# 2016–17 Middlesbrough F.C. season

The 2016–17 season was Middlesbrough's fifteenth season in the Premier League, their first since relegation in the 2008–09 season, after gaining promotion the previous season in their 141st year in existence. Along with the Premier League, the club also competed in the FA Cup and EFL Cup. The season covered the period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.
Middlesbrough's long-awaited return to the top flight proved to be disastrous, as the team struggled to score goals all season, despite boasting a strong defensive record compared to other teams in the bottom half of the table. Their total of 27 goals scored throughout the season was the lowest in the Premier League, leading to manager Aitor Karanka's dismissal in March. Caretaker manager Steve Agnew could not improve the team's fortunes as they were relegated back to the Championship on 8 May 2017 following their 3–0 away defeat to Chelsea, who would go on to become champions.

## Squad
### First team squad

    As of 2 February 2017.
| Squad No. | Name | Position(s) | Date of Birth (Age) | Previous Team |
| Goalkeepers ||||||
| 1 | Dimitrios Konstantopoulos | GK | (1978-11-29)29 November 1978 (aged 38) | AEK Athens |
| 12 | Brad Guzan | GK | (1984-09-09)9 September 1984 (aged 32) | Aston Villa |
| 26 | Victor Valdes | GK | (1987-01-14)14 January 1987 (aged 30) | Barcelona |
| Defenders ||||||
| 2 | Fábio | FB | (1990-07-09)9 July 1990 (aged 26) | Cardiff City |
| 3 | George Friend | LB | (1987-10-17)17 October 1987 (aged 29) | Doncaster Rovers |
| 4 | Daniel Ayala | CB | (1990-11-07)7 November 1990 (aged 26) | Norwich City |
| 5 | Bernardo Espinosa | CB | (1989-07-11)11 July 1989 (aged 27) | Sporting Gijón |
| 6 | Ben Gibson | CB | (1993-01-15)15 January 1993 (aged 24) | Academy |
| 17 | Antonio Barragán | RB | (1987-06-12)12 June 1987 (aged 30) | Valencia |
| 22 | Dael Fry | CB | (1997-08-30)30 August 1997 (aged 19) | Academy |
| 25 | Calum Chambers L | RB / CB | (1995-01-20)20 January 1995 (aged 22) | Arsenal |
| 40 | James Husband | LB | (1994-01-03)3 January 1994 (aged 23) | Doncaster Rovers |
| - | Jordan McGhee L | RB | (1996-07-24)24 July 1996 (aged 20) | Hearts |
| - | Nathan McGinley | LB | (1996-09-15)15 September 1996 (aged 20) | Academy |
| Midfielders ||||||
| 7 | Grant Leadbitter | DM / CM | (1986-01-07)7 January 1986 (aged 31) | Ipswich Town |
| 8 | Adam Clayton | DM / CM | (1989-01-14)14 January 1989 (aged 28) | Huddersfield Town |
| 14 | Marten de Roon | DM / CM | (1991-03-29)29 March 1991 (aged 26) | Atalanta |
| 18 | Cristhian Stuani | RM / CF | (1986-10-12)12 October 1986 (aged 30) | Espanyol |
| 19 | Stewart Downing | AM / LM / RM | (1984-07-22)22 July 1984 (aged 32) | West Ham United |
| 21 | Gastón Ramírez | AM | (1990-12-02)2 December 1990 (aged 26) | Southampton |
| 27 | Adlène Guedioura | CM | (1985-11-12)12 November 1985 (aged 31) | Watford |
| 34 | Adam Forshaw | CM / DM | (1991-10-08)8 October 1991 (aged 25) | Wigan Athletic |
| - | Alex Pattison | AM | (1997-09-06)6 September 1997 (aged 19) | Academy |
| - | Lewis Maloney | CM | (1995-05-05)5 May 1995 (aged 22) | Academy |
| Strikers ||||||
| 10 | Álvaro Negredo L | CF | (1985-08-20)20 August 1985 (aged 31) | Valencia |
| 11 | Viktor Fischer | LW | (1994-06-09)9 June 1994 (aged 23) | Ajax |
| 20 | Patrick Bamford | CF | (1993-09-05)5 September 1993 (aged 23) | Chelsea |
| 29 | Rudy Gestede | FW | (1988-10-10)10 October 1988 (aged 28) | Aston Villa |
| 37 | Adama Traoré | RW | (1996-01-25)25 January 1996 (aged 21) | Aston Villa |
* L = Player on Loan

