1986–87 Middlesbrough F.C. season

Middlesbrough
Season 1986-87
League Football League Third Division
Manager Bruce Rioch
Chairman Colin Henderson
League position 2nd
Top goalscorer League: Bernie Slaven (17)
All: Bernie Slaven (21)
Highest attendance Home: 18,523 v Wigan Athletic
Away: 13,835 v A.F.C. Bournemouth
Lowest attendance Home: 3,690 v Port Vale[1]
Away: 2,788 v Newport County
FA Cup 3rd round
League Cup 2nd round

During the 1986-87 season, Middlesbrough participated in the Football League Third Division following their relegation the previous season. They were promoted back to the Second Division at the end of the season having finished second in the league.

Contents

Team Kit and Sponsors

During the 1986–87 season, Middlesbrough maintained the white band on their home kit from the previous two seasons and were sponsored by Dickens.[2]
Home colours
Away colours

Season review

Pre-season panic

Main article: Middlesbrough F.C. survival from liquidation

The financial problems that had been plaguing the club since the early 1980s almost lead the club into extinction following their relegation the previous season.

After Alf Duffield's resignation near the end of the previous season, Boro had been operating without a chairman. On 21 May 1986, the worst fears of Middlesbrough fans were realised. Debts believed to be in the region of £2 million meant the club were forced to call in the provisional liquidator. Late in July, the Inland Revenue took the club to court, claiming that it was owed £115,156 in tax arrears and so the judge issued a winding up order. On the second of August, Bruce Rioch and twenty-nine other non-playing staff were sacked by the Official Receiver and the gates of Ayresome Park were padlocked. Some players chose to remain and train under Rioch and coach Colin Todd, while others chose to leave.

Steve Gibson approached the local council, ICI and Graham Fordy of Scottish & Newcastle for help. An advert was placed in The Times for help, and Henry Moszkowicz was one of those who replied. Gibson reached an agreement with former chairman Alf Duffield, who was owed £500,000, that he would wind up the company. Clubs in less serious situations had previously used liquidation to get out of problems, but when it came to Middlesbrough's turn, the Football League showed a lack of support.

The council was unable to meet its £200,000 share of the pot to help the club, meaning Gibson and Moszkowicz had to raise their inputs. Three days before the start of the season, the league introduced a ruling meaning the club had to have £350,000 in working capital and show it could pay all creditors 100 pence in the pound. The death of the club was then announced on Tyne Tees Television.

A meeting with the Football League took place on Friday 22 August. Notes were passed from room to room between the league's representatives and the consortium. Colin Henderson agreed a deal with ICI for a bond, meaning that they would pick up a major part of any subsequent debt, and the consortium put in their £825,000. With ten minutes to spare before the registration deadline, the documents were signed by Graham Fordy, Reg Corbridge and Henry Moszkowicz. In recognition of Henderson's achievements in delivering the bond in a format acceptable to everyone, he was named chairman of Middlesbrough Football & Athletic Company (1986) Ltd., the new company formed by the purchase of Blackplay Ltd., a dead company, off the shelf. Gibson, Fordy, Corbridge and Moszkowicz formed the board. The club had been saved and the deal was announced to the public at the town hall.

Third Division Review

Football League Third Division Results

      Win       Draw       Loss

Game Date Venue Opponent Result
F–A		 Attendance Boro Goalscorers
1 23 August 1986 H[1] Port Vale 2–2 3,690 Stephens (2)
2 30 August 1986 A Wigan 2–0 2,904 Turnbull, Mowbray
3 6 September 1986 H Bury 3–1 6,499 Stephens (2), Slaven
4 13 September 1986 A Gillingham 0–0 4,888
5 17 September 1986 A Bristol Rovers 2–1 3,768 Slaven (2)
6 20 September 1986 H Chesterfield 2–0 7,633 Mowbray, Laws
7 27 September 1986 A Fulham 2–2 3,852 Laws, Hamilton
8 30 September 1986 H Swindon 1–0 9,221 Laws
9 4 October 1986 A Rotherham 4–1 4,321 Stephens (2), Laws (2)
10 11 October 1986 H Blackpool 1–3 11,470 Stephens
11 18 October 1986 H Walsall 3–1 8,349 Stephens (2), Laws
12 21 October 1986 A Notts County 0–1 4,405
13 25 October 1986 A Bristol City 2–2 8,800 Slaven, Laws
14 1 November 1986 H Bournemouth 4–0 10,702 Stephens, Slaven, Hamilton, Ripley
15 4 November 1986 H Bolton 0–0 10,092
16 8 November 1986 A Darlington 1–0 9,947 Stephens
17 22 November 1986 A Newport County 1–0 2,788 Mowbray
18 29 November 1986 H Chester City 1–2 9,376 Slaven
19 13 December 1986 H Doncaster 1–0 8,100 Mowbray
20 21 December 1986 A Brentford 1–0 5,504 Slaven
21 26 December 1986 H Carlisle 1–0 14,216 Gill
22 27 December 1986 A Mansfield 1–1 5,042 Proudlock
23 1 January 1987 A York 1–3 8,611 Mowbray
24 3 January 1987 H Newport County 2–0 9,595 Gill, Stephens
25 24 January 1987 A Bury 2–0 3,485 Slaven (2), Laws (pen)
26 7 February 1987 H Bristol Rovers 1–0 9,610 Ripley
27 14 February 1987 A Chesterfield 1–2 4,085 Slaven
28 17 February 1987 A Port Vale 0–0 3,263
29 21 February 1987 H Fulham 3–0 9,361 Slaven, Hamilton
30 28 February 1987 A Swindon 0–1 11,341
31 3 March 1987 A Bournemouth 1–3 13,835 Slaven
32 7 March 1987 H Bristol City 1–0 10,220 Mowbray
33 14 March 1987 A Walsall 0–1 7,332
34 17 March 1987 H Notts County 2–0 9,845 Stephens , Slaven
35 21 March 1987 A Blackpool 1–0 7,132 Stephens
36 28 March 1987 H Rotherham 0–0 9,569
37 5 April 1987 H Darlington 1–1 11,969 Slaven
38 11 April 1987 A Bolton 1–0 5,858 Slaven
39 18 April 1987 H York 3–1 10,546 Ripley, Stephens, Turnbull
40 20 April 1987 A Carlisle 1–0 5,993 Pallister
41 25 April 1987 H Brentford 2–0 9,942 Slaven , Turnbull
42 28 April 1987 H Gillingham 3–0 11,937 Stephens , Slaven , Turnbull
43 2 May 1987 A Chester City 2–1 3,788 Mowbray, Hamilton
44 4 May 1987 H Mansfield 1–0 13,543 Hamilton (pen)
45 6 May 1987 H Wigan 0–0 18,523
46 9 May 1987 A Doncaster 2–0 3,556 Hamilton, Ripley

