25 years on: Middlesbrough's battle for survival

Sep 4 2011 by Matthew Leslie, Sunday Sun

MIDDLESBROUGH fans will have been doing many things this past week.

Whether it is reflecting on their good start to the season or poring over their club’s activities in the transfer window one thing is for certain, they will be looking back at a time where all the above were in danger of not happening.

The year 1986 is poignant to Boro fans – particularly those old enough to remember it as this was the darkest period in the club’s history.

When you look at Middlesbrough’s achievements, winning the Carling Cup in 2004 and reaching the UEFA Cup final in 2006 stand out, but the biggest landmark of the lot was being able to fulfil their opening fixture of the 1986/87 season against Port Vale.

That summer had seen the newly-relegated-to-the- Third-Division Middlesbrough come to within the brink of liquidation. Debts were piling up and the vultures were circling.

The gates of their Ayresome Park home were locked and the club were within 37 minutes of being wiped off the face of the footballing map.

Fortunately, the dogged determination of current chairman Steve Gibson and racehorse owner Henry Moszkowicz’s infamous suitcase containing £300,000 managed to pull the iron out of the fire.

Lest we also forget the generosity shown by neighbouring Hartlepool United, who loaned Boro the use of their Victoria Ground for the Port Vale game while the board set about getting the padlock off Ayresome Park.

Yet despite all of this, the manager at the time Bruce Rioch had in the face of adversity moulded together a youthful side which would go on to win two successive promotions to the top flight.

Rioch’s leader on the pitch was a man who he famously said would ‘fly him to the moon’ – current manager and then captain of the ‘86 team Tony Mowbray.

He said: “I am not very good with all that memorabilia stuff, but 25 years ago we played our first game at Hartlepool’s stadium against Port Vale.

“We were 2-0 up with Archie Stephenson scoring twice before drawing 2-2.

“Then we were able to go back to Ayresome Park the following week to play Hartlepool themselves in the League Cup.