Boro's League Positions since entry to the English Football League

This is a list of seasons played by Middlesbrough Football Club in English and European football, from 1883, when the club first entered the FA Cup, to the most recent completed season. Middlesbrough Football Club were founded on 18 February 1876, by members of Middlesbrough Cricket Club. For the first years of their existence Middlesbrough participated in competitions such as the Sheffield Cup and the Cleveland Association Challenge Cup. The club have won only one major trophy in their professional history, the Football League Cup in 2004. Most of Middlesbrough's League existence has been in the top two tiers; they were relegated to the Third Division twice in 1966 and 1986, but each time they bounced back as runners-up the following season.

This list details the club's achievements in all competitions, and the top scorers for each season. Records of competitions such as the North Riding Senior Cup are not included due to them being played against lower league opposition and reserve sides.

Seasons

Season League record FA
Cup 		League
Cup[1] 		Europe Other Top scorer(s)[2]
Div (Level) Pos Pld W D L GF GA Pts Player(s) Goals
1883–84 n/a R1
1884–85 n/a R4
1885–86 n/a R5
1886–87 n/a R2
1887–88 n/a QF
1888–89 n/a Q1
1889–90 NL (n/a) 6th 18 8 3 7 42 37 19 Q1
1890–91 NL (n/a) 2nd 14 8 3 3 33 17 19 Q3
1891–92 NL (n/a) 2nd 16 13 0 3 33 13 26 R2
1892–93 NL (n/a) 4th 10 4 0 6 17 17 8 R2
1893–94 NL (n/a) 1st 14 11 1 2 51 16 23 R1
1894–95 NL (n/a) 1st 18 12 5 1 58 17 29 R2 FA Amateur Cup
Winners
1895–96 NL (n/a) 3rd 16 8 4 4 28 22 20 Q2
1896–97 NL (n/a) 1st 16 11 4 1 36 15 26 Q1 FA Amateur Cup
SF
1897–98 NL (n/a) 2nd 16 9 4 3 42 22 22 Q5 FA Amateur Cup
Winners
1898–99 NL (n/a) 3rd 16 7 4 5 29 27 18 Q1
1899–1900 Div 2 (2) 14th 34 8 8 18 39 69 24 Q1 Eddie Pugh 7
1900–01 Div 2 (2) 6th 34 15 7 12 50 40 37 QF Sandy Robertson 16
1901–02 Div 2 (2) 2nd 34 23 5 6 90 24 51 R1 Jack Brearley 23
1902–03 Div 1 (1) 13th 34 14 5 15 43 50 32 R1 Sandy Robertson 8
1903–04 Div 1 (1) 10th 34 9 12 13 46 47 30 QF Alex Brown 17
1904–05 Div 1 (1) 15th 34 9 8 17 36 56 26 R1 Harry Astley 5
1905–06 Div 1 (1) 18th 38 10 11 17 56 71 31 R3 Alf Common 24
1906–07 Div 1 (1) 11th 38 15 6 17 56 63 36 R2 Steve Bloomer 20
1907–08 Div 1 (1) 6th 38 17 7 14 54 45 41 R1 Steve Bloomer
Sammy Cail		 12
1908–09 Div 1 (1) 9th 38 14 9 15 59 53 37 R1 Jack Hall 18
1909–10 Div 1 (1) 17th 38 11 9 18 56 73 37 R1 Jack Hall 12
1910–11 Div 1 (1) 16th 38 11 10 17 49 63 32 R3 George Elliott 10
1911–12 Div 1 (1) 7th 38 16 8 14 56 45 40 R2 George Elliott 19
1912–13 Div 1 (1) 16th 38 11 10 17 55 69 32 R3 George Elliott 25
1913–14 Div 1 (1) 3rd[3] 38 19 5 14 77 60 43 R1 George Elliott 31[4]
1914–15 Div 1 (1) 12th 38 13 12 13 62 74 38 R2 Walter Tinsley 26
1915–18 No competitive football was played between 1915 and 1919 due to World War I
1919 NVL (n/a) 1st 14 9 2 3 28 12 George Elliott 20[5]
1919–20 Div 1 (1) 13th 42 15 10 17 61 65 40 R4 George Elliott 34
1920–21 Div 1 (1) 8th 42 17 12 13 53 53 46 R1 George Elliott 26
1921–22 Div 1 (1) 8th 42 16 14 12 79 69 46 R1 Andy Wilson 32
1922–23 Div 1 (1) 18th 42 13 10 19 57 63 36 R2 George Elliott 23
1923–24 Div 1 (1) 22nd 42 7 8 27 37 60 22 R1 Andy Wilson 8
1924–25 Div 2 (2) 13th 42 10 19 13 36 44 39 R1 Ian Dickson
Owen Williams		 7
1925–26 Div 2 (2) 9th 42 21 2 19 77 68 44 R4 James McClelland 38
1926–27 Div 2 (2) 1st 42 27 8 7 122 60 62 R5 George Camsell 63[6]
