Middlesbrough 96-97: Only two players ended up being released in Boro's new kit - that being Juninho and Italain striker Fabrizio Ravanelli (bought in from Juventus). It was an odd decision to release just two players although it's understandable why these two were chosen as they we Boro's key performers. A lot of players were still playing for Boro in 96-97 though. Jamie Pollock and Jamie Moreno left before the season began but Alan Miller, Nick Barmby, John Hendrie and Jan Aage Fjortoft did still play a few games before moving on, there moves likely killing any planned release. Master models made were Branco, Emerson and Mikkel Beck. Unfortunately neither Branco nor Emerson were released although we did manage to get our hands on Beck as he was later released for the Denmark 98 Squad. Unreleased masters from the prior season consisting of Alan Miller, Robbie Mustoe, Craig Hignett, Nigel Pearson, Bryan Robson (manager) and Steve Vickers were (again) denied a release. 

Custom Sculpts: No changes for Boro as all sculpts from 95-96 carry over, however addition sculpts of known players like Mark Schwarzer, Gianluca Festa & Vladamir Kinder will be considered in a few years time. Mikkel Beck will be recreated from his Denmark model but with his posed altered back to his Boro pose.

Kit Usage: Boro debuted their new kit at the beginning of the 96-97 campaign in which they drew 3-3 with Liverpool at The Riverside with Fabrizio Ravanelli scoring a hatrick in his Premier League debut. Bjornebye put the visitors ahead before Ravenlli levelled from the spot. John Barnes then put the Reds 2-1 up before Ravanelli struck again. During the second half Robbie Fowler made it 3:2 before Ravenlli secured his third in the 81st minute. Boro's last game in this kit came after the season end as they faced Chelsea in the FA Cup final, losing 2-0.

Achievements 96-97:
Premier League: 19th
FA Cup: Runners-up (2-0 loss to Chelsea)
League Cup: Runners-up (1-0 replay loss to Leicester City)

A pretty brutal season for Middlesbrough, not only were they relegated from the Premier League but they lost both the FA Cup and League Cup finals. They drew 1-1 with Leeds in the last game of the season. Had they managed to win then they would have stayed up regardless of Coventry's result (who's goal difference was much worse). However Coventry won 2-1 away to Spurs sealing Boro's fate. In the League Cup final they actually drew 1-1 with Leicester (with both goals scored after extra time) however rather than penalties, both teams were set to replay. Steve Claridge scored the winner (again, after extra time) during the the replay, it was the last time that The League Cup final was to be settled via a replay.

Make & Sponsor: Boro's kit was again supplied by Errea and Cellnet (British Telecoms) continued as their shirt sponsor. The kit isn't too far from it's real life counterpart but did present a few problems Corinthian didn't/couldn't overcome and so it was simplified. The collar design is very close, although the detailing around v-neck should have triangular white shaping rather than a straight line but it's not enough to mark it down. What I would have expected is the skin colour around the v-neck to be painted red as the shirt (like many of the football kits at the time) donned this feature. Boro's badge should have also been on the left arm, rather than the traditional left breast. The kit also had a darker red line running down the right side which was hard to see in certain lights but continued onto the shorts and the word "Boro" in white writing was also present, reading vertically down the shots over the top of the same red line. I think the Red chosen is off but not significantly, it just could have been a bit brighter but with a deeper hue to take it away from it's vermillion base tone. The socks had a white and navy line which could have been painted a bit closer to one another as red mainly dominated the socks. I think Corinthian needing to Tampo print the "Boro" on the shorts and the badge on the arm was just too much messing about but in the end Boro's kit was close enough to pass. 
Rating: 8/10

Pack Releases:

Single Blisters: Both players were available via single blister purchase

4 Packs:
N/A

12 Pack:
N/A