I want to take you back to a different time. A year in which The White Stripes shared a place in the charts with The Backstreet boys. It was a period of transition, the old still mingled with the new as the popular trends of the late 90’s clung to relevancy amidst a new wave of individuality and style hit the world.
A parallel that was just as apt to British football at the time. In the late 2005 season the Premier League table was awash with the old and new. New Chelsea and new Arsenal. Old Man United and Liverpool still holding onto relevancy. At the top it had been decided as 2 matchdays from the end of the season, Chelsea had already been crowned champions, 11 points ahead of Arsenal in second.
The real excitement came from the battle for Europe. With 7th and 6th providing European qualification thanks to all the teams involved in cup finals qualifying for Europe already through league position, teams otherwise without a chance in the European race were thrown a tantalising bone.
This battle would culminate in a season defining moment. A moment that allowed for one of Football History’s greatest cup runs. Had this one snapshot in time gone differently, a tale of European folklore would never have seen the light. A town that was brought to fervent life by the club’s performances, lifting the residents out of a longstanding apathy and instilling a belief in miracles.
The story of one of North-East Football’s greatest ever feats awaits, but before we can get into their dream like European nights, I must take you through to that one moment that could have made for an entirely different timeline.
The Battle for 7th
Liverpool and Bolton seemed nailed on for 5th and 6th, but 7th would be contested by a trio of Tottenham, Middlesbrough and Manchester City, the latter being seemingly out of the running not a week earlier, 5 points from 7th with 3 games remaining.
These 3 sides were enjoying their best form with teams full of cult heroes, still revered to this day. Spurs with Freddy Kanoute, Robbie Keane, Ledley King as captain and a young Micheal Carrick breaking through. 
Man City boasted the likes of Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler, the always entertaining David James in goal and the likes of Shaun Wright-Phillips who would have his best season in his career. A season that would earn him a move to league champions Chelsea in the Summer.
And then there was Middlesbrough. A club who had perhaps their greatest squad in their history, their high league position all but confirming this. Despite releasing club legend Juninho Paulista, they looked a better side compared to the season prior, even with a league cup trophy freshly stowed in the trophy cabinet from the year prior.
At one point seriously battling for 4th, injuries to key players in the second half of the season had hampered them, affecting their bid for champions league glory. Thankfully they had still done enough to find themselves in with a shout for European qualification at the end of the season.
Boro had recruited astutely in the summer, bringing in Dutch duo Bolo Zenden and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink in, on free transfers from Chelsea. Zenden had spent the previous season on loan at Boro, helping them to a League cup trophy. In addition, they would bring in Micheal Reizeiger from Barcelona and the Romford Pele himself Ray parlour, both on a free.
Four big names coming from big clubs that would help instil some class and experience into a side with a talented group of youngsters coming through; Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson (yes we know how that turned out but pretend that hasn’t happened yet), James Morrison and Andrew Taylor all breaking through, With Downing already establishing himself as a real gem.
The final piece of the jigsaw would be a marquee signing, a striker to partner with Hasselbaink. This would come in the form of Aussie powerhouse Mark Viduka. A stocky forward with a great touch and an emphatic striker of the ball, Viduka was poised to be the striker Boro had been missing since Fabrizio Ravanelli in the late 90’s.
‘European Playoffs’
Back to the story at hand, Boro had both Tottenham and Man City to play 1 after another for their final 2 games. Having drawn to Liverpool the week prior, Middlesbrough were level on points with Tottenham, just 1 goal separating them in the table. It was as if by design, a playoff for the final European place.
A loss for Boro would take it all out of Boro’s hands, but they were well aware going into it that destiny was in their hands, their two biggest games of the season coming one after another. A small town in the North East wrestling with much bigger teams.
With City breathing down Tottenham and Boro’s necks, any result was good for City, but If Boro could beat Tottenham then their destiny was just as much in their hands, with the outcome of the final game between the two determining everything.
After an agonising week of waiting for Tottenham, City and Boro fans across the nation, Matchday 37 was finally here. In front of a fully packed Riverside, both teams hoped to make history in achieving a place amongst some of Europe’s elite.
Success in the UEFA Cup had kick started some of football’s greatest stories, with Mourinho’s Porto going on to win the Champions league the season after Uefa Cup Glory.
It could make the difference in elevating a side’s status from good to great. Suffice to say there was plenty on the line and plenty for both Spurs and Boro to be nervous about as they walked onto a Riverside pitch backed by a max attendance crowd.
Boro would start brightly, as Ray Parlour found Szilard Nemeth in space 25 yards out. There was only one thing on his mind as he shifted the ball out from his feet, launching a curling drive that would dink off the top of the bar.
