1992–93 Middlesbrough F.C. season

Middlesbrough
1992–93 season
Chairman Colin Henderson
Manager Lennie Lawrence
Stadium Ayresome Park
Premier League 21st (relegated)
FA Cup Fourth round
League Cup Second round
Top goalscorer Wilkinson (15)
Average home league attendance 16,724

During the 1992–93 English football season, Middlesbrough competed in the inaugural season of the Premier League. It was Middlesbrough's first season in the top flight since relegation in 1988; Middlesbrough regained promotion to England's top flight by finishing second in the old Second Division (renamed the First Division after the foundation of the Premier League).

Season summary

Middlesbrough enjoyed a good start to the season, winning four of their first seven games – including a superb 4–1 home win over Yorkshire rivals and reigning champions Leeds United – a run that sent them sixth in the table. Unfortunately, they couldn't quite keep up the momentum but still, up to their thrilling 3–2 victory over Blackburn Rovers on 5 December 1992, they enjoyed stable mid-table form, winning six, drawing six and losing six of their first 18 games. Unfortunately, three consecutive draws followed and from then, starting from a 1–0 home defeat to strugglers Crystal Palace before the new year, the club struggled and went into freefall during the entire second half of the season, winning just three of their next 18 fixtures and picking up just ten points from a possible 54, a run that ultimately resulted in the club's relegation looking inevitable with three matches left.

However, a 3–0 win over Tottenham Hotspur gave them a very slim glimmer of hope for an unlikely survival; on the other hand, they would never look like pulling off the 'great escape' that relegation rivals Oldham Athletic would soon perfect. With just two matches left, they were already three points adrift of Sheffield United and five adrift of Crystal Palace, both having a game in hand. Despite a 3–2 win at Sheffield Wednesday, results went against them: Palace beating Ipswich Town 3–1, Sheffield United condemning Nottingham Forest to relegation by winning 2–0 at the City Ground and Oldham stunning title chasers Aston Villa 1–0 at Villa Park which also saw Manchester United clinching their first top-flight title for 26 years. With these results, Middlesbrough were left with a virtually impossible survival task, with only one game left and were three points adrift of Sheffield United who had two games left with a vastly superior goal difference of −3 against Boro's −21. They needed the Blades to lose both of their final games with a miracle 18-goal swing and to beat third-placed Norwich City in their final game for any chance of survival. Sadly, Boro's relegation was confirmed before a ball was kicked on their closing fixture as the Blades beat Everton 2–0 at Goodison Park. A 3–3 draw with Norwich City for Boro at least meant that they finished a difficult season on a high note in the final three games, going down fighting, and it gave them a glimpse of positivity in gaining promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt for next season. They finished in 21st place, five points adrift of safety.

Kit

Middlesbrough's kit was manufactured by Admiral. The shirt sponsor was Imperial Chemical Industries.

Final league table

Pos
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Manchester United (C) 42 24 12 6 67 31+36 84 1993–94 UEFA Champions League First round
2 Aston Villa 42 21 11 10 57 40+17 74 1993–94 UEFA Cup First round
3 Norwich City 42 21 9 12 61 654 72
4 Blackburn Rovers 42 20 11 11 68 46+22 71
5 Queens Park Rangers 42 17 12 13 63 55+8 63
6 Liverpool 42 16 11 15 62 55+7 59
7 Sheffield Wednesday 42 15 14 13 55 51+4 59
8 Tottenham Hotspur 42 16 11 15 60 666 59
9 Manchester City 42 15 12 15 56 51+5 57
10 Arsenal 42 15 11 16 40 38+2 56 1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup First round 1
11 Chelsea 42 14 14 14 51 543 56
12 Wimbledon 42 14 12 16 56 55+1 54
13 Everton 42 15 8 19 53 552 53
14 Sheffield United 42 14 10 18 54 53+1 52
15 Coventry City 42 13 13 16 52 575 52
16 Ipswich Town 42 12 16 14 50 555 52
17 Leeds United 42 12 15 15 57 625 51
18 Southampton 42 13 11 18 54 617 50
19 Oldham Athletic 42 13 10 19 63 7411 49
20 Crystal Palace (R) 42 11 16 15 48 6113 49 Relegation to 1993–94 Football League First Division
21 Middlesbrough (R) 42 11 11 20 54 7521 44
22 Nottingham Forest (R) 42 10 10 22 41 6221 40

Updated to games played on 11 May 1993.
Source: Soccerbase
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1Arsenal qualified by winning the FA Cup.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Results

