21st May 1986 - One of the club’s & fans darkest days

[erimus74]

Middlesbrough Football Club went in to voluntary liquidation

The rot seemed to have started before our releagtion in 1982 when Bobby Murdoch was hoping to bounce straight back at the 1st time of asking, but our problems had only just started, 21st of May could have been the start of the end for the mighty Boro

Following relegation under Bobby Murdoch our crowds dropped that season to around the 6,000 to 11,000 mark, with the exception of Leeds, Sunderland & Newcastle coming to Ayresome Park & pushing the attendances close to the 20,000 figure

Over the following 4 seasons our crowds continued to drop, falling below the 6,000 figure, with a few crowds touching 3,000 plus, the Boro public were losing faith with the football club, any promising player sold to balance the books, fans were asked to help in the upgrade of the stadium, painting the stands etc, it was certainly hard times back then
Potential targets were signing for the Grimsbys, Notts County's & Oxford of this world, because we couldn't compete with the money they were offering (no disrespect to any of those teams mentioned, but the Boro were a far bigger club, but for how long???)

Our downward spirral started, March 1981 when Wolves knocked us out of the FAC QF replay & the board decided to sell the clubs crownjewels, which sadly prompted manager John Neal to offer his resignation

Summer of 1981, Bobby Murdoch was the new Boro manager, the slide had started & that season after 8 years in the top flight Boro were relegated, by late September 1982 with the Boro bottom of the 2nd divison with no wins out of the 1st 8 games Bobby Murdoch was sacked & replaced by Malcolm Allison, big Mal has to be given so much credit, keeping us in the division with such a small squad, he worked miracles to get us over the line, unfortunately, 18 months later he was dismissed, Jack Charlton came back as temp manager & performed another minor miracle, again, keeping us up for another season, after a short stint from big Jack who told the club I will stay for the remainder of the season then I'm off, recommended to the board the late, great Willie Maddren to become our next manager, the board accepted & Willie became our 23rd manager
Willie made some excellent signings & looking back was probably the right man at the right time (the players he brought to the Boro played a massive part in the two years following liquidation) but results on the field still didnt improve, we were on a one way spiral & by February 1986 following a 3-1 home defeat by future Boro manager Lennie Lawrences Charlton Athletic sadly Willie was dismissed, one of Willie Maddrens best signings, the great Sir Bruce Rioch was appointed caretaker manager of the mighty Boro, unfortunatly he couldnt halt the slide & after 14 games we were relegated at the beginning of May, come the 21st May news that shook every Boro fan 'liquidation' everything & everyone connected with MFC was in the balance

BUT WE SURVIVED

Though did we have a squad of players to hopefully compete & stay in the 3rd divison, was this the end of our decline?
What followed was unbelievable, winning promotion & again the following season, what a time to be a Boro player & fan back then
What a Boro roller coaster of a summer that turned out to be, I was getting married later that summer, ironically one week after Boro were saved & all my thoughts were on the Boro surviving while also planning our wedding, excited one minute, down in the dumps the next, I just wanted us to survive more than anything & it hurt, it really did, we moan about the Boro today but it was awful back then, reading how we could be saved, only to read its not looking too good & the end is close, heartbreaking, a crazy, crazy summer

If you sat down & thought what the club has gone through since that dark day
Promotions, amazing seasons between 86-89, relegations, 1st NE team in the 1st ever PL, Bryan Robson with millions to spend, new stadium, Brazilian player of the year in Juninho, Champions League winning goalscorer Ravanelli signing a couple of months after that goal, Finals in both the FAC & League cup, 3 points docked, relegation, 2004 Carling cup winners, FA Youth cup winners, UEFA QF & Finalists & more, what an amazing journey, would I change any of it to follow the Man Utd's & Liverpools of this world, not a chance, those days are what makes you a fan, I wouldn't change my memories of following the Boro for any other team

I started 86 joining ICI & still at the same place all these years later, married & still to this day, oh & my wives birthday too

Various gazette cuttings from over the years, could have added many more

Our team, our club  - UTMB / erimus

































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[Ural Quntz (Moderator)]

Still got my letter from Mr Henderson when he returned my donation to the survival fund

[erimus74]

Still got my letter from Mr Henderson when he returned my donation to the survival fund

Me too mate, signed too by a number of players from 86

[BoroRedKen]

Absolute quality post that Erimus. A very enjoyable read. You have missed your true vocation mate.

      

[erimus74]

Absolute quality post that Erimus. A very enjoyable read. You have missed your true vocation mate.

