2020–21 Middlesbrough F.C. season explained

The 2020–21 season was Middlesbrough's fourth consecutive season in the Championship in their 145th year in existence, the club also competed in the FA Cup and EFL Cup.^[1]

2020–21 Season

During the 2020–21 season, Middlesbrough Football Club competed in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The team was led by manager Neil Warnock, and concluded the season in 10th place, achieving 18 wins, 10 draws, and 18 losses. The season was marked by a strong defensive performance but was undercut by inconsistency in attack, which ultimately led to the team missing out on a playoff position for promotion to the Premier League.

The campaign was heavily influenced by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a modified schedule and games being played without fans for a significant part of the season. Despite these challenges, Middlesbrough maintained a mid-table position, steering clear of the relegation battle but also not managing to secure a place in the top six for much of the season.

Changes

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, football in the 2019–20 season in multiple countries was halted in order to convey safety regulations, with football returning in England on 17 June for Premier League clubs and 20 June for Championship clubs;^{[2] [3]} the decision was made for the premature conclusion of the League One and League Two seasons, with the final table would be calculated by a points-per-game method with the play-offs being played as normal.^[4] As a Championship club, Middlesbrough resumed play, their first game back in action in three months being a 3–0 defeat to Swansea City.^[5] With Middlesbrough already engaged in a surprising relegation battle, chairman Steve Gibson sacked club manager Jonathan Woodgate, which came as a surprise to supporters, with heavily experienced Neil Warnock, who had been linked with the club on numerous occasions, replacing him on the same day on a contract until the end of the season.^[6]

With the pandemic resulting in the delay of the season, the season's remaining matches continued past 30 June, the date which signifies the conclusion of an English football season as a whole, also including the date that sees players with expiring contracts being allowed to leave the club on a free transfer. This occurred heavily at Middlesbrough, with Rudy Gestede,^[7] Daniel Ayala, Mitchell Curry, Nathan Dale, Enes Mahmutovic, Layton Watts, Stephen Wearne, Harold Essien, Harry Flatters all departing.^[8] On the same day as the final game of the 2019–20 season, Adam Clayton announced his departure from the club through social media, with the club confirming this the following day.

First team squad

	Player name	Nationality	Position(s)	Date of birth (age)	Contract until	Signed from
Goalkeepers
1	Marcus Bettinelli		GK	24 May 1992	30 June 2021	Fulham
13	Jordan Archer		GK	12 April 1993	30 June 2021	Motherwell
32	Dejan Stojanović		GK	19 July 1993	30 June 2023	St. Gallen
Defenders
2	Anfernee Dijksteel		RB	1996 10, df=yes	30 June 2022	Charlton Athletic
4	Grant Hall		CB	1991 10, df=yes	30 June 2023
6			CB / RB	1997 8, df=yes	30 June 2021	Academy
15	Nathan Wood		CB	2002 5, df=yes	30 June 2020	Academy
17			CB / DM	1995 4, df=yes	30 June 2022	Sunderland
27	Marc Bola		LB	1997 12, df=yes	30 June 2022	Blackpool
29	Djed Spence		RB / LB	2000 8, df=yes	30 June 2020	Fulham
33	Hayden Coulson		LB / LM	1998 6, df=yes	30 June 2023	Academy
Midfielders
3	Marvin Johnson		LW / LB	1990 12, df=yes	30 June 2020
5	Sam Morsy		DM	10 September 1991	30 June 2023	Wigan Athletic
7	Marcus Tavernier		LW	1999 3, df=yes	30 June 2021	Academy
8	Lewis Wing		AM / CM	1995 5, df=yes	30 June 2022
12	Marcus Browne		AM / RW / LW	1997 12, df=yes	30 June 2023	West Ham United
16	Jonny Howson		CM	1988 5, df=yes	30 June 2020	Norwich City
18	Duncan Watmore		RW	8 March 1994	January 2021	Free Agent
19	Patrick Roberts		RW	5 February 1997	30 June 2021	Manchester City
22	George Saville		CM / LW	1993 6, df=yes	30 June 2022	Millwall
24	Sam Folarin		RW	23 September 2000	30 June 2021	Tooting & Mitcham United
34	Connor Malley		CM	2000 3, df=yes	30 June 2022	Academy
37	Ben Liddle		DM	1998 9, df=yes	30 June 2020	Academy
Forwards
9			CF	1992 12, df=yes	30 June 2021	Nottingham Forest
10	Chuba Akpom		CF	9 October 1995	30 June 2023	PAOK Salonika
11	Ashley Fletcher		CF / LW	1995 10, df=yes	30 June 2021	West Ham United
36	Stephen Walker		CF	2000 10, df=y	30 June 2023	Academy
41	Rumarn Burrell		CF	2000 12, df=y	30 June 2022	Grimsby Town