1927–28 Div 1 (1) 22nd 42 11 15 16 81 88 37 R5 George Camsell 37
1928–29 Div 2 (2) 1st 42 22 11 9 92 57 55 R4 George Camsell 33
1929–30 Div 1 (1) 16th 42 16 6 20 82 84 38 R5 George Camsell 31
1930–31 Div 1 (1) 7th 42 19 8 15 98 90 46 R3 George Camsell 32
1931–32 Div 1 (1) 18th 42 15 8 19 64 89 38 R3 George Camsell 20
1932–33 Div 1 (1) 17th 42 14 9 19 63 73 37 R5 George Camsell 18
1933–34 Div 1 (1) 16th 42 16 7 19 68 77 39 R3 George Camsell 24
1934–35 Div 1 (1) 20th 42 10 14 18 70 90 34 R3 George Camsell 14
1935–36 Div 1 (1) 14th 42 15 10 17 84 70 40 QF George Camsell 32
1936–37 Div 1 (1) 7th 42 19 8 15 74 71 46 R3 Micky Fenton 22
1937–38 Div 1 (1) 5th 42 19 8 15 72 65 46 R5 Micky Fenton 26
1938–39 Div 1 (1) 4th 42 20 9 13 93 74 49 R4 Micky Fenton 35
1939–40 Div 1 (n/a) n/a[7] 3 0 1 2 3 8 Micky Fenton 3[5]
No competitive football was played between 1939 and 1946 due to World War II
NERL (n/a) 20 8 4 8 48 43 Micky Fenton 26[5]
1940–41 LN (n/a) 24 13 1 10 68 64 George Stobbart 30[5]
1941–42 LN (n/a) 18 6 3 9 44 54 J Robinson 9[5][8]
LN (n/a) 18 7 4 7 37 36 PT Taylor 10[5][9]
1942–43 LN (n/a) 18 4 4 10 30 50 George Stobbart 8[5]
LN (n/a) 18 5 0 13 31 69 P Bowers 6[5]
1943–44 LN (n/a) 18 4 6 8 35 52 George Stobbart 12[5]
LN (n/a) 21 6 4 11 41 51 George Stobbart 11[5]
1944–45 LN (n/a) 18 5 3 10 34 57 George Stobbart 10[5]
LN (n/a) 24 7 2 15 39 58 George Stobbart 23[5]
1945–46 LN (n/a) 42 17 9 16 75 87 R5[10] Micky Fenton 27[11]
1946–47 Div 1 (1) 11th 42 17 8 17 74 68 42 QF Micky Fenton
Wilf Mannion		 23
1947–48 Div 1 (1) 16th 42 14 9 19 71 73 37 R5 Micky Fenton 29
1948–49 Div 1 (1) 19th 42 11 12 19 46 57 34 R3 Micky Fenton 12
1949–50 Div 1 (1) 9th 42 20 7 15 59 48 47 R4 Alex McCrae
Peter McKennan		 16
1950–51 Div 1 (1) 6th 42 18 11 13 76 65 47 R3 Alex McCrae 21
1951–52 Div 1 (1) 18th 42 15 6 21 64 88 36 R4 Lindy Delapenha 17
1952–53 Div 1 (1) 13th 42 14 11 17 70 77 39 R3 Wilf Mannion 18
1953–54 Div 1 (1) 21st 42 10 10 22 60 91 30 R3 Lindy Delapenha 18
1954–55 Div 2 (2) 12th 42 18 6 18 73 82 42 R3 Charlie Wayman 17
1955–56 Div 2 (2) 14th 42 16 8 18 76 78 40 R4 Lindy Delapenha 18
1956–57 Div 2 (2) 6th 42 19 10 13 84 60 48 R4 Brian Clough 40
1957–58 Div 2 (2) 7th 42 19 7 16 83 74 45 R4 Brian Clough 42
1958–59 Div 2 (2) 13th 42 15 10 17 87 71 40 R3 Brian Clough 43
1959–60 Div 2 (2) 5th 42 19 10 13 90 64 48 R3 Brian Clough 40
1960–61 Div 2 (2) 5th 42 18 12 12 83 74 48 R3 R1 Brian Clough 36
1961–62 Div 2 (2) 12th 42 16 7 19 76 72 39 R5 R3 Alan Peacock 32
1962–63 Div 2 (2) 4th 42 20 9 13 86 85 49 R4 R2 Alan Peacock 33
1963–64 Div 2 (2) 10th 42 15 11 16 67 52 41 R3 R2 Ian Gibson 14
1964–65 Div 2 (2) 17th 42 13 9 20 70 76 35 R5 R2 Jim Irvine 24
1965–66 Div 2 (2) 21st 42 10 13 19 58 86 33 R3 R3 Jim Irvine 17
1966–67 Div 3 (3) 2nd 42 23 9 14 87 64 55 R3 R1 John O'Rourke 30
1967–68 Div 2 (2) 6th 42 17 12 13 60 54 46 R4 R3 John Hickton 29
1968–69 Div 2 (2) 4th 42 19 11 12 58 49 49 R3 R2 John Hickton 18
1969–70 Div 2 (2) 4th 42 20 10 12 55 45 50 QF R2 Anglo-Italian Cup
English GS[12] 		John Hickton 30
1970–71 Div 2 (2) 7th 42 17 14 11 60 43 48 R4 R3 John Hickton 27
1971–72 Div 2 (2) 9th 42 19 8 15 50 48 46 R5 R2 John Hickton 16
1972–73 Div 2 (2) 4th 42 17 13 12 46 43 47 R3 R3 John Hickton 15
1973–74 Div 2 (2) 1st 42 27 11 4 77 30 65 R4 R3 Alan Foggon 20
1974–75 Div 1 (1) 7th 42 18 12 12 54 40 48 QF QF Texaco Cup
Q 		Alan Foggon 18
1975–76 Div 1 (1) 13th 42 15 10 17 46 45 40 R3 SF Anglo-Scottish Cup
Winners 		John Hickton 18
