Middlesbrough v Bolton

The football club was originally formed by Middlesbrough(Click here to buy Middlesbrough tickets) Cricket team players to stay fit during the winter. They won the FA Amateur Cup in 1895 and again in 1898. The club turned professional in 1889, but reverted to amateur status in 1892. They turned professional permanently in 1899. After two seasons, they won promotion to the First Division, where they would remain for the next 22 years.

In 1903 the club moved to Ayresome Park, their home for the next 92 years. In 1905 the club sanctioned the transfer of Alf Common for £1000, a record fee. Over the next few years, their form fluctuated greatly, rising to 6th in 1907–08 before dropping to 17th two seasons later. The club rose to their highest league finish to date, 3rd, in 1913–14. World War I soon intervened and football was suspended.

Before competitive football resumed, Boro won the Northern Victory League, but the team were unable to maintain their previous form and finished the 1919–20 season in mid-table. They remained in the First Division for the next few seasons, but were relegated in 1923–24 after finishing bottom, ten points adrift of their nearest rivals.

Three seasons later, they won the Division Two title. During that season, debutant George Camsell, who had signed from Third Division North side Durham City the previous season, finished with a record 59 league goals, which included nine hat tricks. He would continue as top scorer for each of the next ten seasons. Their tenure back in the top flight lasted only one season, and the club were relegated. They were promoted at the first attempt in 1928–29, winning another Second Division title. Boro then remained in the First Division until 1954.

The decade before the war saw the emergence of Wilf Mannion and George Hardwick, both of whom would go on to become England internationals in the years ahead. Boro climbed to fourth in the last full season before World War II and were expected to challenge for the title next season, but the war intervened. After the war, the club was unable to recover the form of the previous seasons and hovered around mid-table and exited in the early rounds of the FA Cup. Soon afterwards the team began to falter, eventually suffering relegation in 1953–54. This was the start of a 20 year spell outside the top division, but saw the emergence of one of the club's top goalscorers, Brian Clough, who scored 204 goals in 222 games, before he left for Sunderland. Over that period, Boro maintained reasonable progress in the Second Division but were never serious contenders for promotion. After a fourth place finish in 1962–63, Boro endured a steady decline and were relegated to the Third Division for the first time in their history in 1966.

New manager Stan Anderson returned the club to the second flight at the first attempt. Boro then would not finish below ninth during the next eight seasons. The FA Cup saw the club never get past the quarter-finals, a feat they were still yet to accomplish in their history. By 1974 Jack Charlton had taken over as manager and guided the team back to the top flight. They ensured promotion as early as 23 March, and with eight games of the season left, they became runaway champions, finishing with a record 65 points.

Back in the top flight, the team had some reasonable cup success, reaching later rounds, but nothing more. 1975–76 however was when Boro won their first silverware as a professional side, lifting the Anglo-Scottish Cup in its first season after a two-legged final win over Fulham.

Boro experienced severe financial difficulties during the mid-1980s. Middlesbrough(Click here to buy Middlesbrough tickets) were dropping down the table, and finished 19th in the 1984–85 season. In April 1986 the club had to borrow £30,000 from the PFA to pay wages. The final game of the season saw Boro relegated to the Third Division once more. That summer, the club called in the Provisional Liquidator and shortly afterwards, the club was wound up and the gates to Ayresome Park were padlocked. Without the £350,000 capital required for Football League registration, a new rule, it seemed inevitable that the club would fold permanently. However, Steve Gibson, a member of the board at the time, brought together a consortium and with ten minutes to spare before the deadline, they completed their registration with the Football League for the 1986–87 season. Following the registration came both a change of club crest and a change of the official company name to Middlesbrough(Click here to buy Middlesbrough tickets) Football and Athletic Club (1986) Ltd.

Over the next two seasons, Boro gained successive promotions into Division Two and then into Division One. The next season though, they came straight back down to Division Two, and with it came the then British transfer record move of Gary Pallister to Manchester United for £2.3m. Despite constant promotion and relegation, Middlesbrough(Click here to buy Middlesbrough tickets) were founder members of the FA Premier League for the 1992–93 season.

Player-manager Bryan Robson, from Manchester United, took charge in 1994 and Middlesbrough(Click here to buy Middlesbrough tickets) were brought back into national attention.Following promotion to the Premier League and high-profile purchases like diminutive Brazilian Juninho, many considered Middlesbrough(Click here to buy Middlesbrough tickets) were on the way up. However, a difficult 1996–97 season was compounded by a deduction of three points imposed just after Christmas, as punishment for the club's failure to fulfill a fixture against Blackburn, which ultimately resulted in relegation. Without the points deduction, Boro would have had enough points to avoid relegation. At the same time, the club managed to reach both the League and FA cup finals for the first time, but lost out in both. They were again runners up in the League Cup final the next year too, despite being in the second tier

The 2003–04 season was the most successful in the club's history as they finally won a major trophy after beating Bolton 2–1 in the League Cup final under manager Steve McClaren. This success also ensured that Boro would qualify for Europe — the UEFA Cup — for the first time, in which they reached the last 16. UEFA cup qualification was achieved for the second consecutive year after a dramatic 1–1 away draw with Manchester City thanks to a late penalty save from Mark Schwarzer in the last game of the season.

