craig Johnston and Mark Proctor.

In his first season, Boro should have reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time, but Second Division Leyton Orient managed to take them to a home replay and win.

Allison was being pressured into off-loading star players and matters came to a head in March 1984 when he claimed it was "Better for the club to die than to linger slowly on its deathbed".

However, Steve Gibson, a member of the board at the time, brought together a consortium involving Bulkhaul Limited, ICI, Scottish and Newcastle Breweries and London businessman Henry Moszkowicz.

1990–91 saw Boro's form improve substantially and a seventh-place finish was enough to qualify for the playoffs – this time four promotion places were up for grabs because the First Division was re-expanding to 22 clubs for the 1991–92 season.

A large part in the promotion push was played by a good loan signing in the form of Uwe Fuchs, scoring 9 goals in 13 league games.

The policy looked to have paid off as Boro stood fourth in the Premiership in October, but a terrible run of form followed and they slid to 12th place in the final table.

Their difficult task 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 Rovers F.C.

Boro's three point deduction eventually cost them their Premiership status and they were relegated on the final day of the season after a draw at Elland Road.

While Emerson, Ravanelli and Juninho were all sold, new players such as Paul Merson, Marco Branca and Mark Schwarzer were brought in, helping the club not only gain promotion at the first attempt.

After the promise shown in the previous season, fan favourite Juninho returned to the club for a third spell alongside George Boateng and Massimo Maccarone, an £8.15 million signing from Empoli and Italy's first player to be capped having never played in Serie A,[23] was brought in to increase the firepower available to McClaren.

While Geremi opted to sign for Chelsea, Boudewijn Zenden, Danny Mills, and Gaizka Mendieta were brought in on loan to boost the squad.

The following season started very well, hovering around the top six until November, but a horrendous number of injuries almost sucked them into mid-table and out of the UEFA-cup qualifying places.

However dismal mid-season form saw them sucked into the bottom half of the Premiership, and at one stage they looked in real danger of being relegated (notably after their 7–0 loss to Arsenal), although a subsequent recovery — which included a 3–0 win over eventual champions Chelsea — saw them finish fourteenth.

Trailing Sevilla 0–1 at the break, McClaren opted for a very attacking line-up for the second half with four strikers, which had worked to great effect in the quarter and semi-finals.

Martin O'Neill, Tony Mowbray and Alan Curbishley had been linked with the manager's job at Middlesbrough, with Steve Gibson expecting whoever took over to achieve a Champions League place in the near future.

However, at a Premier League meeting on 22 November 2006, Southgate was granted a dispensation to continue in his role until the end of the season, during which time it was announced that he will study for the Uefa Pro A Licence.

First Team coach Steve Round left the club on 15 December 2006 following a "difference in philosophy and ideas" with Gareth Southgate, and was replaced by Colin Cooper.

[1][permanent dead link‍] Lee Dong-Gook arrived from Pohang Steelers in the January transfer window, while Ray Parlour, Ugo Ehiogu and Massimo Maccarone all left the club for free.

[33] However Mowbray left during the 2013–14 season,[34] to be replaced by Aitor Karanka, a former Spain international defender and assistant coach at Real Madrid to José Mourinho.

[36] Karanka was sacked in March 2017 after a poor run of form, and Middlesbrough were eventually relegated after just one season back in the Premier League finishing in 19th place.

The "golden thread" that was mooted in Woodgate's unveiling alongside former FA senior adviser Adrian Bevington, which called for an attacking and intense pressing style looked like it might succeed.

Given the enthusiasm following Woodgate's appointment was less than spectacular, it seemed like the Boro faithful were ready to give the local lad, and his new style a chance.