Play fair...there’s a place in Europe at stake.
Twelve points clear of the relegation zone but eight points shy of the top six, Boro were well on their way to a steady if not spectacular mid-table finish in the Premier League.
But they were sitting pretty in the top six of another table that mattered - the fair play league.
And it was on this day in 2003 when it emerged that if Boro could climb above Manchester City and Southampton in that league, they were almost guaranteed a shot at the UEFA Cup.
At the time England topped UEFA’s fair play rankings so the side with the best disciplinary record had a free pass into Europe.
Liverpool, Manchester United and Newcastle all looked certainties to qualify via their league position so it was over to Boro to avoid the cautions and catch City and the Saints.
“The gap between the two teams is currently 27 points,” reported Eric Paylor on the Gazette’s back page.
“One point is awarded for every foul, three for every booking and six for a sending off.
“So Boro have eight games left in which to close the gap on City by avoiding all rushes of blood, and by keeping their mouths shut when refs make disputed decisions.”
No-nonsense engine room battle George Boateng was the only Boro player who had picked up five yellow cards that season.
For Steve McClaren, March couldn’t get much better.
His side were on a five-match unbeaten run which included victories away at Sunderland and Leeds and a 1-0 home win over Newcastle and now he’d discovered this possible gateway into Europe.
The boss won’t have wanted any of his all-action players to lose their bite but he surely had one eye on the fair play table as well as the Premier League.
No comments:
Post a Comment