2005–06 Middlesbrough F.C. season

Middlesbrough
2005–06 season
ChairmanSteve Gibson
ManagerSteve McClaren
Premier League14th
FA CupSemi-final
League CupQuarter-final
UEFA CupRunners-up
Top goalscorerLeague: Yakubu (13)
All: Yakubu (19)
Highest home attendance31,908 v Liverpool
Away: 69,531 v Man Utd
Lowest home attendance10,791 v Crystal Palace
Away: 6,000 v Nuneaton

Middlesbrough participated in the Premier League during the 2005–06 season, where they finished in 14th place.

Middlesbrough had qualified for the UEFA Cup via the league the previous season, and this season saw them make a dramatic run all the way to the final where they lost 4–0 to Sevilla. Meanwhile, they were knocked out of the FA Cup in the semi-final by losing finalists West Ham United and out of the League Cup in the quarter-finals by Blackburn Rovers.

The end of the season saw the departure of manager Steve McClaren after five years and 250 games in charge as he went on to become manager of the England national football team.[1]

Team kit and sponsors

During this season, Middlesbrough's kits were once again sponsored by 888.com and produced by Errea. The club retained the white band of the previous season, however, this season, the white band swept down the right hand side of the kit and followed down the shorts. The away kit was plain blue with navy panels red piping. A white third kit was required for the away tie at FC Basel, to avoid a clash with their red-and-blue home kit.

Squad

Senior squad

Appearances and goals

Appearance and goalscoring records for all the players who were in the Middlesbrough F.C. first team squad during the 2005–06 season.[2][3]

No. Pos Nat Player Total Premier League FA Cup League Cup UEFA Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Australia AUS Mark Schwarzer 47 0 27 0 6 0 3 0 11 0
2 DF Netherlands NED Michael Reiziger 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 DF Portugal POR Abel Xavier 6 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
3 DF France FRA Franck Queudrue 49 3 26+3 3 3 0 2+1 0 9+5 0
4 DF England ENG Ugo Ehiogu 30 0 16+2 0 2+1 0 2 0 4+3 0
5 DF England ENG Chris Riggott 42 2 22 0 5 1 2 0 13 1
6 DF England ENG Gareth Southgate 42 0 24 0 6+1 0 2 0 9 0
7 MF Netherlands NED George Boateng 44 3 25+1 2 4 0 2 0 12 1
8 FW Slovakia SVK Szilárd Németh 11 1 1+4 0 0 0 1+1 1 2+2 0
9 FW Netherlands NED Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 44 18 12+10 10 5+1 3 3 1 12+1 4
10 MF Brazil BRA Fábio Rochemback 36 3 22 2 5 1 3 0 5+1 0
11 FW England ENG Malcolm Christie 6 0 3+3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 DF Austria AUT Emanuel Pogatetz 41 1 21+3 1 5 0 2+1 0 9 0
14 MF Spain ESP Gaizka Mendieta 29 3 15+2 2 6 1 0 0 6 0
15 MF England ENG Ray Parlour 19 0 11+2 0 0+2 0 0 0 2+2 0
16 FW Cameroon CMR Joseph Desire-Job 1 0 0+1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
17 MF Brazil BRA Doriva 41 0 19+8 0 2+1 0 3 0 8 0
18 FW Italy ITA Massimo Maccarone 30 7 6+11 2 0+3 0 0+2 0 3+5 5
19 MF England ENG Stewart Downing 26 1 11+1 1 5 0 0 0 9 0
20 FW Nigeria NGA Yakubu 57 19 29+5 13 7 4 1+1 0 5+9 2
21 DF England ENG Stuart Parnaby 42 4 19+1 2 8 1 2+1 0 9+2 1
22 GK Australia AUS Brad Jones 16 0 9 0 2+1 0 0 0 4 0
23 DF England ENG Colin Cooper 1 0 0+1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
24 DF England ENG Andrew Davies 16 0 4+8 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
25 MF England ENG James Morrison 37 2 21+3 1 2+1 1 1 0 7+2 0
26 DF England ENG Matthew Bates 28 0 12+4 0 4 0 1+2 0 5 0
27 GK England ENG Ross Turnbull 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
29 DF England ENG Anthony McMahon 4 0 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
30 FW England ENG Danny Graham 3 0 1+2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 DF England ENG David Wheater 6 0 4+2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
32 GK England ENG David Knight 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
33 DF England ENG Andrew Taylor 20 0 7+6 0 4 0 0 0 1+2 0
34 MF England ENG Jason Kennedy 6 0 1+2 0 0 0 0 0 1+2 0
36 FW Australia AUS Mark Viduka 43 16 19+8 7 3+2 2 2 1 8+1 6
37 MF England ENG Adam Johnson 18 1 8+5 1 1 0 1 0 2+1 0
39 MF England ENG Lee Cattermole 24 1 10+4 1 4+1 0 0 0 3+2 0
41 MF England ENG Josh Walker 1 0 0+1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
42 FW England ENG Tom Craddock 1 0 0+1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Discipline

