The 2018–19 season was Middlesbrough's second consecutive season in the Championship in their 143rd year in existence; the club also competed in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.

Season overview The 2018–19 transfer window was club manager Tony Pulis' first official summer transfer window as Middlesbrough manager. Pulis' first signing of the window was a defensive Paddy McNair, arriving from rivals Sunderland for £5 million. Bristol City star defender Aden Flint subsequently joined the club for a fee of £7 million. Sam Stubbs and Djed Spence then joined the reserves, both on free transfers, arriving from Wigan Athletic and Fulham respectively. As August emerged, Andy Lonergan joined the club on a free transfer from rivals Leeds United. On 8 August 2018, Middlesbrough completed the signing of Jordan Hugill from West Ham United on a season-long loan deal.

Tomás Mejías, Martin Cranie, Tom Brewitt, Liam Cooke, Liam Hegarty, Jakub Sinior, Keiran Storey, Robbie Tinkler, Jay Wilson and Matthew Elsdon were all released at the end of the 2017–18 season. Antonio Barragán then left the club to join Real Betis permanently, having spent the previous season on loan there, while Mikael Soisalo and Fábio left to join Zulte Waregem and Nantes respectively. Players who were loaned out included Joe Fryer to Carlisle United, Hayden Coulson to St Mirren, Luke Armstrong to Gateshead, George Miller to Bradford City. The club then said their goodbyes to their team superstars: striker Patrick Bamford to Leeds, centre-back Ben Gibson and winger Adama Traoré.

Squad

First team squad

Squad No. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth (age) Previous team Goalkeepers 1 Dimitrios Konstantopoulos GK AEK Athens 23 Darren Randolph GK West Ham United 31 Andy Lonergan GK Leeds United Defenders 3 George Friend LB Doncaster Rovers 4 Daniel Ayala CB Norwich City 5 Ryan Shotton RB Birmingham City 14 Sam McQueen L LB Southampton 20 Dael Fry CB Academy 24 Aden Flint CB Bristol City 25Nathan Wood CB Academy Midfielders 7 Grant Leadbitter DM / CM Ipswich Town 8 Adam Clayton DM / CM Huddersfield Town 15 Julien De Sart DM Standard Liège 16 Jonny Howson CM Norwich City 17 Paddy McNair DM / CM Sunderland 19 Stewart Downing AM / LM / RM West Ham United 21 Marvin Johnson LW Oxford United 26 Lewis Wing AM Shildon 27 Harrison Chapman AM Academy 28 Marcus Tavernier LW Academy 37 Muhamed Bešić L DM Everton Strikers 9 Britt Assombalonga ST Nottingham Forest 10 Martin Braithwaite CF / FW Toulouse 11 Jordan Hugill ST West Ham United 18 Ashley Fletcher ST West Ham United 39 Rudy Gestede FW Aston Villa

L = Player on Loan

Competitions Pre-season friendlies As part of their pre-season preparations, Middlesbrough faced Sturm Graz, Spennymoor Town, SV Sandhausen, Accrington Stanley, Rochdale and Hartlepool United. Their match against Sunderland was abandoned at half-time because of storm conditions.

Championship

League table

Results by matchday

Result summary

Matches On 21 June 2018, the Championship fixtures for the forthcoming season were announced.

FA Cup

The third round draw was made live on BBC by Ruud Gullit and Paul Ince from Stamford Bridge on 3 December 2018. The fourth round draw was made live on BBC by Robbie Keane and Carl Ikeme from Wolverhampton on 7 January 2019.

EFL Cup

On 15 June 2018, the draw for the first round was made in Vietnam. The second round draw was made from the Stadium of Light on 16 August. The third round draw was made on 30 August 2018 by David Seaman and Joleon Lescott. The fourth round draw was made live on Quest by Rachel Yankey and Rachel Riley on 29 September. The draw for the quarter-final was made live on Sky Sports by Jamie Redknapp and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on 31 October.