Third Division

Pos Team Pl W D L F A GD Pts
1. Bournemouth 46 29 10 7 76 40  +36 97
2. Middlesbrough 46 28 10 8 67 30  +37 94
3. Swindon Town 46 25 12 9 77 47  +30 87
4. Wigan Athletic 46 25 10 11 83 60  +23 85
5. Gillingham 46 23 9 14 65 48  +17 78
6. Bristol City 46 21 14 11 63 36  +27 77
7. Notts County 46 21 13 12 77 56  +21 76
8. Walsall 46 22 9 15 80 67  +13 75
9. Blackpool 46 16 16 14 74 59  +15 64
10. Mansfield Town 46 15 16 15 52 55  -3 61
11. Brentford 46 15 15 16 64 66  -2 60
12. Port Vale 46 15 12 19 76 70  +6 57
13. Doncaster Rovers 46 14 15 17 56 62  -6 57
14. Rotherham United 46 15 12 19 48 57  -9 57
15. Chester City 46 13 17 16 61 59  +2 56
16. Bury 46 14 13 19 54 60  -6 55
17. Chesterfield 46 13 15 18 56 69  -13 54
18. Fulham 46 12 17 17 59 77  -18 53
19. Bristol Rovers 46 13 12 21 49 75  -26 51
20. York City 46 12 13 21 55 79  -24 49
21. Bolton Wanderers 46 10 15 21 46 58  -12 45
22. Carlisle United 46 10 8 28 39 78  -39 38
23. Darlington 46 7 16 23 45 77  -32 37
24. Newport County 46 8 13 25 49 86  -37 37
Key
Promoted to Division Two
Qualified for the promotion/relegation playoffs
Relegated to Division Four

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Cup Reviews

League Cup

      Win       Draw       Loss

Round Date Venue Opponent Result
F–A		 Attendance Boro Goalscorers
1R 1st Leg A Hartlepool 1–1 2,356 Slaven
1R 2nd Leg H Hartlepool 2–0 (3–1 agg) 7,735 Ripley, Hamilton
2R 1st Leg H Birmingham 2–2 9,412 Stephens, Ripley
2R 2nd Leg A Birmingham 2–3 (4–5 agg) 4,987 Laws (2) (1 pen)

FA Cup

Round Date Venue Opponent Result
F–A		 Attendance Boro Goalscorers
1R 15 November 1986 H Blackpool 3–0 11,205 Bernie Slaven (3)
2R 7 December 1986 A Notts County 1–0 7,415 Hamilton
3 10 January 1987 H Preston 0–1 15,458

Squad

Senior squad

The following are all the players who were involved the Middlesbrough F.C. first team at some point during the 1986-87 season.[3] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
GK Stephen Pears
GK Kevin Carr
DF Colin Cooper
DF Ronnie Coyle (loan)
DF Alan Kernaghan
DF Gary Pallister
MF Gary Gill
MF Gary Hamilton
MF Paul Kerr
FW Peter Duffield
FW David Hodgson (loan)
No. Position Player
DF Brian Laws
DF Tony Mowbray
DF Gary Parkinson
MF Neil Reed
MF Stuart Ripley
MF Gary Rowell
FW Bernie Slaven
MF Steve Spriggs (loan)
FW Archie Stephens
FW Lee Turnbull

Coaching staff

Transfers

This section is incomplete.

References and notes

  1. ^ a b Game was played at Victoria Park, Hartlepool due to Ayresome Park's gates being locked.
  2. ^ "Middlesbrough". historicalkits.co.uk. http://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Middlesbrough/Middlesbrough.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-21. 
  3. ^ [1]
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