Disciplinary records for 2005–06 league and cup matches. Players with 1 card or more included only.[4]

No. Nat. Player Yellow cards Red cards
1 Australia Mark Schwarzer 1 0
2 England Stuart Parnaby 3 0
3 France Franck Queudrue 8 0
4 England Ugo Ehiogu 0 1
5 England Chris Riggott 6 1
6 England Gareth Southgate 1 0
7 Netherlands George Boateng 9 0
8 Slovakia Szilárd Németh 1 0
9 Netherlands Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 8 0
10 Brazil Fábio Rochemback 7 0
12 Austria Emanuel Pogatetz 11 0
14 Spain Gaizka Mendieta 3 0
15 England Ray Parlour 4 0
17 Brazil Doriva 5 1
18 Italy Massimo Maccarone 6 0
19 England Stewart Downing 1 0
20 Nigeria Yakubu 1 0
22 Australia Brad Jones 1 0
24 England Andrew Davies 1 0
26 England Matthew Bates 6 0
29 England Anthony McMahon 1 0
30 England Danny Graham 1 0
33 England Andrew Taylor 1 0
36 Australia Mark Viduka 1 0
39 England Lee Cattermole 7 0

Transfers

In

Date Player Previous Club Fee Ref
28 June 2005 Austria Emanuel Pogatetz Germany Bayer Leverkusen £1.8 million[A] [5]
1 July 2005 Nigeria Yakubu Portsmouth £7.5 million [6]
31 August 2005 Brazil Fábio Rochemback Spain Barcelona Undisclosed [7]
31 August 2005 Portugal Abel Xavier Italy A.S. Roma Free [8]

Out

For departures of players out of contract at the end of 2004-05 see 2004–05 Middlesbrough F.C. season.

Date Player New Club Fee Ref
31 August 2005 Netherlands Michael Reiziger Netherlands PSV Eindhoven Undisclosed [9]
23 January 2006 Portugal Abel Xavier - Contract terminated [10]
26 January 2006 Slovakia Szilárd Németh France Strasbourg Nominal [11]
7 May 2006 England Colin Cooper Middlesbrough (as coach) Retired
6 July 2006 Brazil Doriva Brazil América-SP Out of contract [12]
11 July 2006 Netherlands Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Charlton Athletic Out of contract [13]
19 September 2006 Cameroon Joseph-Desire Job France Sedan Out of contract [14]

Loans out

Date Player Club At Period Ref
5 July 2005 England Andrew Davies Derby County To 30 January 2006[B] [15]
6 July 2005 England Andrew Taylor Bradford City To 3 January 2006[C] [16][17]
2 August 2005 England Ross Turnbull Crewe Alexandra To 23 April 2006[D] [18][19]
31 August 2005 Cameroon Joseph-Désiré Job Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad To end of season [20]
24 November 2005 England Danny Graham Derby County 3 months [21]
31 December 2005 England David Knight Darlington To 8 January 2006[E] [22]
10 February 2006 England David Wheater Doncaster Rovers 2 months[F] [23]
23 March 2006 England Danny Graham Leeds United 2 months[G] [24]

