It has been claimed that the team had been severely weakened by the sales of star players such as Craig Johnston, David Armstrong and Mark Proctor.
The Manager Bobby Murdoch was asked to resign in September 1982 after poor performances, and Harold Shepherdson was appointed caretaker until a permanent replacement could be installed.
Boro's form was poor in both the League and cup (although they were never in serious danger of relegation), but more worryingly for the board the club was getting into serious financial problems.
Late in March 1984, Allison sensationally claimed that it was "better for the club to die than to linger slowly on its deathbed", a quote which was swiftly followed by his sacking.
Steve Gibson joined the board as a director in November 1984, and Maddren, now appointed as permanent manager, miraculously guided the club to safety in 1984-85.
Middlesbrough desperately needed capital but the opinions of board members were split over the idea to raise £1 million by a public share issue.
In April 1986, the club had to borrow £30,000 from the Professional Footballers' Association to pay players' wages and things were looking bad.
The consortium realised the structure of the club had to change and so Gibson approached the board asking for total executive powers.
Three days before the start of the season, the league introduced a ruling meaning the club had to have £350,000 in working capital and show it could pay all creditors 100 pence in the pound.
Colin Henderson agreed a deal with ICI for a bond, meaning that they would pick up a major part of any subsequent debt, and the consortium put in their £825,000.
With ten minutes to spare before the registration deadline, the documents were signed by Graham Fordy, Reg Corbridge and Henry Moszkowicz.
Legal matters continued throughout the 1986–87 season as people came forward to claim old debts, but this was overshadowed by the achievements of Rioch's side on the pitch.