Premier League

Date Opponents Home/
Away
Result
F A
Scorers
15 August 1992 Coventry City A 1 2 Wilkinson
19 August 1992 Manchester City H 2 0 Slaven (2)
22 August 1992 Leeds H 4 1 Wilkinson (2), Wright, Hendrie
29 August 1992 Southampton A 1 2 Wilkinson
1 September 1992 Ipswich H 2 2 Kernaghan, Wilkinson
5 September 1992 Sheffield United H 2 0 Falconer, Wright
12 September 1992 Manchester City A 1 0 Own Goal
19 September 1992 Queens Park Rangers A 3 3 Kernaghan, Wright, Falconer
26 September 1992 Aston Villa H 2 3 Slaven, Own Goal
3 October 1992 Manchester United H 1 1 Slaven
17 October 1992 Tottenham Hotspur A 2 2 Mustoe, Wilkinson
21 October 1992 Nottingham Forest A 0 1
24 October 1992 Sheffield Wednesday H 1 1 Wilkinson
31 October 1992 Norwich City A 1 1 Wilkinson
7 November 1992 Liverpool A 1 4 Phillips
21 November 1992 Wimbledon H 2 0 Hendrie, Morris
28 November 1992 Oldham Athletic A 1 4 Falconer
5 December 1992 Blackburn Rovers H 3 2 Hendrie (3)
11 December 1992 Chelsea H 0 0
19 December 1992 Arsenal A 1 1 Own Goal
26 December 1992 Everton A 2 2 Hignett (2)
28 December 1992 Crystal Palace H 0 1
9 January 1993 Queens Park Rangers H 0 1
17 January 1993 Aston Villa A 1 5 Hignett
26 January 1993 Southampton H 2 1 Mohan, Wilkinson
30 January 1993 Leeds United A 0 3
6 February 1993 Coventry City H 0 2
9 February 1993 Sheffield United A 0 2
20 February 1993 Nottingham Forest H 1 2 Phillips
27 February 1993 Manchester United A 0 3
2 March 1993 Ipswich Town A 1 0 Wilkinson
9 March 1993 Wimbledon A 0 2
13 March 1993 Liverpool H 1 2 Own Goal
20 March 1993 Blackburn Rovers A 1 1 Hendrie
22 March 1993 Oldham Athletic H 2 3 Mohan, Hignett
3 April 1993 Chelsea A 0 4
6 April 1993 Arsenal H 1 0 Hendrie
10 April 1993 Everton H 1 2 Wilkinson
12 April 1993 Crystal Palace A 1 4 Wilkinson
20 April 1993 Tottenham Hotspur H 3 0 Wright (2), Wilkinson
1 May 1993 Sheffield Wednesday A 3 2 Falconer, Pollock, Hendrie
8 May 1993 Norwich City H 3 3 Falconer, Wilkinson, Hendrie

FA Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result

F A

Scorers
13 January 1993 Round 3 Chelsea H 2 1 Wright, Falconer
23 January 1993 Round 4 Nottingham Forest A 1 1 Falconer
3 February 1992 Round 4 Replay Nottingham Forest H 0 3

Coca Cola Cup

Date Round Opponents H / A Result

F A

Scorers
23 September 1992 Round 2
First leg
Newcastle United A 0 0
7 October 1992 Round 2
Second leg
Newcastle United H 1 3 Wilkinson

First-team squad

[1] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
England GK Andy Collett
England GK Brian Horne (on loan from Millwall)
England GK Ian Ironside
England GK Stephen Pears
England GK Ben Roberts
England DF Michael Barron
Republic of Ireland DF Curtis Fleming[2]
England DF Phil Gilchrist
England DF Jon Gittens
England DF Chris Kamara (on loan from Luton Town)
England DF Alan Kernaghan (captain)
England DF Richard Liburd
England DF Nicky Mohan
Republic of Ireland DF Chris Morris[3]
England DF Gary Parkinson
England DF Jimmy Phillips
England DF Andy Todd
Scotland DF Derek Whyte
No. Position Player
Republic of Ireland MF Graham Kavanagh
Republic of Ireland MF Alan Moore
England MF Robbie Mustoe
England MF Michael Oliver
England MF Andy Peake
England MF Jamie Pollock
England MF Mark Proctor
England MF Phil Stamp
England MF Tommy Wright
Scotland FW Willie Falconer
Scotland FW John Hendrie
England FW Craig Hignett
England FW Neil Illman
Saint Lucia FW Dwight Marshall[4] (on loan from Plymouth Argyle)
Republic of Ireland FW Bernie Slaven[5]
England FW Paul Wilkinson

References

  1. http://www.11v11.com/teams/middlesbrough/tab/players/season/1993
  2. Fleming was born in Manchester, England, but was raised in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
  3. Morris was born in Newquay, England, but qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his mother.
  4. Marshall was born in Saint Lucia, Jamaica (now Saint Lucia).
  5. Slaven was born in Paisley, Scotland, but qualified to represent the Republic of Ireland internationally through his grandmother.
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