329: Fabrizio Ravanelli, Middlesbrough, Merlin’s Premier League 97 Official Sticker Collection

In the summer of 1996 football came home as England hosted the European Championships. The tournament will be remembered for a range of reasons. The host nation went all the way to the semi-finals courtesy of an incredible goal from Paul Gascoigne against Scotland, a performance for the ages against a star-studded Netherlands side and David Seaman saving penalties for fun against Spain. Needless to say Germany turned up and ruined it and went on to beat the Czech Republic in the final. But at least you could still wear England’s snazzy grey away shirt with jeans so all was not lost.

 

English football fans weren’t just left with a versatile casual garment after the tournament as many of Euro 96’s continental stars attracted the attention of Premier League clubs. Czech midfield maestros Patrik Berger and Karel Porborsky headed to Liverpool and Manchester United respectively. The latter also signed Jordi Cruyff on the basis his old man was apparently quite handy and, despite the fact that Italy had crashed out in the group stage, Chelsea plundered Serie A to sign Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo and Gianluca Vialli. Perhaps more surprising though was the £7m transfer of Vialli’s Juventus strike partner to Middlesbrough fresh from getting on the scoresheet in their Champions League final victory over Ajax: Fabrizio Ravanelli.



Boro had enjoyed something of a renaissance in the 1990s under the management of former Manchester United legend Bryan Robson and had celebrated their return to the Premier League in 1995 with a move to the 30,000 seater Riverside Stadium and the signing of the excellent Brazilian midfielder Juninho. Having finished twelfth in the 1995/96 season the Teesiders looked to bolster their squad with the capture of Ravanelli alongside Brazilian star Emerson and Italian defender Gianluca Festa. What could possibly go wrong?

 

The first day of the season hinted at good things. A sunny Riverside witnessed a thrilling 3-3 draw against title hopefuls Liverpool with new arrival Ravanelli scoring a hat-trick and treating fans to his now infamous shirt over head celebration. As an aside Liverpool were able to give a league debut to their questionable ecru away shirt which also looked good with jeans. After a run of three straight wins against West Ham United, Coventry City and Aston Villa in September, with Ravanelli finding the net on three more occasions, Boro sat in fourth place in the Premier League and had decimated Third Division Hereford United in the League Cup. This time Ravanelli scored four in one game as part of a 10-0 aggregate victory.

 

Despite continuing to sweep all before them in the League Cup, with ‘The White Feather’ netting three more goals, Boro failed to register another win in the Premier League until Boxing Day by which time they were in a relegation battle. Injuries and illness had ravaged them to the extent that Bryan Robson pulled his side out of a fixture in December with Blackburn Rovers at the last minute leading to a three-point deduction. These three points would prove vital at the end of the season.

 

The domestic cups provided some much needed solace for Boro and in January 1997 they defeated Liverpool in the League Cup quarter-finals as well as sweeping past Chester City and Hednesford Town in the FA Cup with Ravanelli scoring three more goals. Across February and March they enjoyed further cup victories against Manchester City, Derby County and Stockport County to reach the League Cup final and FA Cup semi-finals and finally saw some positive results in the Premier League with four straight victories dragging them out of the relegation zone. Six goals from Ravanelli were instrumental in this late season flourish.

 

Sadly for Middlesbrough the 1996/97 campaign would end as a story of near misses. The League Cup final against Leicester City ended in a 1-1 draw, with Ravanelli on the scoresheet of course, but they lost the replay 1-0 after extra time. They reached the FA Cup final after an epic semi-final against Chesterfield, with two more Ravanelli goals for good measure, but lost 2-0 to Chelsea in the showcase event at Wembley. Perhaps most tragically though they were relegated from the Premier League despite an undefeated May. They had enough points and good enough goal difference to actually sit fourteenth but that three-point deduction back in December cost them at the last. Still, good news for Coventry who stayed up as a result.

 

Ravanelli stuck around for two games after relegation, scoring against Charlton Athletic on the opening day of the 1997/98 season, but was soon on his way to Marseille. According to Wikipedia Ravanelli left under a cloud having spent a lot of time complaining about training regimes and Middlesbrough itself but recent events suggest a different relationship with the Teeside club. His former Boro team-mate Mikkel Beck is in the process of organising a charity match to raise money for victims of Covid-19 and the announcement of Ravanelli’s return to the Riverside has met with a hugely positive response from Boro fans. I guess 32 goals in 50 games will do that. That or the promise of seeing that iconic celebration one more time.

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