Statistics

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Goals record

Rank	No.	Nat.	Po.	Name				Total
1	18		CF	Duncan Watmore	9	0	0	9
2	3		LW		4	0	1	5
	9		CF	Britt Assombalonga	5	0	0	5
	22		CM	George Saville	5	0	0	5
5	10		CF	Chuba Akpom	4	0	0	4
	11		CF	Ashley Fletcher	2	0	2	4
6	7		LW	Marcus Tavernier	2	0	1	3
7	4		CB	Grant Hall	2	0	0	2
	12		AM		2	0	0	2
	17		CB	Paddy McNair	2	0	0	2
10	5		DM	Sam Morsy	1	0	0	1
	6		CB	Dael Fry	1	0	0	1
	8		AM	Lewis Wing	1	0	0	1
	16		CM	Jonny Howson	1	0	0	1
	19		RW	Nathaniel Mendez-Laing	1	0	0	1
	21		RW	Neeskens Kebano	1	0	0	1
	24		RW	Sam Folarin	0	1	0	1
	27		LB	Marc Bola	1	0	0	1
	29		RB	Djed Spence	1	0	0	1
Own Goals					4	0	0	4
Total					45	1	4	55

Disciplinary record

Rank	No.	Nat.	Po.	Name	Championship						EFL Cup			Total
1	5		CM	Sam Morsy	8	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	9	0	1
2	16		CM	Jonny Howson	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	0
	22		CM	George Saville	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0	0
4	17		CB	Paddy McNair	5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	1
	27		LB	Marc Bola	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0
6	2		RB	Anfernee Dijksteel	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
	7		RW	Marcus Tavernier	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	0
8	1		GK	Marcus Bettinelli	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
9	6		CB	Dael Fry	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	9		CF	Britt Assombalonga	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
	10		CF	Chuba Akpom	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0
12	3		LW		1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	11		CF	Ashley Fletcher	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	14		LW	Yannick Bolasie	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	15		CB		0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0
	20		RB	Darnell Fisher	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	29		RB	Djed Spence	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
	34		CM	Hayden Hackney	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Total					55	0	2	2	0	0	2	0	0	59	0	2

Transfers

Transfers in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Source
14 July 2020			Cole Kiernan		Undisclosed	[9]
31 July 2020					Free	[10]
11 September 2020					£2,000,000	[11]
18 September 2020					Undisclosed	[12]
17 November 2020					Free transfer	[13]
5 January 2021					Free transfer	[14]
28 January 2021					Undisclosed	[15]
1 February 2021					Free transfer	[16]
3 February 2021			Malik Dijksteel		Free transfer	[17]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date until	Source
10 September 2020					30 June 2021	[18]
12 October 2020					1 February 2021	[19] [20]
28 January 2021					30 June 2021	[21]
1 February 2021					30 June 2021	[22]

Loans out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date until	Source
10 September 2020					End of season	[23]
2 October 2020					1 January 2021	[24]
16 October 2020					13 January 2021	[25] [26]
7 November 2020			Brad James		End of season	[27] [28]
20 November 2020					31 January 2021	[29] [30]
5 January 2021					End of season	[31]
14 January 2021					End of season	[32]
22 January 2021					End of season	[33]
29 January 2021					End of season	[34]
1 February 2021					End of season	[35]
1 February 2021					End of season	[36]
26 February 2021			Sol Brynn		End of season	[37]
22 April 2021			Brad James		End of season	[38]

Britt Assombalonga free end of season

Transfers out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Source
1 July 2020					Free	[39] [40]
1 July 2020					Free	[41]
1 July 2020			Nathan Dale		Free	[42]
1 July 2020			Harold Essien		Free
1 July 2020			Harry Flatters		Free	[43]
1 July 2020					Free	[44]
1 July 2020			Nicholas Hood		Free	[45]
1 July 2020					Free	[46] [47]
1 July 2020			Layton Watts		Free
1 July 2020			Stephen Wearne		Free	[48]
14 July 2020					Free	[49] [50]
22 July 2020					Free	[51] [52]
15 August 2020					Free	[53]
9 September 2020					Undisclosed	[54]
10 September 2020					Free	[55]
8 October 2020					Undisclosed	[56]
16 October 2020					Undisclosed	[57]
22 January 2021					Mutual consent	[58]

Competitions

Championship

See main article: 2020–21 EFL Championship.