Notes

A Pogatetz' fee could rise to £1.8 million.
B Davies' loan was initially intended to last the full season.
C Taylor's loan was initially intended to last the full season.
D Turnbull's loan was initially intended to last six months. The deal was extended further, but he was then recalled.
E Knight was injured during a game and returned to Middlesbrough after one week.
F Wheater's loan was initially intended to last one month, but it was extended for a second month after good performances.
G Graham's loan was initially intended to last one month, but was extended for a second month.

Premier League

Following their 7th-place finish the previous season, Boro fans were cautiously optimistic for the upcoming season. Despite losing Bolo Zenden (who left on a free to join Liverpool), the signings of Yakubu, Abel Xavier and Emanuel Pogatetz bolstered the squad and made it appear a lot stronger. These signings, along with the promise of another season in the UEFA cup promised a season to look forward to for the fans.

However, things didn't go as planned for Boro, and they only won 2 of their first 7 games in the league. Remarkably, one of the two games they won was against Arsenal, and this set the tone for the season.

During the course of the season, Middlesbrough lost to all three promoted clubs, yet somehow managed to beat Manchester United 4–1, Arsenal 2–1 and Chelsea 3–0.

The season stuttered as Boro progressed in both the FA Cup and UEFA Cup. This resulted in poor league form, and following a dismal 4–0 home defeat to Aston Villa, a fan ran onto the pitch and threw his season ticket at Steve McClaren in sheer frustration at the lack of coordination the team seemed to have. He was given a standing ovation from the crowd. No one picked up the season ticket.

The lack of depth in the Boro squad, combined with the two cup runs took their toll on the league position and Boro eventually finished 14th – a bitter disappointment for the fans who expected the club to build on last years success. The final position was put down to the team playing 64 games in the season (a record for a Premier League club) and a lack of depth in the squad to cover the injuries and fatigue that occurred from this number of games.

A positive for the Boro fans was the final Premier League game of the season against Fulham, where 15 of the 16 squad members were from the local area (the exception being Malcolm Christie). When Josh Walker replaced Malcolm 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. Lee Cattermole captained the team for the match and became Boro's youngest ever captain. It was also the first all English 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.[25]

Results

  Win   Draw   Loss

Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according to mfc.co.uk.

