Top five Middlesbrough captains of all time, ranked

Take a look at every Middlesbrough captain in the club’s history, with a ranking of the top five so far.

Middlesbrough have had some simply superb players join their ranks over the years, all playing a part in successful spells for the club.

From European nights to League Cup success, Boro have had their fair share of highs in the modern era.

However, very few of Middlesbrough’s best players got the chance to wear the captain’s armband to lead the team out to battle.

Of the players that were afforded the honour, only a few truly stepped up and led Boro to glory.

With this in mind, Boro News have taken a look at every Middlesbrough captain and ranked the top five.

Middlesbrough’s most successful captains

5 – Brian Clough

Brian Clough began his senior career with his hometown club of Middlesbrough in 1955.

The striker quickly became a local hero thanks to his prolific goalscoring record. Clough found the net 204 times in 222 games for Boro and remains one of the Football League’s highest goalscorers.

Clough was handed the armband in 1958, despite only being 23 years of age at the time, and held onto it until his transfer to Sunderland in 1961.

4 – Tony Mowbray

Tony Mowbray will go down as one of Middlesbrough’s all-time greatest captains following his role in rescuing the club from the threat of extinction.

Steve Gibson saved the Teessiders from liquidation in 1986, with Mowbray handed the armband in the same year.

Boro sat in the Third Division ahead of the 1986/87 campaign but returned to the First Division within three seasons, in no small part due to Mowbray leading the line.

Mowbray gave up the captaincy in 1991 when he left Middlesbrough for Sunderland.

3 – Nigel Pearson

Middlesbrough signed Nigel Pearson from Sheffield Wednesday in 1994, with the defender instantly handed the captaincy by manager, Bryan Robson.

Pearson was the epitome of a no-nonsense skipper who led by example and took no prisoners. He kept hold of the armband until 1998 when he retired.

During his time as captain, Pearson guided Middlesbrough to two Premier League promotions, two League Cup finals, and an FA Cup final.

2 – Grant Leadbitter

Middlesbrough’s most recent promotion to the Premier League following the 2015/16 season would not have been possible without Grant Leadbitter.

After two years of impressing in a subpar team, incoming manager Aitor Karanka handed Leadbitter the captaincy ahead of 2014/15 and was rewarded for his decision.

The midfielder’s aggressive leadership helped guide Boro to the Championship play-off final in 2015 before they secured promotion in 2015/16.

Leadbitter fell out of favour following the Reds’ return to the top flight but his contribution to their promotion charge in the mid 2010s cannot be understated.

1 – Gareth Southgate

One of the all-time greats at Middlesbrough, Gareth Southgate has to go down as the best captain in the club’s history.

As fans of the England national team are likely aware, Southgate does not possess that aggressive nature some may desire from a skipper.

However, Southgate was Middlesbrough’s captain during the club’s most successful period and for that alone, he should be number one.

The centre-back held the armband between 2004-2008, during which time Middlesbrough won the League Cup and reached the UEFA Cup final.

Every Middlesbrough captain

1900s

1910s

1920s

1930s

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s