Matches

The 2020–21 season fixtures were released on 21 August.^[59]

FA Cup

See main article: 2020–21 FA Cup.

The third round draw was made on 30 November, with Premier League and EFL Championship clubs all entering the competition.^[60]

EFL Cup

See main article: 2020–21 EFL Cup.

The first round draw was made on 18 August, live on Sky Sports, by Paul Merson.^[61] The draw for both the second and third round were confirmed on 6 September, live on Sky Sports by Phil Babb.^[62]

Notes and References

1. News: History . Statto.
2. News: Premier League returns on June 17. Sky Sports. 28 May 2020.
3. News: Championship season set to restart on 20 June as coronavirus lockdown eases. BBC Sport . 31 May 2020.
4. News: League One and League Two clubs vote to curtail season and hold play-offs . Fisher . Ben . . 9 June 2020.
5. Web site: Middlesbrough 0–3 Swansea City. BBC Sport. 20 June 2020. 14 July 2020.
6. News: Neil Warnock replaces Jonathan Woodgate as Middlesbrough boss . BBC Sport . 23 June 2020 . 23 June 2020.
7. Web site: Gestede Joins Ayala In Departing The Boro. mfc.co.uk. 28 June 2020. 27 June 2020.
8. Web site: Retained List: July Extensions And Departures. mfc.co.uk. 28 June 2020. 28 June 2020.
9. News: Middlesbrough sign Hartlepool's Republic of Ireland Youth striker Cole Kiernan . 15 August 2020 . . 14 July 2020.
10. Web site: Grant Hall Becomes Neil Warnock's First Signing As Boro Manager. mfc.co.uk. 31 July 2020. 31 July 2020.
11. News: Boro Sign Sam Morsy From Wigan . 11 September 2020 . . 11 September 2020.
12. News: Boro Sign Striker Chuba Akpom . 19 September 2020 . . 19 September 2020.
13. Web site: Duncan Watmore Signs Boro Contract . Middlesbrough FC . 17 November 2020.
14. Web site: Goalkeeper Jordan Archer Joins The Boro . Middlesbrough FC . 5 January 2021.
15. Web site: Darnell Fisher Joins Middlesbrough . Preston North End FC - Official Site . 28 January 2021.
16. Web site: Middlesbrough complete Nathaniel Mendez-Laing signing . February 2021 . The Northern Echo . 2 February 2021.
17. Web site: Malik Dijksteel Joins The Club . Middlesbrough FC - Official Site . 3 February 2021.
18. News: Boro Bring In Marcus Bettinelli On Loan . 10 September 2020 . . 10 September 2020.
19. News: Patrick Roberts Rejoins Boro On Loan . 12 October 2020 . . 12 October 2020.
20. Web site: Rams Move To Sign Winger Roberts . Derby County - Official Site . 2 February 2021.
21. Web site: Boro Sign Yannick Bolasie On Loan . Middlesbrough FC . 28 January 2021.
22. Web site: Boro Make Deadline Day Swoop For Neeskens Kebano . Middlesbrough FC - Official Site . 2 February 2021.
23. News: Tomas Mejias Leaves On Loan . 11 September 2020 . . 11 September 2020.
24. Web site: Boro midfielder joins on loan . Carlisle United FC . 2 October 2020.
25. Web site: Striker Walker returns on loan . Milton Keynes Dons FC . 16 October 2020.
26. Web site: Walker Returns From MK Dons Loan Spell . Middlesbrough FC . 13 January 2021.
27. Web site: Shots Sign James . 7 November 2020 . Aldershot Town FC . 8 November 2020.
28. Web site: Brad James' Loan Has Been Extended . 5 December 2020 . Aldershot Town FC . 6 December 2020.
29. Web site: Middlesbrough youngster Tyrone O'Neill rejoins Darlington . 20 November 2020 . The Northern Echo . 5 January 2021.
30. Web site: Tyrone's loan extended . 5 January 2021 . Darlington FC . 5 January 2021.
31. Web site: Stojanovic Joins FC St Pauli In Loan Deal . Middlesbrough FC . 5 January 2021.
32. Web site: City Complete Burrell Loan Capture . Bradford City AFC . 14 January 2021.
