Middlesbrough

Formation and early years (1876–1914)

Middlesbrough were formed in 1876, and won the FA Amateur Cup in 1895 and again in 1898. The club turned professional in 1889, but reverted to amateur status in 1892. They turned professional permanently in 1899. After three seasons, they won promotion to the First Division, where they would remain for the next 22 years.

In 1903, the club moved to Ayresome Park, their home for the next 92 years. In 1905, the club sanctioned the transfer of Alf Common for £1,000, a record fee. In the same year, Tim Williamson became the first Middlesbrough player to play international football.

Over these early years in the top flight, their form fluctuated greatly, rising to sixth in 1907–08 before dropping to 17th two seasons later. The club rose to their highest league finish to date, third, in 1913–14. The First World War soon intervened, and football was suspended.

Ups and downs (1914–1966)

Before league 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. They remained in the First Division for the next few seasons, but were relegated in 1923–24 after finishing bottom, 10 points adrift of their nearest rivals.^[] Three seasons later, they 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 10 seasons. Middlesbrough's tenure back in the top flight lasted only one season, and the club were relegated. They were promoted at the first attempt in 1928–29, winning another Second Division title. The club remained in the First Division until 1954.

The decade before the Second World War saw the emergence of Wilf Mannion and George Hardwick, both of whom would go on to become England internationals in the years ahead.^[] Middlesbrough climbed to fourth in the last full season before the war, and were expected to challenge for the title the following season, but the war intervened. After the war, the club was unable to recover the form of the previous seasons before the war, hovering around mid-table and exiting in the early rounds of the FA Cup. Soon after the war, the team began to falter, and were relegated in 1953–54. This was the start of a 20-year spell outside the top division, but this was the spell too that 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, Middlesbrough maintained reasonable progress in the Second Division, but were never serious contenders for promotion. After a fourth-place finish in 1962–63, the club endured a steady decline and were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history in 1966.

Resurgence, 'Charlton's Champions', and financial crisis (1966–1994)

New manager Stan Anderson returned the club to the second flight at the first attempt. Middlesbrough would not finish below ninth during the next six seasons in the Second Division, finishing 4th (just outside the top three promotion winning places at the time) on three of those occasions.

In 1973, Jack Charlton took over as manager and guided the team back to the top flight. A team led on the pitch by Willie Maddren and Bobby Murdoch, and including a young Graeme Souness, ensured promotion as early as 23 March 1974, and with eight games of the season left, they became runaway champions, finishing with a league record 65 points (based on the 2 points for a win format).^[] After a very promising start to their first campaign back in the first division Bob Paisley, manager of eventual runners up Liverpool, tipped Middlesbrough as favourites to win the league, however they ultimately fell short finishing seventh. 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.

In 1979, John Neal made the clubs first international signing, with Boško Janković arriving from Željezničar Sarajevo.

The club experienced severe financial difficulties during the mid-1980s. Middlesbrough were dropping down the table, and finished 19th in the 1984–85 season. In April 1986, the club had to borrow £30,000 from the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) to pay wages. The final game of the season saw Middlesbrough relegated to the Third Division again. That summer, the club called in the Provisional Liquidator, and, shortly afterwards, the club was wound upand the gates to Ayresome Park were padlocked. Without the £350,000 capital required for Football League registration, a new rule, the club risked folding permanently. Steve Gibson, however, a member of the board at the time, brought together a consortium, and with 10 minutes to spare before the deadline they 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, however, they 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. Following promotion again, Middlesbrough became one of the founding members of the FA Premier League when it was launched in the 1992–93 season.

Bryan Robson years (1994–2001)

Player-manager Bryan Robson, from Manchester United, took charge in 1994. Following promotion to the Premier League Middlesbrough made high-profile purchases like Brazilian international Juninho. A difficult 1996–97 season, however, 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, which ultimately resulted in relegation. Without the points deduction imposed by the FA Premier League despite the club having taken advice from the Premier League themselves prior to calling off the match, the club would have had enough points to avoid the drop.^[] At the same time, the club reached both the League and FA Cup finals for the first time, but lost both games. Despite being in the second tier, they were again runners-up in the League Cup final the next year.

Despite losing high-profile players Fabrizio Ravanelli and Juninho due to relegation, Middlesbrough were promoted back to the Premier League at the first attempt, in 1998. The following season saw them settle well and they had 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 Manchester United's only home defeat during their treble-winning season. Middlesbrough continued to stay secure in mid-table the following season, thanks mainly to the goals of Hamilton Ricard and the signings of prominent players such as Paul Ince and Christian Ziege. In 2000–01, they 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 April was the team's best result. The trend of buying European-based players continued with the acquisitions of Christian Karembeu and Alen Bokšić. Bryan Robson left the club before the start of 2001–02 season, having served as manager for seven years.

