How Middlesbrough rose from the brink, to become an established Premier League club

New FFC columnist Paul Ellis looks back at the remarkable 20yrs at Middlesbrough, which has seen this north-east club go from the verge of liquidation in Division 3 to an established Premier League club.

The months of July and August 1986 will long be remembered in Teesside as the best and worst month in the club's elusive history. Suffering with massive debts and put into liquidation, the gates to Ayresome Park padlocked, plus relegation to Division Three, Middlesbrough were on the brink of collapsing with a whimper, as a club with no trophies to their name and no significant achievement.

Many were resigned to the inevitability that ‘Boro would no longer exist, due to the financial mess the club was put in by a succession of chairmen, who did little to aid the problem and had no passion for the club. The main culprit of Middlesbrough's perilous downfall was Alf Duffield who became Chairman in 1985 – with a habit of taking out big loans from the bank and with no real control over finances, his inexperience to run the club was almost the final nail in the coffin for MFC.

Up stepped a director by the name of Steve Gibson, the youngest ever at the club at the tender age of 26 when he joined the board in 1984. Desperate to help the club, Gibson approached Middlesbrough Borough Council for help in building a consortium to save the club, which they agreed to. Along with the council's support, Gibson put together a consortium which consisted of ICI, Scottish and Newcastle Breweries, Bulkhaul (owned by Gibson) and businessman Henry Moszkowicz to raise £1.5 million to keep the club afloat. With the latter on board, the consortium had the means of raising £900,000 towards their target and once Duffield was relieved of his duty as chairman, they had to come to an agreement with the Football League regarding finances.

Unfortunately for Middlesbrough, the Football League were looking for a scapegoat during the time when football was on the decline – hooliganism was at an all time high, added to the Bradford fire and Heysel disaster which tarnished the future of football in 1986. Gibson believed that they had a hidden agenda – to "crucify a football club, and this small club in the north east was the one they picked on". Due to continuous change in demands, Middlesbrough were just ten minutes away from not being able to play their opening fixture against Port Vale at Hartlepool's Victoria Park in Division 3. Luckily for the "small club in the north east", they managed to agree a deal with the Football League, and have not looked back since.

Fast-forward twelve years to the present day – all has changed. Middlesbrough have come a long way since those perilous days of liquidation and are now a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League, including one of the best youth academies in the country. Football itself has evolved since then, becoming a multi-million pound sport – the £1.5m needed to keep the club adrift would be seen as loose change at most established clubs these days.

Steve Gibson is a widely respected chairman in this country and Middlesbrough fans love him – and deservedly so. Arguably, if it wasn't for his ambitions for the club and financial backing. ‘Boro would have almost certainly folded.

Gibson became chairman in 1994 and began a revolution, which is still in progress to this day, and it was his vision that saw the club move to the all-seater Riverside Stadium a year later. Almost instantly, Middlesbrough were transformed from mediocre to established and began to appeal to big name players which many fans would have laughed off if mentioned during the dark days. Thanks to the continued support of the chairman, managers like Bryan Robson were able to bring in star players like Fabrizio Ravanelli, Emerson and Juninho during the 1996/97 when many fans believe it was one of the best Middlesbrough sides in the club's history.

Despite being relegated from the Premiership and reaching both domestic Cup finals, watching world-class players play for the club made fans realise just how far the club had come. After gaining promotion at the first attempt the next season, Middlesbrough have become a solid Premiership outfit despite flirting with relegation on more than one occasion since then. Success finally came to the club when in February 2004, Middlesbrough won their first ever trophy in their 132 year history, beating Bolton 2-1 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff thanks to goals from Joseph-Desire Job and a Boudewijn Zenden penalty. ‘Boro would also be playing in Europe for the first time in their history as a result of winning the Carling Cup – a day many fans will never forget.

Following their overdue success, Middlesbrough embarked on two seasons of European football which gripped the whole of Teesside, and the nation too. Their first adventure was ended by Sporting Lisbon at the Quarter Final stage – the second will live long in the memory of Middlesbrough fans. Two unbelievable four-goal comebacks in the Quarter Finals and Semi Finals against FC Basle and Steaua Bucharest respectively sent ‘Boro into the UEFA Cup Final in Eindhoven where their dreams were ended by Sevilla in a 4-0 defeat.

Put into perspective, Middlesbrough's recovery and progression has been nothing short of inspirational, mainly thanks to Mr. Middlesbrough – Steve Gibson.