Middlesbrough Football Club History

• 1876 – at the meeting at the Albert Park Hotel Middlesbrough members of Middlesbrough Cricket Club decided to organize a football club.
• 1877 – took place the first home match of the club against Teesside Wanderers. The score of the game was 1-1. It was played at Archery Ground in Albert Park, Middlesbrough. The result of the first a1879 – way game wasn’t successful. It was a 1-0 defeat at Barnard Castle.
• 1879 – the first match at Linthorpe Road ground.
• 1983 – the club won the Northern League.
• 1895 – the team defeated Old Carthusians 2-1 in the final at Headingley, winning the Northern League again and the Amateur Cup.
• 1897 – Middlesbrough became champions of the Northern League.
• 1898 – Uxbridge were beaten by Middlesbrough F.C. in the final at Crystal Palace. The club won Amateur Cup.
• May 19, 1899 – Boro was elected to the Football League. They lost the first league game and joined Division Two. Club colours are white shirts and blue shorts. Away colours are black shirts and white shorts.
• 1902 – the club got promotion to the First Division. The result of the first Division One game was 1-0 win over Blackburn. Ayresome Park became a new home of the team.
• 1905 – Middlesbrough club paid a record fee of £1,000 for center forward Alf Common.
• 1909 – Andy Walker was appointed manager.
• 1907 – 1908 – Boro finishing sixth. It was their highest finish in in the top division.
• 1910 – the club defeated local rivals Sunderland 1-0 but it was a start of the national scandal. Andy Walker was accused for offering Sunderland’s players the sum of £2 each to let Boro win the game. As the result Walker was given an indefinite suspension from the FL
• 1911 – Tom McIntosh became the next manager of the club.
• 1914 – Middlesbrough finished third in the First Division before the beginning of the First World War.
• 1923 – Herbert Bamlett took over as manager.
• 1924 – the team was relegated.
• 1927 – a year of changes: Peter McWilliam was appointed manager, the club became the Second Division champion and was promoted to the First Division.
• 1928 – the club was relegated.
• 1928 – Boro were champions of the Second Division and got a promotion to the First Division.
• 1934 – Wilf Gillow took over as manager.
• 1944 – David Jack became a new manager because of the death of Wilf Gillow.
• 1949 – 1950 – Middlesbrough finished ninth this season.
• 1952 – Walter Rowley was appointed manager. But in 1954 he stepped out. The main reason was relegation of the club to Division Two after 25 years of First Division football.
• 1954 – Bob Dennison took over a post of manager.
• 1955 – the match at Blackburn had the worst ever results. The club lost with a slashing 9-0 score.
• 1958 – the game against Brighton was remarkable for 9-0 win. It was a record win of Middlesbrough football club.
• 1963 – Raich Carter replaced Bob Dennison at the post of manager.
• 1966 – Stan Anderson became a new manager but he couldn’t kept the club from relegation. For the first time in their history Boro were relegated to the Third Division.
• 1967 – the fans thought that club was on the way down to Division Four, but Blackburn regained promotion to the Second Division, winning a game against Oxford United with 4-1 score.
• 1970 – the club lost 2-1 to Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
• 1973 – 1974 – Boro became champions of the Second Division due to the perfect manager Jack Charlton who ended his first season with a record number of points – 65.
• 1975 – the team reached the quarter finals of the League Cup and FA Cup, but they were beaten by Birmingham 1-0.
• 1976 – Boro won the Anglo-Scottish Cup. Also they reached the semi-final of the League Cup, but were defeated 4-1 by Manchester City.
• 1977 – In the FA Cup quarter-final the club was defeated by Liverpool 2-0. John Neal took over a post of manager.
• 1978 – Boro should have reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time, but they lost 2-1 to Orient in a replay.
• 1979 – David Mills was sold for a national record fee of £500,000to West Bromwich Albion.
• 1981 – Bobby Murdoch was appointed manager. Proctor, Johnston and Armstrong all left the club. Heini Otto was signed from FC Twente.
