Middlesbrough
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Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough have spent the last 10 seasons in the Premier League and 12 seasons in total. The 2004/05 season represented their best in the Premier League, as they secured a 7th place finish. Otherwise, Boro have generally been comfortable in the top flight and often excelled in the cup competitions.
After finishing runners-up in the League Cup in 1997 and 1998, Boro won the trophy for the first time when, under Steve McClaren, they defeated Bolton Wanderers 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium . Two years later, they were beaten by Sevilla in the Uefa Cup final after a dramatic run which saw them mount stunning late comebacks in the previous two rounds against Basel and Steaua Bucharest respectively.
Current manager Gareth Southgate helped the North East club to a 13th place finish last season. Middlesbrough paid the first-ever four-figure transfer fee for a player in 1905 when they spent £1,000 on centre forward Alf Common.
Middlesbrough Football Club was originally formed in 1876 by Middlesbrough Cricket team players to stay fit during the winter. In 1877, they recorded their first-ever result, a 1-1 draw with Teesside Wanderers. The club was elected to the Football League in 1899, with their inaugural league win coming at home against Grimsby Town.
In 1903, the club moved to Ayresome Park from Linthorpe Road, where they had been playing since 1877. The club was relegated to the Second Division in the 1923/24 campaign after 22 straight seasons in the top flight. They were promoted again three seasons later, with striker George Camsell scoring 59 league goals.
After a number of promotions and relegations, one of the club's highest-ever goalscorers emerged in the 1950s during a 20-year spell outside the top flight. Brian Clough scored 204 goals in 222 matches before leaving for Sunderland. Once established back in the First Division, the club won its first-ever silverware in the 1975/76 season. They lifted the Anglo-Scottish Cup after beating Fulham over two legs.
There were major fears that the club would fold permanently after experiencing severe financial difficulties in the mid 1980s. However, with just 10 minutes to go before the deadline to pay the £350,000 required for Football League registration, a consortium led by Steve Gibson, a board member at the time, produced the money necessary to compete in the 1986/87 season. Two successive promotions secured the club's place in Division One and they were in the top flight for the inaugural Premier League season.
1992/93 - Relegated from Premier League
1993/94 - Manager Lennie Lawrence resigns
1994/95 - Bryan Robson appointed as player-manager
1994/95 - Promoted from Division One
1996/97 - Relegated from FA Carling Premiership
2001/02 - Robson resigns in summer 2001
2001/02 - Steve McClaren appointed manager
2002/03 - Massimo Maccarone signs from Empoli for a club record £8.15million
2003/04 - Win League Cup
2005/06 - Reach UEFA Cup Final but lose 4-0 to Sevilla
2005/06 - McClaren resigns to take job as England Head Coach
2006/07 - Gareth Southgate appointed manager
2007/08 - Afonso Alves becomes the club's new record signing