1976–77 Div 1 (1) 12th 42 14 13 15 40 45 41 QF R2 Anglo-Scottish Cup
Q 		David Mills 18
1977–78 Div 1 (1) 14th 42 12 15 15 42 54 39 QF R3 David Mills 16
1978–79 Div 1 (1) 12th 42 15 10 17 57 50 40 R3 R2 Micky Burns 14
1979–80 Div 1 (1) 9th 42 16 12 14 50 44 44 R4 R3 David Armstrong 14
1980–81 Div 1 (1) 14th 42 16 5 21 53 61 37 R6 R2 Kirin Cup
Winners 		Božo Janković 13
1981–82 Div 1 (1) 22nd 42 8 15 19 34 52 39 R3 R3 Billy Ashcroft
Heine Otto
Bobby Thomson		 5
1982–83 Div 2 (2) 16th 42 11 15 16 46 67 48 R5 R2 David Shearer 13
1983–84 Div 2 (2) 17th 42 12 13 17 41 47 49 R5 R1 David Currie 15
1984–85 Div 2 (2) 19th 42 10 10 22 41 57 40 R3 R1 David Mills 14
1985–86 Div 2 (2) 21st 42 12 9 21 44 53 45 R3 R1 Gary Rowell 12
1986–87 Div 3 (3) 2nd 46 28 10 8 67 30 94 R3 R2 Associate Members Cup
Northern SF 		Bernie Slaven 21
1987–88 Div 2 (2) 3rd[13] 44 22 12 10 63 36 78 R4 R2 Full Members Cup
R1 		Bernie Slaven 24
1988–89 Div 1 (1) 18th 38 9 12 17 44 61 39 R3 R2 Full Members Cup
QF 		Bernie Slaven 18
1989–90 Div 2 (2) 21st 46 13 11 22 52 63 50 R3 R3 Full Members Cup
RU 		Bernie Slaven 32
1990–91 Div 2 (2) 7th[14] 46 20 9 17 66 47 69 R4 R4 Full Members Cup
Northern R2 		Bernie Slaven 19
1991–92 Div 2 (2) 2nd 46 23 11 12 58 41 80 R5 SF Full Members Cup
Northern QF 		Paul Wilkinson 24
1992–93 Prem (1)[15] 21st 42 11 11 20 54 75 44 R4 R2 Paul Wilkinson 15
1993–94 Div 1 (2) 9th 46 18 13 15 66 54 67 R3 R3 Anglo-Italian Cup
GS 		John Hendrie 20
1994–95 Div 1 (2) 1st 46 23 13 10 67 40 82 R3 R3 Anglo-Italian Cup
GS 		John Hendrie 17
1995–96 Prem (1) 12th 38 11 10 17 35 50 43 R4 R4 Nick Barmby 9
1996–97 Prem (1) 19th 38 10 12 16 51 60 39[16] RU RU Fabrizio Ravanelli 31
1997–98 Div 1 (2) 2nd 46 27 10 9 77 41 91 R4 RU Paul Merson 16
1998–99 Prem (1) 9th 38 12 15 11 48 54 51 R3 R3 Hamilton Ricard 18
1999–2000 Prem (1) 12th 38 14 10 14 46 52 52 R3 QF Hamilton Ricard 14
2000–01 Prem (1) 14th 38 9 15 14 44 44 42 R4 R3 Alen Bokšić 12
2001–02 Prem (1) 12th 38 12 9 17 35 47 45 SF R3 Alen Bokšić 8
2002–03 Prem (1) 11th 38 13 10 15 48 44 49 R3 R3 Massimo Maccarone 9
2003–04 Prem (1) 11th 38 13 9 16 44 52 48 R4 WN Juninho Paulista 9
2004–05 Prem (1) 7th 38 14 13 11 53 46 55 R4 R4 UEFA Cup
L16 		Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 16
2005–06 Prem (1) 14th 38 12 9 17 48 58 45 SF QF UEFA Cup
RU 		Yakubu 19
2006–07 Prem (1) 12th 38 12 10 16 44 49 46 QF R2 Mark Viduka 19
2007–08 Prem (1) 13th 38 10 12 16 43 53 42 QF R3 Stewart Downing 10
2008–09 Prem (1) 19th 38 7 11 20 28 57 32 QF R3 Tuncay Şanlı 8
2009–10 Champ (2) 11th 46 16 14 16 58 50 62 R3 R2 Adam Johnson 11
2010–11 Champ (2) 12th 46 17 11 18 68 68 62 R3 R2 Scott McDonald 14
2011–12 Champ (2) 7th 46 18 16 12 52 51 70 R4 R3 Marvin Emnes 18
2012–13 Champ (2) 16th 46 18 5 23 61 70 59 R5 QF Scott McDonald 13
2013–14 Champ (2) 12th 46 16 16 14 62 50 64 R3 R1 Albert Adomah 12
2014–15 Champ (2) 4th[17] 46 25 10 11 68 37 85 R5 R3 Patrick Bamford 19
2015–16 Champ (2) 2nd 46 26 11 9 63 31 89 R3 QF Cristhian Stuani 11
2016–17 Prem (1) 19th 38 5 13 20 27 53 28 QF R2 Álvaro Negredo 10
2017–18 Champ (2) 5th[14] 46 22 10 14 67 45 76 R4 R4 Britt Assombalonga 15
2018–19 Champ (2) 7th 46 20 13 13 49 41 73 R4 QF Britt Assombalonga 14
2019–20 Champ (2) 17th 46 13 14 19 48 61 53 R3 R1 Ashley Fletcher 13
2020–21 Champ (2) 10th 46 18 10 18 55 53 64 R3 R2 Duncan Watmore 9
2021–22 Champ (2) 7th 46 20 10 16 59 50 70 QF R1 Matt Crooks 11
2022–23 Champ (2) 4th[14] 46 22 9 15 84 56 75 R3 R1 Chuba Akpom 29[18][19]

