The club's highest league finish to date was third in the 1913–14 season and they have only spent two seasons outside of the Football League's top two divisions.
The club came close to folding in 1986 after experiencing severe financial difficulties before it was saved by a consortium led by then board member and later chairman Steve Gibson.
Middlesbrough were deducted three points for failing to fulfil a fixture against Blackburn Rovers in the 1996–97 Premier League season and subsequently relegated.[10] They were promoted the following season and spent 11 seasons in the top division before being relegated again in 2009.