| Middlesbrough FC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Last Updated 11th April 1998 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This is (well it will be) a website dedicated to the pride of the North East of England, Brian Robsons Red Army, Middlesbrough Football Club. If you have any suggestions or if you are willing to give me a helping hand then mail me. Hope to have the final site up and running properly and finished before the beginning of the new season, (I�m lazy like that you see). It won�t be until then when I will start putting match reports on the site (after winning the league of course). When, or should I say if, it is up and running I will hope to update regularly and make it one of the best �Boro sites on the internet. The links in the index to the left actually work (I�m hoping) a few of them lead to blank pages and a few don�t. try them all to see which ones do work. The links work by simply clicking on the text. Over the next few months I will be gathering info, pictures, maybe sound files of the riverside faithful in action, and if I�m feeling in a good mood then there might be some videos of �Boro action up for download. Once again if you want to offer help, advice, comments or suggestions then mail me. Tell me whether the animations work (the diggers and the boro badge to the left and the spinning E at the bottom). Also if there is a counter at the top of the page. While you wait for this site to become active visit the official (well about as official as it gets) �Boro site. Maintained by the Evening Gazette, the local Teesside rag, it has loads of pictures, news stories, and is updated following every match. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team Info | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer, 25. Australian international and former Kaiserslautern player signed from Bradford in 1997 to boost �Boros cup hopes and survival for approximately �1.5 million. Marlon Beresford, 28. Signed from Burnley in February 1998 for �400,000. signed as a stand in for Mark Schwarzer, but now is sure to give Schwarzer a battle for the No. 1 goalkeeping jersey. Ben Roberts, 23. Former Engalnd U21 international. Played in the 1997 FA Cup final and has been described as a highly promising �keeper by former �Boro hitman Fabrizio Ravanelli. Defenders: Curtis Fleming, 29. Adventurous full-back who loves to get in the opponents' box. A fearsome tackler who has played for Ireland, he joined the club in 1991 from St Patrick's Athletic. Nigel Pearson, 34. Experienced captain who played in Sheffield Wednesday's winning 1991 League Cup final team. Started his career at Shrewsbury in 1981, moving to Wednesday in 1987 and 'Boro in July 1994. Steve Vickers, 30. Started his career in non-League football with Spennymoor before moving to Tranmere. Solid and reliable. Craig Harrison, 20. Born locally Craig has had success this season breaking into the first tem on a number of occasions. Looks to be a bright star for the future. Gianluca Festa, 29. Italian who has added steel to the 'Boro defence since his �2.7 million move from Inter Milan in January 1997. Comfortable on the ball, he has played in midfield this season as well as his natural full back role. Midfielders: Craig Hignett, 28. Tireless worker signed from Crewe in 1992. Combines an eye for goal with plenty of skill and adds some variety down the 'Boro flanks. Neil Maddison, 28. Has proved a highly productive acquisition since signing from Southampton. Dynamic midfielder who scores goals and adds a touch of class. Andy Townsend, 34. Experienced former Republic of Ireland captain with the ability to dominate the centre of the pitch. The know-how of the former Aston Villa and Norwich player has been indespensible since his �500,000 transfer. Robbie Mustoe, 29. Long-serving midfielder who has been with the club since 1990. Solid if unspectacular, but has habit of scoring vital goals. Solid, reliable and gives everything every game. Paul Gascoigne, 30. Controversial England midfielder signed from Rangers, for �3.45 million. Adds attacking flavour to any midfield. Has the ability to take on defenders and is one of the best players in the world on his day. Paul is keen to regain his England place in time for the World Cup this year. Forwards: Mikkel Beck, 24. Danish international who has been unsettled by the recent influx of strikers at the club. Although he has been inconsistent he is a player with the appetite for goals and is sure to improve his game followng the recent influx of strikers and the upcoming World Cup. Hamilton Ricard, 24. Colombian striker signed earlier year from Deportivo Cali. Well-built and athletic forward who is out to make an instant impact on the English game. Marco Branca, 33. Former Inter Milan striker who has proved a hit since signing for 'Boro in February. Quick-footed striker with a cool finish, he is likely to be �Boros main goalscoring threat up front following three goals in his first two games. Paul Merson, 30. Rejuvenated former Arsenal player who has won back his England place with a string of brilliant performances this season. Quick, inventive and full of energy, he is the pivot for Middlesbrough's attacks. Surely a contender for player of the year not only in the club but nationwide. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boro History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This information has been directly copied from the Evening Gazette Boro On-Line site. Give all | credit to those at the Gazette and not me. Middlesbrough football club are the typical yo-yo club. Their long suffering fans have been brought up on drama, passion and tragedy - if not success. The roller-coaster ride that was the 1996-97 season was the highpoint in a history of a club that have promised so much but never quite delivered the silverware. The helter-skelter season served up two trips to Wembley, some of the best players in the world in a red shirt and a diet of exciting, unpredictable and at times breath-taking football. Yet what promised to be a Golden Age ended in the heartbreak of relegation from the Premiership, double defeat in the cups and the acrimonious break up of the Dream Team - Brazilian ace Juninho moving to Spain and Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli eventually leading the attack at Marseille in France. Typical Boro! That was a common reaction from the fans who have been teased with a hint of success before only to see their dreams crumble as successful teams have broken up. But with a stadium as good as any, a profile higher than ever before and their lofty ambitions for once backed with