• 1982 – Charles Amer (a chairman of the club) and his son Kevin (a director) left the club to be replaced by George Kitching. Boro were relegated to the Second Division. Murdoch was dismissed and Malcolm Allison was brought in, but soon he was replaced by Willie Maddren.
• 1984 – the club had financial problems and at the end of the season they finished 19th.
• 1986 – Bruce Rioch became a coach. Middlesbrough borrowed £30,000 from the Professional Footballers’ Association to pay wages. The club was relegated to the Third Division for the second time in their history. Middlesbrough FC was almost liquidated. The death of the club was announced on Tyne Tees Television, but a consortium that involved Bulkhaul Limited, ICI, Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, London businessman Henry Moszkowicz rescued the Boro and formed Middlesbrough Football and Athletic Company (1986) Ltd.
• 1987 – the club won a promotion from the first attempt due to the young squad that included: Colin Cooper, Gary Pallister and Tony Mowbray.
• 1988 – the team rose to the First Division after defeating Bradford City and Chelsea in the play-offs.
• 1989 – unfortunately Boro were relegated. Gary Pallister was sold for a record transfer fee of £2.3 million.
• 1990 – Colin Todd replaced Bruce Rioch. Due to the new manager Middlesbrough reached their first ever Wembley final. They became only runners-up, losing 1-0 to Chelsea in the Zenith Data Systems Cup.
• 1991 – 1992 Lennie Lawrence took over a post of a manager. His first season was a success, with Boro reaching the League Cup semi finals for the second time and most significantly finishing runners-up in the Second Division.
• 1993 – the club was relegated in spite of the previous promotion.
• 1994 – Bryan Robson became a new manager. He was a former England captain and had a 13-year playing career with Manchester United F.C. The club signed Neil Cox for £1 million.
• 1995 – as a result of changes the club won the First Division. The new home of Boro became Riverside Stadium. Boro paid £5.25million for Tottenham Hotspur F.C. winger Nick Barmby and £4.75million for Brazilian midfielder Juninho Paulista.
• 1996 – Fabrizio Ravanelli was signed for a new record fee of £5.75million.
• 1997 – Boro reached a senior cup final against Leicester City for the first time in their history. The team lost in replay at Hillsborough after 1-1 draw at Wembley.
• May 17, 1997 – the club lost 2-0 to Chelsea at Wembley in the FA Cup final. Thus Boro became the first English club to lose both major cup finals and as the result they were relegated from the Premier League.
• 1998 – the capacity of the home stadium increased to 35,000. Paul Gascoigne, Paul Merson, Marco Branca and Mark Schwarzer were signed. Boro got a promotion from the first attempt.
• 1999 – Boro opened training complex at Rockliffe Park, Hurworth.
• 2000 – Middlesbrough became the first football club in the world to win an ISO 9002 management award for its Youth Academy. Terry Venables was appointed manager.
• 2001 – the club finished 14th. Steve McClaren took over a post of manager. He signed Gareth Southgate for a fee of £6million from Aston Villa and also players such as Franck Queudrue, Michael Wilson, Jonathan Greening.
• 2001 – 2002 – due to McClaren the team reached the FA Cup semi-finals and finished 12th in the Premiership.
• 2002 – 2003 – Steve McClaren improved the squad by signing such players as: Italian Massimo Maccarone (£8.15m from Empoli), George Boateng (£5m from Aston Villa), Franck Queudrue (£2m from Lens) and Geremi (season loan from Real Madrid). Boro finished 11th.
• 2003 – 2004 - Boudewijn Zenden, Danny Mills, and Gaizka Mendieta were brought in on loan to the club.
• February 29, 2004 - Boro finally got their first ever trophy, the Carling Cup, defeating Bolton Wanderers 2-1.
• 2005 – the club reached the 7th place in the Premier League and a second successive place in the UEFA Cup.
• 2005 – 2006 – Boro were almost relegated after their 7-0 defeat at Arsenal, but a 3-0 victory over Chelsea saved the team and they finished 14th.
• April 27, 2006 – the club reached the UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven. They defeated FC Steaua Bucuresti 4-3, but lost in the final game against Sevilla with a score 4-0.