# 1988–89 Middlesbrough F.C. season

During the 1988–89 English football season, Middlesbrough finished third from bottom in the Football League First Division and were relegated after just one season.
After a decent first half of the season, having occupied seventh place in November, they won just one of their last 17 League matches and fell into the relegation places on the final day of the season after losing 1–0 to Sheffield Wednesday. Bernie Slaven was one of the First Division's top scorers with 15 goals in the League, but Peter Davenport scored just four times after signing from Manchester United.
Middlesbrough were eliminated from both the FA Cup and the League Cup at the round they entered each competition. They were beaten by lower league opposition, Grimsby Town and Tranmere Rovers respectively.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 16 | Luton Town | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 42 | 52 | −10 | 41 | |
| 17 | Aston Villa | 38 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 45 | 56 | −11 | 40 | |
| 18 | Middlesbrough (R) | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 44 | 61 | −17 | 39 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 19 | West Ham United (R) | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 37 | 62 | −25 | 38 | Relegation to the Second Division |
| 20 | Newcastle United (R) | 38 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 32 | 63 | −31 | 31 | Relegation to the Second Division |

## Squad
### Appearances and goals

Appearance and goalscoring records for all the players who were in the Middlesbrough F.C. first team squad during the 1988–89 season.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Division 1 | Division 1 | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Simod Cup | Simod Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Stephen Pears | 33 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | GK | ENG | Kevin Poole | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Colin Cooper | 42 | 2 | 35 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | IRL | Alan Kernaghan | 26 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Nicky Mohan | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Tony Mowbray | 44 | 3 | 37 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Gary Pallister | 44 | 1 | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Gary Parkinson | 41 | 2 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Mark Barham | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Mark Brennan | 31 | 3 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Mark Burke | 33 | 5 | 29 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Gary Gill | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Dean Glover | 15 | 3 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | MF | SCO | Gary Hamilton | 43 | 4 | 36 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Paul Kerr | 24 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Mark Proctor | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Stuart Ripley | 42 | 3 | 36 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Peter Davenport | 28 | 5 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | Paul Proudlock | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Trevor Senior | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | IRL | Bernie Slaven | 44 | 18 | 37 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 |