33. Web site: Walker Joins Crewe in Loan Move . Middlesbrough FC . 22 January 2021.
34. Web site: Isaiah Jones Joins Queen Of The South . Middlesbrough FC - Official Site . 29 January 2021.
35. Web site: Lewis Wing Joins Rotherham United . Middlesbrough FC - Official Site . 1 February 2021.
36. Web site: Nathan Wood Moves To Crewe On Loan . Middlesbrough FC - Official Site . 1 February 2021.
37. Web site: Quakers sign Sol Brynn on loan . 26 February 2021 . Darlington FC - Official Site . 26 February 2021.
38. Web site: Brad James Joins Hartlepool On Loan . Middlesbrough FC - Official Site . 23 April 2021.
39. News: Howson agrees new one-year Boro contract . 10 September 2020 . . 28 June 2020.
40. News: Blackburn Rovers confirm signing of former Liverpool, Norwich and Middlesbrough defender . 16 September 2020 . Lancs Live . 15 September 2020.
41. News: Under-23 duo sign up . 16 September 2020 . . 16 September 2020.
42. News: Dale signs . 10 September 2020 . . 6 September 2020 .
43. News: York City's Ryan Whitley loaned to Scarborough Athletic; Harry Flatters arrives from Middlesbrough U18s . 21 September 2020 . . 21 September 2020.
44. Web site: Melbourne Victory signs Rudy Gestede . 25 November 2020 . Melbourne Victory FC . 25 November 2020.
45. Web site: Nick Hood - Marske United FC . . 10 September 2020.
46. News: Retained List: July Extensions And Departures . 10 September 2020 . . 28 June 2020.
47. News: PFC Lviv has signed the defender of the Luxembourg national team . 10 September 2020 . . 22 August 2020 . 30 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210430034200/http://pfclviv.com/pfk-lviv-pidpysav-zahysnyka-zbirnoji-lyuksemburhu/ . dead .
48. News: Stephen Wearne joins Sunderland . 10 September 2020 . . 9 September 2020.
49. News: Neil Warnock is disappointed but not bitter over early exit of Ryan Shotton . 15 August 2020 . Gazette Live . 14 July 2020.
50. Web site: Melbourne Victory signs Ryan Shotton . 18 December 2020 . Melbourne Victory FC . 18 December 2020.
51. Web site: Boro Contracts Up For Discussion. mfc.co.uk. 23 July 2020. 23 July 2020.
52. News: Clayton Signs On At Blues . 2 September 2020 . . 1 September 2020 . 1 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200901215732/https://www.bcfc.com/news/articles/2020/clayton-signs-on-at-blues/ . dead .
53. News: Birmingham City make first new signing under Aitor Karanka . 15 August 2020 . . 15 August 2020.
54. News: Stubbs signs for Cod Army . 10 September 2020 . . 9 September 2020.
55. News: Town sign ex-Middlesbrough keeper Fryer until January . 10 September 2020 . . 10 September 2020.
56. Web site: The Gas complete the signing of Ben Liddle . Bristol Rovers FC . 9 October 2020 . 29 October 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201029080549/https://www.bristolrovers.co.uk/news/2020/october/ben-liddle-middlesborough-rovers-boro-signs/ . dead .
57. Web site: Rovers complete keeper capture . 16 October 2020 . Blackburn Rovers FC . 16 October 2020.
58. Web site: Tomas Mejias Departs Boro . Middlesbrough FC - Official Site . 22 January 2021.
59. News: Sky Bet Championship fixtures 2020/21 . 21 August 2020 . . 21 August 2020.
60. Web site: Premier League and Championship clubs join Emirates FA Cup After third round Draw . The Football Association . 10 December 2020.
61. News: Carabao Cup Round One draw confirmed . 18 August 2020 . . 18 August 2020.
62. News: Carabao Cup: Round Two and Three draw confirmed . 6 September 2020 . . 6 September 2020.