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 1 July 2016 | DF | Bernardo Espinosa | Sporting Gijón | Free |
| 1 July 2016 | FW | Viktor Fischer | Ajax | £3,800,000 |
| 4 July 2016 | MF | Marten de Roon | Atalanta | £12,000,000 |
| 7 July 2016 | GK | Víctor Valdés | Manchester United | Free |
| 15 July 2016 | DF | Antonio Barragán | Valencia | £3,000,000 |
| 18 July 2016 | MF | Gastón Ramírez | Southampton | Free |
| 29 July 2016 | GK | Brad Guzan | Aston Villa | Free |
| 12 August 2016 | DF | Fábio | Cardiff City | £2,000,000 |
| 31 August 2016 | FW | Adama Traoré | Aston Villa | £7,500,000 |
| 4 January 2017 | FW | Rudy Gestede | Aston Villa | £6,000,000 |
| 5 January 2017 | FW | Mikael Soisalo | Ilves | Undisclosed |
| 18 January 2017 | FW | Patrick Bamford | Chelsea | £6,000,000 |
| 31 January 2017 | MF | Adlène Guedioura | Watford | £4,500,000 |
| 2 February 2017 | MF | William Opoku Asiedu | Okyeman Planners | Free |
    Total spending £20,800,000

### Loans in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Date until |
| 5 July 2016 | DF | Jordan McGhee | Hearts | End of season |
| 20 July 2016 | FW | Álvaro Negredo | Valencia | End of season |
| 30 August 2016 | DF | Calum Chambers | Arsenal | End of season |
| 2 February 2017 | DF | Pedro Silva Torrejón | Boca Juniors | End of season |

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Date until |
| 1 July 2016 | DF | Jonny Burn | Kilmarnock | 4 January 2017 |
| 9 July 2016 | GK | Connor Ripley | Oldham Athletic | End of season |
| 12 August 2016 | MF | Harry Chapman | Sheffield United | End of season |
| 30 August 2016 | FW | Bradley Fewster | Hartlepool United | End of season |
| 31 August 2016 | DF | Alex Baptiste | Preston North End | End of season |
| 31 August 2016 | DF | Dael Fry | Rotherham United | 4 January 2017 |
| 5 January 2017 | MF | Julien De Sart | Derby County | End of season |
| 5 January 2017 | GK | Tomás Mejías | Rayo Vallecano | End of season |
| 26 January 2017 | GK | Joseph Fryer | Hartlepool United | End of season |
| 27 January 2017 | DF | Mark Kitching | Rochdale | 31 January 2017 |
| 31 January 2017 | MF | Harry Chapman | Sheffield United | End of season |
| 31 January 2017 | MF | Callum Cooke | Crewe Alexandra | End of season |
| 31 January 2017 | MF | Carlos de Pena | Real Oviedo | End of season |
| 1 February 2017 | FW | Jordan Rhodes | Sheffield Wednesday | End of season |
| 2 February 2017 | MF | William Opoku Asiedu | Levadia | End of next season |
| 2 February 2017 | MF | Robbie Tinkler | North Ferriby United | End of season |
* ↑ On 4 January 2017, Dael Fry was recalled back from his loan at Rotherham United.
* ↑ On 31 January 2017, Mark Kitching's loan was made permanent.

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 1 July 2016 | DF | Damià Abella | Retired | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | DF | Jonathan Woodgate | Retired | Released |
| 1 July 2016 | DF | Rhys Williams | Perth Glory | Free |
| 1 July 2016 | GK | Luke Coddington | Huddersfield Town | Free |
| 1 July 2016 | MF | Jordan Jones | Kilmarnock | Free |
| 1 July 2016 | DF | Andre Bennett | Bishop Auckland | Free |
| 30 August 2016 | DF | Adam Jackson | Barnsley | Undisclosed |
| 30 August 2016 | DF | Brad Halliday | Cambridge United | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2016 | MF | Mustapha Carayol | Nottingham Forest | Free |
| 31 August 2016 | MF | Albert Adomah | Aston Villa | Undisclosed |
| 31 August 2016 | MF | Adam Reach | Sheffield Wednesday | £5,000,000 |
| 9 January 2017 | FW | David Nugent | Derby County | Undisclosed |
| 18 January 2017 | DF | Emilio Nsue | Birmingham City | Undisclosed |
| 20 January 2017 | MF | Bryn Morris | Shrewsbury Town | Undisclosed |
| 26 January 2017 | DF | Jonny Burn | Bristol Rovers | Undisclosed |
| 31 January 2017 | FW | Arnel Jakupovic | Empoli | Undisclosed |
| 31 January 2017 | DF | Mark Kitching | Rochdale | Undisclosed |
| 1 February 2017 | FW | Jordan Rhodes | Sheffield Wednesday | Undisclosed |
* ↑ Fee Reported as £2,500,000