Return to top flight and venture into Europe (2001–2009)

Manchester United assistant coach Steve McClaren replaced Robson. The following seasons saw Premier League security maintained, as Middlesbrough slowly improved, particularly at the Riverside Stadium. During McClaren's time as manager, Middlesbrough achieved their highest Premier League placing, finishing seventh in 2004–05.

Under mcClaren, the 2003–04 season saw the club win a first major trophy by beating Bolton Wanderers 2–1 in the League Cup final under McClaren. The League Cup win also ensured that Middlesbrough would qualify for Europe – the UEFA Cup – for the first time, where they reached the last 16 of the competition. UEFA Cup qualification was achieved for the second consecutive year after an eventful 1–1 away draw with Manchester City, a game which concluded with a late penalty save from goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer, in the final game of the season.

The final Premier League game in the 2005–06 season, against Fulham, included the 15 of the 16 squad members from the local area (the exception was Malcolm Christie). When Josh Walker replaced 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. This was the first all-English starting line-up in the Premier League since Bradford City in 1999, the first all-English match squad since Aston Villa in 1998 and the youngest starting line-up in Premier League history.^[]

Middlesbrough reached the 2006 UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven, following two comebacks from 3–0 down in the rounds preceding it, but lost 4–0 to Sevilla.

Following the cup final loss, McClaren left to manage the England national team, and captain Gareth Southgate took over. Despite not having the coaching qualifications, he was allowed by the Premier League board to continue after receiving special dispensation. During the 2007–08 season, Southgate broke Middlesbrough's record transfer fee, paying £13.6 million for Brazilian international striker Afonso Alves. Southgate's first two seasons saw the club finish in 12th and 13th places. He oversaw the club reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for three seasons,^[] but the club was relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Decline, brief revival and relegation (2009–2017)

Middlesbrough sacked Gareth Southgate as manager in October 2009, when Southgate's team were one point from leading the Championship, and replaced him with Gordon Strachan. At the time of Southgate's dismissal, Boro were fourth in the Championship but their form under Strachan declined and they finished mid-table. On 18 October 2010, Strachan resigned and was later replaced by Tony Mowbray. Following a poor run of form at the start of the 2013–14 campaign, Mowbray left the club with immediate effect on 21 October.

Aitor Karanka, a former assistant coach at Real Madrid to José Mourinho, became the new Middlesbrough manager. He became the first non-British manager at the club, and led Boro to a 12th place finish. In Karanka's first full season in charge, Middlesbrough finished fourth and thus qualified for the 2015 Football League play-offs.^[] After defeating Brentford 5–1 on aggregate in the semi-final, the club lost 2–0 to Norwich City at Wembley Stadium in the final. The next season, Middlesbrough were promoted back to the Premier League after finishing second in the Championship in 2015–16, drawing 1–1 with Brighton & Hove Albion on the final day of the season.

Middlesbrough sacked Karanka in March 2017 following a poor run of form, and the team were relegated in 19th place, after just one season back in the top flight. The team won only 5 league games, and scored 27 goals, the lowest in the league.^[][]

Return to the Championship (2017–present)

The club appointed former Leeds United manager Garry Monk as manager in the off-season. Expectations at the club were high, having spent close to £50 million in the transfer window on player purchases, in order to mount an immediate promotion challenge back to the Premier League. Monk left in December, with Middlesbrough ninth in the Championship, and Tony Pulis was appointed as his replacement. Pulis led the side to finish 5th in the table, however, they lost in the play-off semi-finals to Aston Villa. In the following season, Pulis looked to secure the play-offs once again, but a poor finish to the season caused them to finish 7th and miss out on the play-offs by one point.

When Pulis's contract was not extended, he was replaced by former Middlesbrough defender and first team coach, Jonathan Woodgate on 14 June 2019 on a three-year contract. From March to June 2020, the 2019–20 season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 23 June 2020, Woodgate was sacked with the club only outside of the relegation zone on goal difference. Neil Warnock was appointed as his replacement on the same day. Warnock ensured survival from relegation, securing safety on the final day of the season and a 17th-place finish. On 6 November 2021, Middlesbrough parted company with Warnock, who was replaced by Chris Wilder the following day. After 11 months in charge, Wilder was sacked with the club in 22nd position.

Former Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick was appointed as his successor and led Boro to a fourth place finish, but lost in the play-off semi-finals against Coventry City. On 26 May 2023, the club officially became affiliated with the women's team. In the 2023–24 season, Middlesbrough reached the semi-finals of the League Cup for the first time since 2004. Despite defeating Chelsea in the first leg, Middlesbrough would lose 6–2 on aggregate.