Game Date Venue Opponent Result
F–A
Attendance Boro Goalscorers Man of the Match
1 13 August 2005 H Liverpool 0–0 31,908 Boateng
2 20 August 2005 A Tottenham Hotspur 0–2 35,844 Southgate
3 23 August 2005 A Birmingham City 3–0 27,998 Viduka (2) 14', 45', Queudrue 71' Viduka
4 28 August 2005 H Charlton Athletic 0–3 26,206 Viduka
5 10 September 2005 H Arsenal 2–1 28,075 Yakubu 40', Maccarone 59' Maccarone
6 18 September 2005 A Wigan Athletic 1–1 16,641 Yakubu 14' Southgate
7 25 September 2005 H Sunderland 0–2 29,583 Boateng
8 2 October 2005 A Aston Villa 3–2 29,719 Yakubu (2) 33', 88' (pen.), Boateng 64' Yakubu
9 15 October 2005 H Portsmouth 1–1 26,551 Yakubu 54' Boateng
10 23 October 2005 A West Ham United 1–2 34,612 Queudrue 87' Riggott
11 29 October 2005 H Manchester United 4–1 30,579 Mendieta (2) 2', 78', Hasselbaink 25', Yakubu 45+6' Mendieta
12 6 November 2005 A Everton 0–1 34,349 Mendieta
13 20 November 2005 H Fulham 3–2 27,599 Morrison 64', Yakubu 76', Hasselbaink 84' Yakubu
14 27 November 2005 H West Bromwich Albion 2–2 27,041 Viduka 12', Yakubu 66' (pen.) Németh
15 3 December 2005 A Chelsea 0–1 41,666 Rochemback
16 10 December 2005 A Liverpool 0–2 43,510 Southgate
17 18 December 2005 H Tottenham Hotspur 3–3 27,614 Yakubu (2) 30', 43', Queudrue 69' Viduka
18 26 December 2005 H Blackburn Rovers 0–2 29,811 Riggott
19 31 December 2005 H Manchester City 0–0 28,022 Mendieta
20 2 January 2006 A Newcastle United 2–2 52,302 Yakubu 54', Hasselbaink 87' Cattermole
21 14 January 2006 A Arsenal 0–7 38,186 Parnaby
22 21 January 2006 H Wigan Athletic 2–3 27,208 Hasselbaink 56', Yakubu 66' Downing
23 31 January 2006 A Sunderland 3–0 31,675 Pogatetz 19', Parnaby 31', Hasselbaink 71' Cattermole
24 7 February 2006 H Aston Villa 0–4 27,299 Cattermole
25 11 February 2006 H Chelsea 3–0 31,037 Rochemback 2', Downing 45', Yakubu 68' Yakubu
26 26 February 2006 A West Bromwich Albion 2–0 24,061 Hasselbaink (2) 17', 44' Hasselbaink
27 4 March 2006 H Birmingham City 1–0 28,141 Viduka 45' Cattermole
28 12 March 2006 A Charlton Athletic 1–2 24,830 Viduka 81' A. Johnson
29 18 March 2006 A Blackburn Rovers 2–3 18,681 Viduka 16', Rochemback 62' Morrison
30 26 March 2006 H Bolton Wanderers 4–3 25,971 Hasselbaink (2) 8' (pen.), 47', Viduka 30', Parnaby 90+2' Viduka
31 2 April 2006 A Manchester City 1–0 40,256 Cattermole 42' Rochemback
32 9 April 2006 H Newcastle United 1–2 31,202 Boateng 79' Viduka
33 15 April 2006 A Portsmouth 0–1 20,204 Bates
34 17 April 2006 H West Ham United 2–0 27,658 Hasselbaink 41', Maccarone 57' (pen.) Parlour
35 29 April 2006 H Everton 0–1 29,224 Wheater
36 1 May 2006 A Manchester United 0–0 69,531 Bates
37 3 May 2006 A Bolton Wanderers 1–1 22,733 A. Johnson 47' Turnbull
38 7 May 2006 A Fulham 0–1 22,434 The whole team

Classification

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
12 Fulham 38 14 6 18 48 58 −10 48
13 Charlton Athletic 38 13 8 17 41 55 −14 47
14 Middlesbrough 38 12 9 17 48 58 −10 45
15 Manchester City 38 13 4 21 43 48 −5 43
16 Aston Villa 38 10 12 16 42 55 −13 42
Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

League Cup

Middlesbrough were reasonably successful in the League Cup, beating Everton and Crystal Palace. However, they lost 1–0 in the quarter-finals after a poor performance at home to Blackburn Rovers.

Results

  Win   Draw   Loss

Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according to mfc.co.uk.

Round Date Venue Opponent Result
F–A
Attendance Boro Goalscorers Man of the Match Report
3 26 October 2005 A Everton 1–0 25,844 Hasselbaink 38' Queuedrue Report
4 30 November 2005 H Crystal Palace 2–1 10,791 Viduka 52', Németh 55' Boateng Report
QF 21 December 2005 H Blackburn Rovers 0–1 14,710 Riggott Report

FA Cup

One of the highlights of Boro's season was their FA Cup run. Despite making hard work of seemingly easy matches, the team reached the semi-final where they lost 1–0 to West Ham.

