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Full Cup Record against Middlesbrough

FA CUP

SEASON   RD    H/A    RES    SCORERS
1904-05   1     A     1-1     Glen
1904-05   1(R)  H     1-0     O'Hagan
1955-56   4     H     3-1     Norman,
			      Dunmore, Robb
1965-66   3     H     4-0     Mackay (2) (1 pen)
                              Saul 2
2019-20   3     A     1-1     Lucas Moura
2019-20   3R    H     2-1     Lo Celso, Lamela

LEAGUE CUP

1972-73   3     A     1-1     Pearce
1972-73   3(R)  H     0-0 (a.e.t)
1972-73   3(2R) H     2-1     Gilzean, Peters
1974-75   2     H     0-4   
1976-77   2     A     2-1     Moores, Neighbour
2003-04  Q-F    H     1-1     Anderton
(a.e.t - lost 5-4 pens) 	
2007-08   3     H     2-0     Bale, Huddlestone

Still up North, and up for the Cup!

Although they’ve only had one Premier League season since their 2009 relegation (that was in 2016/17), it’s not that long since we travelled to The Riverside. Only two years ago we played an FA Cup Third Round tie on Teesside when we were grateful to Lucas Moura for an equaliser which gave us a replay at The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The man who scored our last trophy-winning goal, Jonathan Woodgate, was the "Boro" manager then and although we scored early home goals through Lo Celso and Lamela, the win was not easy with George Saville scoring late to make us twitch. Tomorrow night we will not have the luxury of a replay and will have to play extra-time if the game is not decided after 90 minutes.

We certainly don’t want a penalty shoot-out. Middlesbrough kept their cool at the end of an excellent 1-1 draw at Old Trafford to win 8-7 on penalties. Spurs had a very poor record in those shoot-outs until recent years and lost against Middlesbrough on penalties in a December 2003 League Cup fifth round game. Managed then by Steve McClaren, "Boro" went on to beat Arsenal in the semi-final and won the trophy by defeating Bolton 2-1. That was their last major trophy, although they did reach a UEFA Cup Final in 2006 when they were beaten 4-0 by Sevilla. Spurs had their shortest-ever domestic season that year, with no European football and exits from both domestic cups at the first hurdle – and to lower league opponents. McClaren went on to manage England, and while he had some success with FC Twente, he has never reached the same domestic heights as he did with Middlesbrough.

Gareth Southgate took over, having played 160 league games for "Boro", but it was under his leadership that they fell to The Championship in 2009. Managers Gordon Strachan and Tony Mowbray came and went, but Aitor Karanka was in charge when Middlesbrough returned to the top flight in 2016. They lasted one season. Heung-min Son scored both our goals in a 2-1 away win in September 2016, and in my match report I wrote:- "20 year old midfielder Adama Traore – signed in the summer from relegated Aston Villa – worried Spurs with his pace, but not so much with his inaccuracy!" Not a lot changed in subsequent years, although we apparently tried to sign Traore from Wolves in January. We finished runners-up in that 2016/17 season, but the home win over "Boro" was also narrow and thanks to a Harry Kane penalty.

Karanka moved on after that last relegation and was last seen at Birmingham for the 2020/21 season. After a short spell in the charge of Garry Monk, Tony Pulis took over, but he was replaced by Jonathan Woodgate who was in charge for most of the 2019/20 season before Neil Warnock took over. Finally, Neil Warnock packed his 73-year-old bags and former Sheffield United man Chris Wilder took over. Middlesbrough were a mid-table side, but Wilder has put them into play-off reckoning with a run of 14 league games during which they lost just three times. Saturday’s 3-2 defeat to strugglers Barnsley was a set-back. Middlesbrough beat Mansfield in the third round before that success at Old Trafford which meant Manchester United were the first team out of the fourth round.

One of Middlesbrough’s scorers at Barnsley was Slovenian striker Andraz Sporar, who is on loan from Sporting Lisbon. Sporar’s goal on Saturday was a penalty and was his eighth Championship goal in 27 appearances (4 as sub). This was his third penalty. 28-year-old midfielder Matt Crooks also has 8 league goals to his name. Crooks has scored five league and cup goals in his last seven games. Duncan Watmore is next on the scorers’ list with five league goals, followed by Northern Ireland International Patrick McNair (4 goals) who started his career at Manchester United before moving on to Sunderland then "Boro".

In January, Middlesbrough acquired the loan services of Arsenal’s Folarin Balogun. Familiar names in the “Boro” squad include defender Souleymane Bamba (formerly of Cardiff). Bamba’s last game was the fourth round tie at old Trafford. 33-year-old midfielder Jonny Howson is a veteran of 564 league appearances, spread fairly evenly between Leeds, Norwich and now Middlesbrough. 27-year-old goalkeeper Joe Lumley was born at Harlow and spent his career with QPR, with loans at various clubs before signing permanent terms this season on Teesside.

There is a former Spurs player in the Middlesbrough squad, but he hasn’t played since early November. His name is Grant Hall, who we signed from Brighton as a 20-year-old in 2012. Grant spent the season with our under-21 side, but never made a senior competitive appearance. Hall was with QPR for five seasons before his move to Middlesbrough.

A member of our 1991 FA Cup winning side (although he wasn’t on the field for too long!) was Paul Gascoigne, who played for Middlesbrough between 1998 and 2000 before a move to Everton. "Gazza" made 112 appearances for Spurs in his three seasons with us, scoring 33 goals, including of course the memorable free kick goal in the 1991 semi-final. His Middlesbrough appearances numbered 48 with just 4 goals. Paul faced us twice in the 1998/99 season, but thankfully didn’t score. He was heartily cheered by Spurs fans on any encounter. Who knows? Maybe "Gazza" (who I believe is once again domiciled in the north-east) will be in the stadium tomorrow!

I was checking records for another instance of four consecutive away games in the North of England. I have not looked further than 20 years back, and have not found an identical run. There have been other occasions when we had four consecutive away games, but perhaps January and February 2011 was one of our most arduous spells regarding travel. Seven of eight successive games were away. The fixtures were (in sequence):- Newcastle (A), Fulham (A – FA Cup), Blackburn (A), Bolton (H), Sunderland (A), A.C. Milan (A) , Blackpool (A) and finally Wolves (A).

The Spurs squad for tomorrow is the same as at Leeds, which means continuing absences for Tanganga, Skipp, Bentancur and Lucas Moura. Maybe Antonio will switch his wing-backs with Emerson Royal and Reguilon starting. As always, we will have to wait and see. I think this will be a tough game but take Spurs to win by two goals. The game kicks off at 7.55pm and is being shown on BBC1 here in the UK. I shall be in attendance and will post a report on Wednesday morning.

Did you know? – Bill Nicholson’s last game in charge of Spurs was a 4-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough in the 1974 League Cup match. Much to our dismay, Terry Neill took over, and whilst we won Neill’s first two games, we then lost a league match at home to "Boro" who also beat us 3-0 later that season at Ayresome Park. Spurs escaped relegation as a result of late-season wins over Chelsea and Leeds.

Match referee Darren England is in charge of a Spurs game for only the second time. The previous occasion was our Carabao Cup Fifth Round tie in December, 2020, which we won 3-1. Mr. England has officiated in 10 Premier League games this season, the last of which was Manchester City v Brentford on 9th February. There is no VAR for this game as it is being played at a Championship stadium. Incidentally, the fourth official is Craig Pawson who seems to be following us around at the moment. He was in the same position for our recent win at The Etihad and was in the middle at Elland Road!

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