Overall

As of 2022–23 season.

Key

  Champions   Runners-up   Promoted   Relegated

Notes

  1. ^ The League Cup was founded in the 1960–61 season.
  2. ^ Includes goals scored in the following competitions: League, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Cup, Anglo-Italian Cup, Texaco Cup, Anglo-Scottish Cup, Full Members Cup, except in wartime situations where all active competitions are included.
  3. ^ Highest league finish to date.
  4. ^ First Division leading goalscorer.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Goals scored in this season do not contribute to player/club records.
  6. ^ Second Division leading goalscorer. Includes 59 league goals, a Division Two record. This remains the second-highest number of league goals scored in one season, behind Dixie Dean's 60 league goals a year later.
  7. ^ Competitive football was abandoned three games into the 1939–40 season and all results were annulled.
  8. ^ Guest player, from Sheffield Wednesday.
  9. ^ Guest player, from Preston North End.
  10. ^ All FA Cup ties played on a two legged basis.
  11. ^ Seven goals were scored in the FA Cup, contributing to records, while 20 goals were scored in the league competition prior to recommencement of the Football League proper the next season.
  12. ^ Second in group.
  13. ^ Entered playoffs, won and promoted. Losing finalists Chelsea relegated from Div 1.
  14. ^ a b c Entered playoffs. Lost first round.
  15. ^ Inaugural season of the Premier League.
  16. ^ Includes three points deduction for failing to fulfil a fixture at Blackburn Rovers.
  17. ^ Entered playoffs. Lost final.
  18. ^ Championship leading goalscorer.
  19. ^ PFA Championship player of the year.
  20. ^ Following World War I, in January 1919 the NVL was introduced as a preliminary to the return of the Football League. Results do not contribute to player/club records.
  21. ^ Wartime competition. Results do not contribute to player/club records.
  22. ^ Wartime competition. There were two competitions a year from 1941–42 season onwards. Results do not contribute to player/club records.

References

  • Glasper, Harry. Middlesbrough A Complete Record 1876–1989. Breedon Books Sport. ISBN 0-907969-53-4.
  • "mfc1986.co.uk". Retrieved 31 May 2007.
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