The run started in the 3rd round against non-league outfit Nuneaton Borough. Nuneaton had exceeded all expectations to even reach the 3rd round and it seemed a comfortable win on paper for Boro. However, Nuneaton had different ideas, and after Boro had scored an early goal through Gaizka Mendieta, they dominated the match. They equalised through Gez Murphy and had a penalty appeal turned down in the final minutes. The match went onto a replay at the Riverside where Middlesbrough ended up 5–2 winners, but credit went to Nuneaton for a spirited display.

The 4th round drew Middlesbrough away at Coventry, were again they were held to a draw by lower league opposition, again the score was 1–1. The replay was a tense match which Boro eventually won 1–0 with a goal from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

The 5th round was away at Preston North End and proved to be slightly more straight forward with Boro winning 2–0.

Yet another away draw came in the quarter-finals, this time against fellow Premier League side Charlton Athletic. A tedious match ended in another replay. The replay at the Riverside was a total opposite to the first match, and a fantastic display of attacking football by a Boro side inspired by Mark Viduka led to a 4–2 win and a place in the semi-finals.

The semi finals drew Middlesbrough against West Ham United. The number of matches the team had played in the season had caught up with them by this point and this proved a match too far for the team. They lost 1–0, with Marlon Harewood scoring the winner. More bad news for Boro was that they lost Mark Schwarzer, who received a fractured cheekbone after an elbow by Dean Ashton.

Results

  Win   Draw   Loss

Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according to mfc.co.uk.

Round Date Venue Opponent Result
F–A
Attendance Boro Goalscorers Man of the Match Report
3 7 January 2006 A Nuneaton Borough 1–1 6,000 Mendieta 15' Morrison Report
3R 17 January 2006 H Nuneaton Borough 5–2 26,255 Riggott 34', Yakubu (2) 42' (pen.), 58', Parnaby 50', Viduka 63' Cattermole Report
4 28 January 2006 A Coventry City 1–1 28,120 Hasselbaink 46' Schwarzer Report
4R 8 February 2006 H Coventry City 1–0 14,131 Hasselbaink 20' Southgate Report
5 19 February 2006 A Preston North End 2–0 19,877 Yakubu (2) 52', 77' Riggott Report
6 23 March 2006 A Charlton Athletic 0–0 24,925 Ehiogu Report
6R 12 April 2006 H Charlton Athletic 4–2 30,248 Rochemback 11', Morrison 26', Hasselbaink 73', Viduka 77' Schwarzer Report
SF 23 April 2006 N West Ham United 0–1 39,148 Queudrue Report

UEFA Cup

The UEFA Cup campaign was a rollercoaster ride for Boro fans, which ended up with a loss in the final to Sevilla. However, to get that far in only the club's second ever season in Europe and the manner in which they did it means that the campaign will go down in the club's history.

First knockout stage

Boro's long cup run began in September with a home game against Xanthi of Greece. A 2–0 win, followed by a 0–0 draw away from home resulted in Boro reaching the group stages for the second year in a row.

Results

  Win   Draw   Loss

Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according to mfc.co.uk.

Round Date Venue Opponent Result
F–A
Attendance Boro Goalscorers Man of the Match Referee
1 Leg 1 15 September 2005 H Greece Skoda Xanthi 2–0 14,191 Boateng 28', Viduka 83' Maccarone Stefan Messner (Austria)
1 Leg 2 29 September 2005 A Greece Skoda Xanthi 0–0
(2–0 agg)
5,013 Doriva Knut Kircher (Germany)

Group stage

Middlesbrough made light work of Group D, finishing top of the group by beating Grasshoppers, Dnipro and Liteks Lovech and drawing away at AZ Alkmaar. The only low point of the group campaign was the fatal stabbing of a Boro fan before the Alkmaar match.

Results

  Win   Draw   Loss

Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according to mfc.co.uk.