On 27 April 2006, Middlesbrough(Click here to buy Middlesbrough tickets) reached the UEFA Cup final in Eindhoven, following two comebacks from 3–0 down. However, the team lost 4–0 to Sevilla. Following the cup final, McClaren left to head up the England team, and captain Gareth Southgate took over, despite not having the coaching qualifications, but he was allowed to continue after receiving special dispensation.

Early history

The club was founded in 1874 as Christ Church FC, but changed its name to Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) Wanderers in 1877. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, which formed in 1888. Having remained in the Football League since its formation, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) have spent more time in the top flight (Premier League/old First Division) than out of it.

In 1894 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the final of football's oldest competition, the FA Cup, for the first time, but lost 4–1 to Notts County at Goodison Park. A decade later they were runners-up a second time, losing 1–0 to local rivals Manchester City at Crystal Palace on April 23, 1904. On April 28, 1923 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) won the cup at their third attempt to win their first major trophy, beating West Ham United 2–0 in the first ever Wembley final. The match, famously known as The White Horse Final was played in front of over 127,000 supporters. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets)'s centre-forward, David Jack scored the first ever goal at Wembley Stadium. They became the most successful cup side of the twenties, also winning in 1926 and 1929, beating Manchester City and Portsmouth respectively.

From 1935 to 1964, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) enjoyed an uninterrupted stay in the top flight – regarded by fans as a golden era, spearheaded in the 1950s by Nat Lofthouse. They would not return to the top flight until 1978, where they lasted but two seasons before a period of further decline set in. In 1953 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) played in one of the most famous FA Cup finals of all time - The Stanley Matthews Final of 1953. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) lost the game to Blackpool 4–3 after throwing away a 3–1 lead. Blackpool were victorious thanks to the skills of Matthews and the goals of Stan Mortensen.

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) Wanderers have not won a major trophy since 1958, when two Lofthouse goals saw them overcome Manchester United in the FA Cup final in front of a 100,000 crowd at Wembley. The closest they have come to winning a major trophy since then is finishing runners-up in the League Cup, first in 1995 and again in 2004.

At the end of the 1986–87 season, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) Wanderers suffered relegation to the Fourth Division for the first time in their history. But the board kept faith in manager Phil Neal and they won promotion back to the Third Division at the first attempt. The deciding goal was scored by Robbie Savage in a 1–0 win at Wrexham. Neal remained in charge until the summer of 1992 when he made way for Bruce Rioch, who a few years earlier had won two successive promotions with Middlesbrough.

In the early part of Rioch's tenure, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) gained a giantkilling reputation in cup competitions. In 1993 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) beat FA Cup holders Liverpool 2–0 in a third round replay thanks to goals from John McGinlay and Andy Walker. The club also defeated higher division opposition in the form of Wolves that year before bowing out to Derby County. In 1994 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) beat FA Cup holders Arsenal 3–1 in a fourth round replay, and went on to reach the Quarter Finals, bowing out 1–0 at home to local rivals (and then Premier League) Oldham Athletic. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) also defeated top division opposition in the form of Everton and Aston Villa that year.

Recent history

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the Premiership in 1995 under the management of Rioch, thanks to a victory over Reading in the Division One playoff final. Rioch left to take charge at Arsenal after the promotion success and was replaced by Roy McFarland, who was joined by his former assistant Colin Todd. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were bottom for virtually all of the 1995–96 Premiership campaign and Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) dismissed McFarland on New Year's Day 1996 and appointed Todd in his place. Todd was unable to save Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) from relegation but the board kept faith in him. The Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) board's loyalty in Todd was rewarded when they won promotion back to the Premiership at the first attempt thanks to a season in which they achieved 98 league points and 100 goals in the process of securing the Division One Championship.

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were relegated on goal difference at the end of the 1997–98 Premiership campaign. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the 1999 Division One playoff final but lost to Watford. Todd resigned as manager soon after and was replaced by Sam Allardyce. Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and play-offs but lost to Aston Villa and Ipswich Town respectively. In 2000–01 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) were promoted back to the Premier League after beating Preston North End in the play-off final.

Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) struggled in the following two seasons, but survived in the Premier League. They reached the League Cup final in 2004, but lost to Middlesbrough. Nevertheless, Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) finished eighth in the league, at the time their highest finish for some time. In 2005 Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) finished sixth in the league, thus earning qualification for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. The following season, they reached the last 32 but were eliminated by French team Marseille. In April 2007, towards the end of 2006–07 season, manager Allardyce resigned. In his final four seasons at Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets), Allardyce had recorded consecutive top ten finishes, a record of consistency bettered only by the big four of Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Allardyce was replaced by his assistant Sammy Lee, who secured Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets)'s qualification for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. After gaining only one league win in eleven matches, Lee left Bolton(Click here to buy Bolton tickets) in October 2007 and was replaced by Gary Megson.