During the 2006–07 season,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

participated in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

Team kit and sponsors

Middlesbrough's kits were once again produced by Errea, and sponsored by 888.com for the third season running. The club retained the white band of the previous two seasons.

Search for a new manager

On 4 May 2006,

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English football coach and former player who is currently the manager of the Jamaica national team. McClaren began his coaching career with Oxford United, before joining Derby County in 1995. In 1999 ...

was chosen to take over as the manager of the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

after the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

. Managers linked to take over as new Boro boss included

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (6 January 1943 – 25 November 2023), often referred to as El Tel, was an English football player and manager who played for clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers and won two caps for E ...

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...

and

Alan Curbishley Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion. He became ma ...

, with Steve Gibson expecting whoever took over to achieve a Champions League place in the near future. Venables declined the job offer citing an unwillingness to return to full-time management. Venables subsequently joined McClaren as England's assistant coach. Gibson then looked within his own club and decided to name club captain

Gareth Southgate Sir Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional Association football, football manager and player, who played as a Defender (association football), defender and midfielder. A Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace Crystal ...

as manager. Southgate signed a five-year contract and decided to finish his playing career, at the age of 35, to focus entirely on his new job. His appointment was controversial as he did not possess the coaching qualifications required to manage a Premier League football club. However, at a Premier League meeting on 22 November 2006, Southgate was granted a dispensation to continue in his role until the end of the season, during which time it was announced that he will study for the Uefa Pro A Licence.

Transfers

Summer transfer window

Several players, including

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to the Dutch city of Zaandam where he first played football, initially a ...

and

Doriva Dorival Guidoni Júnior (born 28 May 1972), known simply as Doriva, is a Brazilian football coach and retired footballer who played as a central midfielder. From 2003 until 2006, he played for English Premier League club Middlesbrough, winning ...

left the club at the end of the previous season, and

Franck Queudrue Franck Roger Queudrue (born 27 August 1978) is a French former professional footballer who played as a left back. He began his career with Lens, for whom he played in Ligue 1, and went on to play in the Premier League for Middlesbrough, Fulham a ...

was sold to

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

for £3 million.

Argentinian Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

left-back Julio Arca was signed from local rivals

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

for a fee of £1.75m, and young

Frenchman French people () are a nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially the native speakers of langues d'oïl from nort ...

Herold Goulon was signed from

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

on a three-year deal. Southgate signed two international defenders to strengthen up his backline following the second game of the season.

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

international

Jonathan Woodgate Jonathan Simon Woodgate (born 22 January 1980) is an English Association football, football manager and former player. Woodgate began his career at Middlesbrough but moved to Leeds United F.C., Leeds United at the age of sixteen. He was sold t ...

joined his home-town team on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

from

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, while Chelsea's

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

international centreback

Robert Huth Robert Huth (, ; born 18 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is a three-time Premier League winner and has made the most Premier League appearances (322) by a German player. Huth was signed f ...

signed for a fee of £6 million.

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

's Jamaican international striker

Jason Euell Jason Joseph Euell (born 6 February 1977) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as either a Forward (association football), forward or a midfielder. He spent much of his career playing in the Premier League, with ...

was signed on the final day of the transfer window.

January transfer window

Lee Dong-Gook Lee Dong-gook (; ; born 29 April 1979) is a South Korean former professional Association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is a record scorer in the K League 1, and had brief spells in Europe with ...

arrived from

Pohang Steelers The Pohang Steelers (Hangul: 포항 스틸러스) are a South Korean professional Association football, football club based in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province that compete in the K League 1, the top flight of Football in South Korea, South Ko ...

in the January transfer window, while

Ray Parlour Raymond Parlour (born 7 March 1973) is an English former professional footballer and sports radio pundit for BBC Radio 5 Live and Talksport. He was a midfielder from 1992 to 2007, and spent his career playing for Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Hull ...

Ugo Ehiogu Ugochukwu Ehiogu (; 3 November 1972 – 21 April 2017) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-back from 1989 to 2009. He was the coach of the Tottenham Hotspur U23 team until his death in April 2017. He played in the Pr ...

and

Massimo Maccarone Massimo Maccarone (; born 6 September 1979) is an Italian football coach and former player, who played as a striker. He was nicknamed ''Big Mac'' during his playing days. Club career Early career Maccarone started his career at A.C. Milan's y ...

all left the club for free.