Date Venue Opponent Result
F–A
Attendance Boro Goalscorers Man of the Match Referee
20 October 2005 A Switzerland Grasshoppers Zürich 1–0 8,500 Hasselbaink 10' Riggott Espen Berntsen (Norway)
3 November 2005 H Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 3–0 12,953 Yakubu 36', Viduka (2) 50', 56' Mendieta Bertrand Layec (France)
24 November 2005 A Netherlands AZ 0–0 8,461 Jones Gianluca Paparesta (Italy)
15 December 2005 H Bulgaria Litex Lovech 2–0 9,436 Maccarone (2) 80', 86' Maccarone Serge Gumienny (Belgium)

Group table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification MID AZ LIT DNI GRA
1 England Middlesbrough 4 3 1 0 6 0 +6 10 Advance to knockout stage 2–0 3–0
2 Netherlands AZ 4 3 1 0 5 1 +4 10 0–0 1–0
3 Bulgaria Litex Lovech 4 2 0 2 4 5 −1 6 0–2 2–1
4 Ukraine Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk 4 1 0 3 4 9 −5 3 1–2 0–2
5 Switzerland Grasshoppers 4 0 0 4 3 7 −4 0 0–1 2–3

Second knockout phase

They were drawn against Stuttgart in the next round, a tough match for this stage of the competition. Middlesbrough produced a fantastic 2–1 away win in the first leg, but had to endure a nervy second leg where they lost 1–0 to progress on away goals.

In the next round Boro faced Roma, another difficult match. However, despite two very close matches, Middlesbrough again drew 2–2 over the two legs, and again progressed on away goals.

Boro faced F.C. Basel in the quarter-finals. The first leg didn't go to plan, seeing Boro lose 2–0 and facing a tricky task in the home leg. They made the worst possible start in the return leg, conceding an early goal, and needed four to go through to the semi-finals. This sparked an amazing comeback and goals from Viduka(2) and Hasselbaink brought Boro level, but they were still losing on away goals. With time running out, Massimo Maccarone scored the winner to send a jubilant Boro team through to the semi-finals.

The semi final against Steaua Bucharest proved to be just as close and exciting as the quarter-final. The first leg in Bucharest finished 1–0 to Steaua, leaving Boro with a good chance of progressing if they put in a good performance in the home leg. Things didn't go to plan though and Middlesbrough conceded 2 early goals, and go down 3–0 on aggregate. This meant that Boro again needed four goals to progress in the competition. Amazingly, Boro drew level through goals from Maccarone, Viduka and Riggott. Somehow Middlesbrough managed to get the goal they needed, in the last minute of added time a cross was met with a diving header from Maccarone to go 4–3 up on aggregate and seal the tie for Middlesbrough. This meant a place in the final against Sevilla waited for the team on 10 May 2006.

The final didn't go to plan though, and a very tired performance from the Boro team gave Sevilla a 4–0 victory. Despite the loss, the cup run was an amazing experience for the fans and it will stay in their memories for a long time.

Results

  Win   Draw   Loss

Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according to mfc.co.uk.

Round Date Venue Opponent Result
F–A
Attendance Boro Goalscorers Man of the Match Report Referee
3 Leg 1 16 February 2006 A Germany VfB Stuttgart 2–1 21,000 Hasselbaink 20', Parnaby 49' Boateng Report Alain Hamer (Luxembourg)
3 Leg 2 23 February 2006 H Germany VfB Stuttgart 0–1
(2–2a agg)
24,018 Southgate Report Eric Braamhaar (Netherlands)
4 Leg 1 9 March 2006 H Italy A.S. Roma 1–0 25,534 Yakubu 12' (pen.) Cattermole Report Alain Sars (France)
4 Leg 2 15 March 2006 A Italy A.S. Roma 1–2
(2–2a agg)
32,642 Hasselbaink 32' Schwarzer Report Tom Henning Øvrebø (Norway)
QF Leg 1 30 March 2006 A Switzerland FC Basel 0–2 23,639 Viduka Report Roberto Rosetti (Italy)
QF Leg 2 6 April 2006 H Switzerland FC Basel 4–1
(4–3 agg)
24,521 Viduka (2) 33', 57', Hasselbaink 79', Maccarone 90' Viduka Report Yuri Baskakov (Russia)
SF Leg 1 20 April 2006 A Romania Steaua Bucharest 0–1 41,000 Schwarzer Report Alain Hamer (Luxembourg)
SF Leg 2 27 April 2006 H Romania Steaua Bucharest 4–2
(4–3 agg)
34,622 Maccarone (2) 33', 89', Viduka 64', Riggott 73' Viduka Report Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovakia)
Final 10 May 2006 N Spain Sevilla FC 0–4 36,500 Rochemback Report Herbert Fandel (Germany)