A breakthrough would come minutes later through an unlikely source. As Boro broke following a Spurs attack, Hasselbaink found Zenden on the wing. His threaded driven ball across to Nemeth looked to put him through on goal, but a poor touch forced the move wide.
Still in possession, Nemeth would cut it back to an on-rushing George Boateng, steaming through the centre of the pitch with a late run. Coming onto Nemeth’s pass like a locomotive, Boateng would strike it fiercely, first time.
It was all power and no accuracy, aimed straight at the middle of the goal, yet Radek Cerny in the Tottenham goal was unsighted by his own defender, diving to the left away from the ball in calamitous fashion.
The Riverside erupts as Boateng and the entire town can’t quite believe their luck. In typical Spurs fashion this would be the game’s only goal, and would take European qualification completely into Boro’s hands.
Spurs are now unable to qualify no matter what due to needing both Boro and City to drop points. With the two sides playing each other, it would be mathematically impossible to finish above both Middlesbrough and Man City.
The Biggest Match of the Season
Now a two horse race, the attention of many football fans was on Boro and City’s final game. The league had been decided. Bolton could leapfrog Liverpool but that wouldn’t change anything other than league position.
As the final day loomed, it was clear the nation’s focus was on the 4 teams at the bottom in a relegation scrap, and who would be the victor in battle for 7th. A match that in many ways a cup final for both sides.
May the 15th would dawn. Boro and City fans across the country were unable to stomach breakfast that morning. Middlesbrough had come off the back of a decent showing in Europe getting knocked out in the quarterfinals by Sporting Lisbon, and they were desperate for another taste of European football.
City were very much a surprise story, finishing 16th the previous season after an underwhelming campaign. Europe would make for the perfect cherry atop the great strides they’d made, and they were just as hungry as Boro. And with Stuart Pierce at the helm, there would be no shortage of passion, touchline fury and spittle.
The game itself would start expectedly cagey. Many City fans expected failure, with a pessimistic outlook creeping around the stands. It wasn’t a lack of belief in their players, more the philosophy that coming so close to success and failing would be “typical City”
The inevitable in City fans eyes would come on the 25 minute mark. Hasselbaink had won a free kick after Robbie Fowler had clattered into him after some quick feet from the Dutchman. More than 30 yards out, centre of the pitch. Nothing really seemed on, too central to dink in, surely too far to score from.
Hasselbaink however, was a man who had earned a reputation for having one of the hardest shots in football. A trait he would prove in an instant in the mind of every Boro fan. Hasselbaink needed only a three step run up to launch an utterly unstoppable shot, that crashed in off the bar, leaving James in a heap after flinging himself in vain at his near post.
It was his specialty, a thunderous drive with no back lift. Straight and true, with such velocity that the ball striking the bar could be heard around the Ground. It was an absolute peach.
The City fans slumped as the mantra of typical City and through the thoughts of every City supporter. This would continue into half time, as following a fierce congested battle, City had failed to create any real opportunity to score.
Half-time Sucker punch
Whilst many fans in the stadium had already resigned themselves to defeat, they were forgetting the man they had in charge. The ‘Psycho’. Stuart Pierce. A man well known for team talks that erred on the side of passion.
As the teams kicked-off again, the impact of Half time’s talk would be immediate. Following a second ball headed down by Antoine Sibierski, a young Joey Barton would volley a great ball into the feet of Kiki Musampa. Musampa would seize on this pass brilliantly. A clever first-touch to spin Stuart Parnaby, good feet and strength to hold off Ugo Ehiogu, and a deft finish to slot it past Mark Schwarzer at his near post.
It was the very definition of a football sucker punch. The atmosphere became frenzied, as that brilliant yet dastardly idea of hope filled the heads of City fans. A goal had changed the game, and another would be history in the making.
Boro were cool though, they’d been perhaps complacent in the moment, but a draw suited them fine. 3 points separated them, with Man City one ahead on goal difference. As long as they didn’t lose, the European dream was still there. It was very much business as usual, Boro still playing to maintain the result; City getting increasingly desperate.
The match would capture the same fierce energy but lack of quality chances that had been the story all game, with City’s desperation getting to breaking point. Many managers are defined by their reaction to this desperate breaking point. A goal down with nothing working, begging for something to fall for them.
Throwing the Whole Kitchen
Some bring on as many strikers as possible. Some resort to throwing defenders up front, whilst others draw upon their wildcard. At 88 minutes City and Stuart Pierce would opt to draw on the wildest card of all.