Summary

In

Loans in

Out

''For departures of players out of contract at the end of 2005–06 see

2005–06 Middlesbrough F.C. season Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough participated in the Premier League during the 2005–06 in English football, 2005–06 season, where they finished in 14th place. Middlesbrough had qualified for the UEFA Cup via the league the previous season, ...

.''

Loans out

Notes

: Wheater's loan was initially intended to last three months, but he was returned to Middlesbrough after making only one appearance. : Craddock's loan was initially intended to last one month, but he was injured in his first game and returned to Middlesbrough.

Squad

Senior squad

Appearances and goals

''Appearance and goalscoring records for all the players who were in the Middlesbrough F.C. first team squad during the 2006-07 season.''

Discipline

''Disciplinary records for 2006-07 league and cup matches. Players with 1 card or more included only.''

Academy squad

''Academy players for 2006-07 season.''

Pre-season

Results

''Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first.''

Premier League

Southgate's managerial reign started with a 3–2 defeat at newly promoted

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, but was followed up by a 2–1 win home victory over reigning Premier League champions Chelsea. Boro were brought crashing down to Earth straight afterwards though with a 4–0 home defeat to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. Overall, Middlesbrough's form in 2006–07 was indifferent. Promising results such as the surprising home victory over Chelsea were coupled with the team losing away from home to all three newly promoted Premiership sides. It took until mid-January for Boro to register their first away win of the season, at struggling

, their first away win since April of the year before. They comprehensively beat

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

5–1 at home in January, their biggest victory of the season. Middlesbrough ultimately finished 12th in the table with 46 points, winning twelve, drawing ten and losing sixteen matches - slightly better than last season, but their dismal form in the early and late part of the season prevented them from attaining an even higher position and at one time put them in danger of being relegated. The fact that they were 8 points away from a UEFA Cup spot and 8 points away from getting relegated neatly summed up their season.

Results

''Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according t
mfc.co.uk
''

Classification

League progress

This chart shows the league position of Middlesbrough F.C. over the course of the season. The green area represents the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

positions (positions 1 to 4), the yellow area represents what turned out to be the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

positions (positions 5 to 7) and the red area represents the relegation places (positions 18 to 20). The lowest position in the league that Middlesbrough reached during the course of the season was 18th, prior to the home game versus

on 23 December 2006 (an early kick-off result had knocked them down from 17th), and their highest placing was 9th, after the second game.

League Cup

Boro suffered an embarrassing home defeat in the League Cup to

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

side

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in the second round, losing 0–1 with a weakened team - albeit one featuring debutant Robert Huth.

Results

''Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according t
mfc.co.uk
''

FA Cup

Middlesbrough's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

run was significantly longer than their League Cup run - partly due to them being taken to a replay in every round they played. They drew 1–1 at

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

in the

, with the replay resulting in an exciting 4–3 win. A 2–2 draw with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

followed, setting up another replay. It was a nerve-wrecking 2–2 draw, with Boro winning 5–4 on penalties, presenting them with a tie at the Riverside with former player

's West Brom. That game also ended 2–2, and the replay resulted in a Middlesbrough victory via penalties, after a 1–1 draw in normal time. Middlesbrough were eventually knocked out by champions-elect and eventual FA Cup runners-up

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in the quarter finals. The 2–2 result at the Riverside set up another replay, as Middlesbrough came from behind to lead 2–1, before George Boateng conceded a penalty for handball. Cristiano Ronaldo struck from the spot to force a replay, won by Manchester United 1–0 and ending Boro's run. Due to every possible match going to a replay, Middlesbrough actually played more FA Cup games than

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

had in the competition the previous season, when they emerged as winners.

Results

''Note: Results are given with Middlesbrough score listed first. Man of the Match is according t
mfc.co.uk
''

Off the pitch

Staff changes

First team coach Steve Round left the club on 15 December 2006 following a "difference in philosophy and ideas" with Gareth Southgate, and was replaced by

Colin Cooper Colin Terence Cooper (born 28 February 1967) is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a defender who notably played in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough. He played over 50 ...

. Chief European Scout

Don Mackay Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

left the team at the end of the year moving to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

as part of their new management team.

References and notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 Middlesbrough F.C. season Middlesbrough F.C. seasons