## New contracts

| No. | Pos | Player | Contract length | Contract end | Date |
| 4 | CB | Daniel Ayala | 4 years | 2020 | 5 August 2016 |
| 3 | LB | George Friend | 4 years | 2020 | 13 August 2016 |
| 6 | CB | Ben Gibson | 5 years | 2021 | 20 August 2016 |
| 34 | CM | Adam Forshaw | 4 years | 2020 | 26 August 2016 |
| 22 | CB | Dael Fry | 5 years | 2021 | 31 August 2016 |

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Premier League | 38 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 27 | 53 | −26 | 013.16 |
| FA Cup | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 075.00 |
| League Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Total | 43 | 8 | 13 | 22 | 35 | 59 | −24 | 018.60 |
Updated to match played 8 May 2017 Source: Competitions

### Pre-season friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss

### Premier League
#### Matches

Win  Draw  Loss

#### Results by matchday

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A |
| Result | D | W | D | L | L | L | D | L | D | W | D | L | D | W | L | L | W | L | L | D | D | L | D | L | D | L | L | L | D | L | D | L | L | W | D | L | L | L |
| Position | 9 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 21 May 2017. Source: Premier League

#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 16 | Burnley | 38 | 11 | 7 | 20 | 39 | 55 | −16 | 40 | |
| 17 | Watford | 38 | 11 | 7 | 20 | 40 | 68 | −28 | 40 | |
| 18 | Hull City (R) | 38 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 37 | 80 | −43 | 34 | Relegation to EFL Championship |
| 19 | Middlesbrough (R) | 38 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 27 | 53 | −26 | 28 | Relegation to EFL Championship |
| 20 | Sunderland (R) | 38 | 6 | 6 | 26 | 29 | 69 | −40 | 24 | Relegation to EFL Championship |

### FA Cup

Win  Draw  Loss

### EFL Cup

Win  Draw  Loss

## Statistics
### Appearances

| No. | Pos. | Name | Premier League | Premier League | Premier League | FA Cup | FA Cup | FA Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Cup | EFL Cup | Total | Total | Total | Discipline | Discipline |
| No. | Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | | |
| 1 | GK | Dimitrios Konstantopoulos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Fábio | 21 (3) | 0 | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 25 (3) | 0 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | George Friend | 20 (4) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 22 (5) | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Daniel Ayala | 11 (3) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 (3) | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | Bernardo Espinosa | 10 (1) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 (1) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Ben Gibson | 38 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Grant Leadbitter | 7 (6) | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 (6) | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | Adam Clayton | 32 (2) | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 36 (2) | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Álvaro Negredo | 33 (3) | 9 | 4 | 1 (2) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 (5) | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | Viktor Fischer | 6 (7) | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 (7) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | Brad Guzan | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Marten de Roon | 32 (1) | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 (1) | 5 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | Antonio Barragán | 26 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | Cristhian Stuani | 16 (7) | 4 | 0 | 2 (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 18 (10) | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 19 | MF | Stewart Downing | 24 (6) | 1 | 3 | 2 (1) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 (7) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | FW | Patrick Bamford | 2 (6) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 (6) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | Gastón Ramírez | 20 (4) | 2 | 3 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 (6) | 2 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
| 22 | DF | Dael Fry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | Calum Chambers | 24 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 26 | GK | Víctor Valdés | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | Adlène Guedioura | 0 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | FW | Rudy Gestede | 4 (12) | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 (12) | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | Adam Forshaw | 30 (4) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 30 (5) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 37 | FW | Adama Traoré | 16 (11) | 0 | 1 | 3 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 (12) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | DF | James Husband | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who left the club in August/January transfer window or on loan |||||||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | Jordan Rhodes | 2 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | Tomás Mejías | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Alex Baptiste | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | Carlos de Pena | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | Adam Reach | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | Julien De Sart | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | Emilio Nsue | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | Albert Adomah | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | David Nugent | 0 (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 (4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| - | MF | Bryn Morris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Top scorers

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
| Rnk | Pos | No. | Player | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | 10 | Álvaro Negredo | 9 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | RM | 18 | Cristhian Stuani | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | CM | 14 | Marten de Roon | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | CM | 7 | Grant Leadbitter | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | AM | 21 | Gastón Ramírez | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | LM | 19 | Stewart Downing | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | FW | 29 | Rudy Gestede | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | CB | 4 | Daniel Ayala | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | CB | 6 | Ben Gibson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | FW | 20 | Patrick Bamford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | CB | 25 | Calum Chambers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | FW | 35 | David Nugent | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 27 | 7 | 1 | 35 |

### Clean sheets

The list is sorted by shirt number when total appearances are equal.
| Rnk | No. | Player | Premier League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | 26 | Víctor Valdés | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | 12 | Brad Guzan | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | 1 | Dimitrios Konstantopoulos | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | 13 | Tomás Mejías | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Total | Total | 11 | 2 | 0 | 13 |