1992–93 Middlesbrough F.C. season

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).

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
Home colours Away colours Third colours

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

Main article: 1992–93 FA Premier League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
18	Southampton	42	13	11	18	54	61	−7	50
19	Oldham Athletic	42	13	10	19	63	74	−11	49
20	Crystal Palace (R)	42	11	16	15	48	61	−13	49	Relegation to Football League First Division
21	Middlesbrough (R)	42	11	11	20	54	75	−21	44
22	Nottingham Forest (R)	42	10	10	22	41	62	−21	40

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(R) Relegated

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

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Andy Collett
—	GK	ENG	Brian Horne (on loan from Millwall)
—	GK	ENG	Ian Ironside
—	GK	ENG	Stephen Pears
—	GK	ENG	Ben Roberts
—	DF	ENG	Michael Barron
—	DF	IRL	Curtis Fleming
—	DF	ENG	Phil Gilchrist
—	DF	ENG	Jon Gittens
—	DF	ENG	Chris Kamara (on loan from Luton Town)
—	DF	ENG	Alan Kernaghan (captain)
—	DF	ENG	Richard Liburd
—	DF	ENG	Nicky Mohan
—	DF	IRL	Chris Morris
—	DF	ENG	Gary Parkinson
—	DF	ENG	Jimmy Phillips
—	DF	ENG	Andy Todd
—	DF	SCO	Derek Whyte

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	IRL	Graham Kavanagh
—	MF	IRL	Alan Moore
—	MF	ENG	Robbie Mustoe
—	MF	ENG	Michael Oliver
—	MF	ENG	Andy Peake
—	MF	ENG	Jamie Pollock
—	MF	ENG	Mark Proctor
—	MF	ENG	Phil Stamp
—	MF	ENG	Tommy Wright
—	FW	SCO	Willie Falconer
—	FW	SCO	John Hendrie
—	FW	ENG	Craig Hignett
—	FW	ENG	Neil Illman
—	FW	LCA	Dwight Marshall (on loan from Plymouth Argyle)
—	FW	IRL	Bernie Slaven
—	FW	ENG	Paul Wilkinson