      

Cheers Ken

[LIDDLE_TOWERS999]

I STILL HAVE ONE OF THE GOLD RINGS THAT WE ROBBED FROM 2 JEWELLERS SHOPS THAT DAY 😁😁😁 JOEYS 👍 CASUALS 👍😎😎😎

THEY WHERE THE ONLY THING WORTH ROBBING 😁😁😁

THE REST OF THE TOWN WAS AN EVEN BIGGER SHITHOLE THAN IT IS NOW 🤣🤣🤣

COULD DROP A NUKE ON IT AND IT WOULD  STILL LOOK THE FUCKING SAME 😁😁😁

[LIDDLE_TOWERS999]

Middlesbrough Football Club went in to voluntary liquidation

The rot seemed to have started before our releagtion in 1982 when Bobby Murdoch was hoping to bounce straight back at the 1st time of asking, but our problems had only just started, 21st of May could have been the start of the end for the mighty Boro

Following relegation under Bobby Murdoch our crowds dropped that season to around the 6,000 to 11,000 mark, with the exception of Leeds, Sunderland & Newcastle coming to Ayresome Park & pushing the attendances close to the 20,000 figure

Over the following 4 seasons our crowds continued to drop, falling below the 6,000 figure, with a few crowds touching 3,000 plus, the Boro public were losing faith with the football club, any promising player sold to balance the books, fans were asked to help in the upgrade of the stadium, painting the stands etc, it was certainly hard times back then
Potential targets were signing for the Grimsbys, Notts County's & Oxford of this world, because we couldn't compete with the money they were offering (no disrespect to any of those teams mentioned, but the Boro were a far bigger club, but for how long???)

Our downward spirral started, March 1981 when Wolves knocked us out of the FAC QF replay & the board decided to sell the clubs crownjewels, which sadly prompted manager John Neal to offer his resignation

Summer of 1981, Bobby Murdoch was the new Boro manager, the slide had started & that season after 8 years in the top flight Boro were relegated, by late September 1982 with the Boro bottom of the 2nd divison with no wins out of the 1st 8 games Bobby Murdoch was sacked & replaced by Malcolm Allison, big Mal has to be given so much credit, keeping us in the division with such a small squad, he worked miracles to get us over the line, unfortunately, 18 months later he was dismissed, Jack Charlton came back as temp manager & performed another minor miracle, again, keeping us up for another season, after a short stint from big Jack who told the club I will stay for the remainder of the season then I'm off, recommended to the board the late, great Willie Maddren to become our next manager, the board accepted & Willie became our 23rd manager
Willie made some excellent signings & looking back was probably the right man at the right time (the players he brought to the Boro played a massive part in the two years following liquidation) but results on the field still didnt improve, we were on a one way spiral & by February 1986 following a 3-1 home defeat by future Boro manager Lennie Lawrences Charlton Athletic sadly Willie was dismissed, one of Willie Maddrens best signings, the great Sir Bruce Rioch was appointed caretaker manager of the mighty Boro, unfortunatly he couldnt halt the slide & after 14 games we were relegated at the beginning of May, come the 21st May news that shook every Boro fan 'liquidation' everything & everyone connected with MFC was in the balance

BUT WE SURVIVED

Though did we have a squad of players to hopefully compete & stay in the 3rd divison, was this the end of our decline?
What followed was unbelievable, winning promotion & again the following season, what a time to be a Boro player & fan back then
What a Boro roller coaster of a summer that turned out to be, I was getting married later that summer, ironically one week after Boro were saved & all my thoughts were on the Boro surviving while also planning our wedding, excited one minute, down in the dumps the next, I just wanted us to survive more than anything & it hurt, it really did, we moan about the Boro today but it was awful back then, reading how we could be saved, only to read its not looking too good & the end is close, heartbreaking, a crazy, crazy summer

If you sat down & thought what the club has gone through since that dark day
Promotions, amazing seasons between 86-89, relegations, 1st NE team in the 1st ever PL, Bryan Robson with millions to spend, new stadium, Brazilian player of the year in Juninho, Champions League winning goalscorer Ravanelli signing a couple of months after that goal, Finals in both the FAC & League cup, 3 points docked, relegation, 2004 Carling cup winners, FA Youth cup winners, UEFA QF & Finalists & more, what an amazing journey, would I change any of it to follow the Man Utd's & Liverpools of this world, not a chance, those days are what makes you a fan, I wouldn't change my memories of following the Boro for any other team

I started 86 joining ICI & still at the same place all these years later, married & still to this day, oh & my wives birthday too

Various gazette cuttings from over the years, could have added many more

Our team, our club  - UTMB / erimus

































instagram jpg

WE REWARDED THEM WITH 2 SETS OF NEW GOAL NETS AND A BAG OF 15 MITRE BALLS 💪💪💪

A VERY FAIR GESTURE AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED 👍💯😎💯😎👍👌😁

[fukyu]

fantastic times since liquidation, Only one man to thank for that.