Transfers Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Team Ref. 1 July 2018 DF Harold Essien Manchester City Undisclosed Academy 1 July 2018 CB Aden Flint Bristol City £7,000,000 First team 1 July 2018 CB Paddy McNair Sunderland £5,000,000 First team 1 July 2018 CB Sam Stubbs Wigan Athletic Free Academy 4 July 2018 RB Djed Spence Fulham Free Academy 2 August 2018 GK Andy Lonergan Leeds United Free First team 18 August 2018 CM Dan Ward Newcastle United Free Academy 1 January 2019 CM George Saville Millwall £8,000,000 First team 24 January 2019 DM John Obi Mikel Tianjin TEDA Free First team

Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Team Ref. 1 July 2018 RB Antonio Barragán Real Betis Undisclosed First team 1 July 2018 CB Tom Brewitt AFC Fylde Released Academy 1 July 2018 CM Liam Cooke Free agent Released Academy 1 July 2018 CB Martin Cranie Sheffield United Released First team 1 July 2018 CB Matthew Elsdon Barrow Free Academy 1 July 2018 RB Liam Hegarty Free agent Released Academy 1 July 2018 GK Bobby Jones Wigan Athletic Undisclosed Academy 1 July 2018 GK Tomás Mejías Omonia Free First team 1 July 2018 DM Jakub Sinior Hellas Verona Free Academy 1 July 2018 RW Mikael Soisalo Zulte Waregem Undisclosed Academy 1 July 2018 CB Keiran Storey Free agent Released Academy 1 July 2018 DM Robbie Tinkler Gateshead Free Academy 1 July 2018 CM Jay Wilson Free agent Released Academy 13 July 2018 CM Lewis Maloney Gateshead Free Academy 18 July 2018 LB Fábio Nantes Undisclosed First team 30 July 2018 AM Callum Cooke Peterborough United Free Academy 31 July 2018 CF Patrick Bamford Leeds United £10,000,000 First team 5 August 2018 CB Ben Gibson Burnley £15,000,000 First team 8 August 2018 RW Adama Traoré Wolverhampton Wanderers £18,000,000 First team 31 August 2018 DM Julien De Sart Kortrijk Free transfer First team 1 January 2019 LB Nathan McGinley Forest Green Rovers Undisclosed Academy 9 January 2019 GK Connor Ripley Preston North End Undisclosed First team 28 January 2019 RW Harry Chapman Blackburn Rovers Undisclosed Academy 29 January 2019 CM Grant Leadbitter Sunderland Free transfer First team 31 January 2019 CF George Miller Barnsley Undisclosed Academy

Loans in Start date Position Nationality Name From End date Team Ref. 8 August 2018 CF Jordan Hugill West Ham United 31 May 2019 First team 23 August 2018 DM Muhamed Bešić Everton 31 May 2019 First team 30 August 2018 LM Sam McQueen Southampton 31 May 2019 First team 31 August 2018 CB Danny Batth Wolverhampton Wanderers 28 January 2019 First team 31 August 2018 CM George Saville Millwall 31 December 2018 First team 1 January 2019 LW Rajiv van La Parra Huddersfield Town 31 May 2019 First team

Loans out Start date Position Nationality Name To End date Team Ref. 1 July 2018 GK Joe Fryer Carlisle United 31 May 2019 Academy 9 July 2018 LB Hayden Coulson St Mirren 17 October 2018 Academy 16 July 2018 CF Luke ArmstrongGateshead 31 December 2018 Academy 16 July 2018 CF George Miller Bradford City 30 January 2019 Academy 27 July 2018 GK Aynsley Pears Gateshead 31 May 2019 Academy 3 August 2018 MF Alex Pattison Yeovil Town 31 May 2019 Academy 9 August 2018 GK Connor Ripley Accrington Stanley 8 January 2019 First team 29 August 2018 LB Nathan McGinley Forest Green Rovers 31 December 2018 Academy 30 August 2018 CB Enes Mahmutovic Yeovil Town 1 January 2019 Academy 31 August 2018 LM Marvin Johnson Sheffield United 31 May 2019 First team 9 November 2018 CF Tyrone O'Neill Hartlepool United 31 December 2018 Academy 3 January 2019 CF Martin Braithwaite Leganés 31 May 2019 First team 11 January 2019 CF Luke ArmstrongAccrington Stanley 31 May 2019 Academy 31 January 2019 LB Hayden Coulson Cambridge United 31 May 2019 Academy 31 January 2019 DM Ben Liddle Forest Green Rovers 31 May 2019 Academy 31 January 2019 CB Sam Stubbs Notts County 31 May 2019 Academy 31 January 2019 AM Stephen Walker Milton Keynes Dons 31 May 2019 Academy 7 February 2019 GK Andy Lonergan Rochdale 21 February 2019 First team

References