The end of the McClaren era

The end of the season also brought about the end of Steve McClaren's spell as manager of Boro – his final match in charge being the 4–0 UEFA Cup final loss to Sevilla. After Sven-Göran Eriksson announced he would resign as England manager after the 2006 World Cup, the FA began their search for a new coach. After a prolonged and controversial search for the new manager, the FA appointed Steve McClaren as manager with Terry Venables as his number two.

Middlesbrough fans saw this as a blessing in disguise, as it seemed like McClaren has taken Boro as far as he could and the time was right for a change. The fans experienced highs and lows with Boro under McClaren, including their first ever trophy and a UEFA Cup final. However, their league position had suffered as a consequence. McClaren left Middlesbrough with the following record:[1]

Played Won Drawn Lost Points/Max
All competitions 250 97 60 93
Premier League 190 64 50 76 242/570 (42.46%)

References and notes

  1. ^ a b "Steve McClaren's managerial career". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  2. ^ "Middlesbro 2005/2006 player appearances". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 3 March 2009. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  3. ^ Middlesbrough players: UEFA Cup 2006
  4. ^ "ESPNsoccernet: Middlesbrough Squad Statistics". ESPNsoccernet. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  5. ^ "Middlesbrough seal Pogatetz deal". BBC Sport. 28 June 2005. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  6. ^ "Middlesbrough agree Yakubu deal". BBC Sport. 23 May 2005. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  7. ^ "Transfer deadline day round-up". BBC Sport. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 22 December 2007.
  8. ^ "Middlesbro's transfers in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Archived from the original on 29 December 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  9. ^ "Ball makes move to PSV Eindhoven". BBC Sport. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  10. ^ "Middlesbrough end Xavier contract". BBC Sport. 23 January 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  11. ^ "Nemeth makes Middlesbrough exit". BBC Sport. 25 January 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  12. ^ "Doriva released by Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 6 July 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  13. ^ "Hasselbaink not given Boro deal". BBC Sport. 4 July 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  14. ^ "Desire-Job joins Sedan". BBC Sport. 19 September 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  15. ^ "Derby snap up Davies on loan deal". BBC Sport. 5 July 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  16. ^ "Taylor agrees Bantams loan switch". BBC Sport. 6 July 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  17. ^ "Taylor recalled by Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 5 January 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  18. ^ "Crewe nip in for keeper Turnbull". BBC Sport. 3 August 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  19. ^ "Middlesbrough recall Crewe keeper". BBC Sport. 25 April 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  20. ^ "Job moves to Saudi Arabia on loan". BBC Sport. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  21. ^ "Derby sign Boro striker on loan". BBC Sport. 24 November 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  22. ^ "Quakers hit by injury to keeper". BBC Sport. 9 January 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  23. ^ "Rovers extend duo's loan spells". BBC Sport. 23 December 2007. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  24. ^ "Leeds complete Graham loan deal". BBC Sport. 23 March 2006. Retrieved 23 December 2007.
  25. ^ Tom Flight (12 January 2018). "Fulham vs Boro: The youngest team in PL history – where are they now?". everythingmfc.co.uk. Retrieved 5 December 2019.