The substitute goalkeeper Nicky Weaver would begin to warm up, as David James would walk to the touchline, take off his goalkeeper kit, and adorn an outfielders kit. Weaver would be coming on for midfielder Claudio Reyna.
Stuart Pierce, in what he hoped to be a pivotal moment in his career, had thrown David James upfront. Not just up for a corner, but playing alongside Robbie Fowler up top, in the most unlikely of former teammate strike-partnerships.
It was bizarre. David James was surely an intimidating presence up top. His gangly frame seemed unnatural without a fluorescent kit and goalposts behind it. He would manage a few touches, at one point threatening to turn a Middlesbrough defender before slipping after touching the ball too far forward, allowing Boro to clear. City would pump balls into the box but to no avail. 
Then in the 92nd minute, it looked to be over. Man City’s hopeful lump forward would be headed into the path of a young Stewart Downing. Bursting down the wing he would play a one-two inside with Zenden, setting him through on goal on the left hand-side of the box.
He would succumb perhaps to the pressure, hitting it low straight into Nicky Weaver. Who saved with his legs. A minute later City would have a penalty. The save would bounce to Ben Thatcher, who would set City down the right, breaking off of the previous counter attack.
With Downing out of position, there was space on the right for Shaun Wright-Phillips. He’d cut it back for Joey Baron to send in a curving low ball, destined for the path of David James.
In desperation, Franck Queudrue would throw herself wildly at the ball, hoping somehow to make a legal connection to divert its path. It wouldn’t. The ref would adjudge it to hit his hand and Manchester City would have a penalty. David James celebrating with clenched fists. It would of course be Robbie Fowler to take.
Get in Ya Big Aussie
Ali Brownlee and Bernie Slaven would be incensed at first, on the BBC Tees radio coverage with a clearly perplexed and heated Slaven asking every question of the ref in the book.
The replay would show however, and even Slaven could not deny. Trailing off mid sentence during the replay, his frantic tone reduced to a forlorn utterance of ‘ Franck Queudrue, left hand’.
It was fair. But the fairness changed nothing. It seemed it would surely be ‘typical Boro’ this time. Fowler stepped up. A man of great experience and status in the game in the swansong of his career. It would be the perfect statement for his waning career to carry a once struggling Man City side to European glory.
Fowler looked uncomfortable as he stood up there. Perhaps the ‘most important penalty of his career’, as Brownlee would remark moments before he would strike the ball. Co-host Slaven unable to perform his co commentary duties, only whimpering unintelligible noises of angst.
Fowler began his run up, the breath of every fan in the country catching in their throat, heart in mouth, City fans expecting both failure and ecstasy, Boro fans only resigned to defeat. It’s fair to say almost every Boro fan and some players had accepted their fate.
Fowler would strike the ball low to Schwarzer’s left. As soon as it struck every fan with the strength to watch could see the golden blur of Mark Schwarzer pounce to his left side at almost full stretch. Like a hungry Leopard leaping for prey, Schwarzer would get both hands to it, palming Fowler’s effort into the ground.
The loose ball would briefly sit just in front of Schwarzer’s goal, Fowler charging it down in an attempt to redeem his penalty. It would be met by the big Aussie, smothering the ball in his hands Boro players tentatively congratulating him, There was still a few minutes.
In the BBC Tees coverage, there would be pandemonium. Ali Brownlee hardly seemed to believe the words ‘Mark Schwarzer saves’ as they came out of his own mouth. Interrupting his sentence to scream “GET IN YA BIG AUSSIE” after the sweet relief and some 10 seconds later exclaiming “He’s the greatest Australian hero since Ned Kelly!”. Brownlee unphased by referencing a divisive topic on the broadcast.
From there City would push for a few more minutes, before the proceedings would be brought to an end following the ball falling for David James on the edge of the box to try an audacious volley. He would swing wildly, missing the ball, and taking out 2 Boro defenders in the process.
It was ecstasy after so much agony, Boro would have one more chance at European glory. Pandemonium in the away end, Boro were going to the UEFA Cup.
Understandably, City fans were gutted. Some would respond in kind with a typical of the time apathy that ran rampant amongst the supporters, shrugging and accepting this as a scenario doomed to play out over and over. For other fans it was their first taste of coming so close, with that horrid irremediable pit in their stomach as hope is once and truly dashed.
That’s just the set up, there is still much more to this tale, including 4 of the clubs most famous victories in its history, lighting striking twice and the incredible story of how a small town in the North-East found themselves in a UEFA Cup final. Stick around for the Part Two: A Small Town in Europe.
Written by Oscar Bowerman