hard cash, the club are closer than ever before to making a breakthrough into the big time. About time too! Boro have a long and proud history and have always been well supported. Boro have a long heritage of open, attacking football and producing exciting players. Yet somehow success has always eluded them. The club was formed in 1876 after bored out-of-season Middlesbrough Cricket Club players decided to take up the new game that was sweeping the nation. They launched the club at a meeting in a gymnasium behind the Albert Park Hotel on Linthorpe Road and not at a tripe supper as legend has it. The early years were marked by a dispute over whether or not to turn professional and it came to a head in 1888 when a breakaway faction left to found Middlesbrough Ironopolis. Many of the same players signed up again on being de-mobbed in 1945 but the magic had gone. Even when Mannion - now engaged in a war of attrition with the club as he tried to leave - regained his magical touch the team never quite gelled and Boro became frustrated as their heroes flattered to deceive. Boro finally slipped into division two in 1954 where, despite their best efforts, they remained until 1966 - when things would take a turn for the worst. In this period Boro turned narrowly missing out on promotion into an art form. Goals from new heroes like Brian Clough - who bagged 204 in 224 games for the club between 1956 and 1961 - Alan Peacock and Ed Holliday always put Boro in the running, but costly lapses at the back fatally undermined them season after season. It was a national record too -until Everton's Dixie Dean hit 60 the following year. Events conspired against Boro again though as they were relegated the next season with 37 points, the highest ever tally for a team that made the drop. But Boro bounced back immediately to start a long spell in the top flight that would last until 1954. They spent much of that time in mid-table but as the thirties drew to a close Boro were developing a team of great promise with local youngsters Wilf Mannion and Micky Fenton ripping defences apart. They finished fifth in 1937-38 and fourth a year later. The smart money was on Boro taking the title the following season but Herr Hitler intervened and once again only the outbreak of war prevented Teesside celebrating victory. They finished fourth three times in the four seasons up to 1962-63 but then went into a serious decline and in 1965-66 the unthinkable happened and Boro dipped into the third division for the first time ever after losing to relegation rivals Cardiff on the final day. That summer, as Ayresome Park was staging World Cup games, new boss Stan Anderson was rebuilding. In came striker John O'Rourke from Luton and Sheffield Wednesday full-back John Hickton - soon to become one of Boro's all time goal scoring heroes. After a sticky start Boro went straight up in second spot behind QPR, securing promotion with a famous 4-1 home win over Oxford. They were soon challenging for a place back in the elite but again Boro hit a glass ceiling and their annual promotion bids fizzled out just short. It fell to World Cup winner Jack Charlton to take Boro the next step. He took over in 1973-74, added just one player - free transfer Bobby Murdoch from Celtic - and stood back as Boro raced to a record breaking title win. His well drilled side romped to a record tally of 65 points, a record 15 point victory margin and a record 20 home game unbeaten run. Bubbling Boro were promoted in March with eight games still to play. The team flourished in the top flight with a style that earned them the 'Boring, Boring Boro' tag but frustrated Charlton quit in April 1977 after being denied the cash to bring in the two players he believed could lead to a genuine breakthrough. John Neal took up the baton and introduced a more opening attacking style but he was under pressure from the board to sell star players like Graeme Souness and Craig Johnston and the momentum was lost. Neal left in 1981 just as a dark cloud settled over Ayresome Park. An almost fatal financial crisis was looming and a series of under-funded managers - Bobby Murdoch, Malcolm Allison and Willy Maddren - continued to sell established players and bring in bargain basement buys and youngsters while crowds dwindled . Finally, in the Summer of 1986 following relegation to the third division the club folded and Ayresome Park's gates were padlocked by the liquidators. Only the heroic efforts of fans, new boss Bruce Rioch, the players who continued unpaid throughout the crisis and the consortium willing to fund a rescue package kept the club alive. Boro kicked off the 1986-87 season at Hartlepool's Victoria Ground determined to survive. Rioch's young side did more than that. Two successive promotions saw Boro back in the big time briefly before slipping back into the second division and only just avoiding a return to the third in 1990-91. That term saw Boro finally make it to Wembley. They had come close in the Charlton-Neal era by reaching four FA Cup quarter-finals and the 1976 League Cup semi-final against Manchester City. But success continued to elude them and they lost the final of the now defunct Zenith Data Systems Cup 1-0 to Chelsea. Boro again came close in 1992 when new boss Lennie Lawrence took them to extra-time in the semi-final of the League Cup before going down 2-1 to mighty Manchester United. That season saw them clinch promotion to the inaugural Premier League flight as ten man Boro came from behind to win at Wolves with a late winner. The team wasn't strong enough. They came straight back down and struggled the following year. Cue Bryan Robson. The former England captain was the man the Boro board wanted to front their ambitious plans. Robbo was given money to spend and the task of getting Boro back into the elite in time to christen the new �16m all-seater stadium being built at Middlehaven. The opening game saw Craig Hignett christen the goal nets as he drilled the first goal scored at the Cellnet Riverside Stadium past the Chelsea goalkeeper in a 2-1 win. The atmosphere was as it always has been since, electric. Robson succeeded first time out and Boro moved up and into their new home, the Cellnet Riverside Stadium, as champions. The spending continued as Robbo brought in �5.25m England youngster Nick Barmby and then Brazilian wonderkid Juninho for a season of consolidation., from Sao Paulo at a fee of around �4.5 million. The following Summer he added Italian hitman Fabrizio Ravanelli and Brazilian powerhouse Emerson and the most dramatic season in Boro's history was underway.
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