The 2025–26 season was the 150th season in the history of Middlesbrough Football Club, and the club's consecutive season in the Championship. In addition to the domestic league, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
Managerial changes Prior to the season starting, Rob Edwards was appointed as the new head coach on a three-year contract. On 12 November, after 15 games in charge and a win ratio of 46.67%, he resigned as head coach to join Wolverhampton Wanderers. Twelve days later, Kim Hellberg was appointed head coach from Swedish side Hammarby.
Transfers and contracts In DatePos.PlayerFromFeeRef. 1 July 2025 GK Owen Foster Hull City Free 4 July 2025 CB Archie Baptiste Tottenham Hotspur 25 July 2025 CF Jayden Carbon Oxford City Undisclosed CB Jack Daley Newcastle Blue Star Free transfer CB Alfie Jones Hull City £3,000,000 29 July 2025 DM Abdoulaye Kanté Troyes £2,610,000 4 August 2025 RB Callum Brittain Blackburn Rovers £3,500,000 13 August 2025 RW Sontje Hansen NEC Nijmegen £3,000,000 20 August 2025 CB Adilson Malanda Charlotte £7,364,000 29 August 2025 CF Kaly Sène Lausanne-Sport £1,500,000 1 September 2025 GK Jon McLaughlin Swansea City Free CF David Strelec Slovan Bratislava £8,000,000 9 January 2026 DM Leo Castledine Chelsea £1,000,000 15 January 2026 LB Finley Munroe Aston Villa £300,000 3 February 2026 CF Hinneh Lord Listowell Asante Kotoko Undisclosed
Expenditure: ≈ £30,274,000 (all fees converted into GBP)
Out DatePos.PlayerToFeeRef. 20 June 2025 GK Zach Hemming Chesterfield £150,000 26 June 2025 CF Josh Coburn Millwall £5,000,000 13 August 2025 CB Rav van den Berg Köln £11,200,000 29 August 2025 CAM Finn Azaz Southampton £12,000,000 17 January 2026 LB Lukas Engel Real Salt Lake £740,000 LW Charlie Lennon Barnsley Undisclosed 27 March 2026 CF Sonny Finch South Shields Free Transfer Income: £29,090,000
Loans in DatePos.PlayerFromDate untilRef. 19 August 2025 CM Sverre Nypan Manchester City 2 February 2026 27 August 2025 LB Matt Targett Newcastle United 31 May 2026 1 September 2025 CM Alan Browne Sunderland 27 January 2026 LW Jeremy Sarmiento Brighton & Hove Albion 2 February 2026 GK Joe Wildsmith West Bromwich Albion
Loans out DatePos.PlayerToDate untilRef. 20 August 2025 CB Adilson Malanda Charlotte 31 December 2025 29 August 2025 LW Charlie Lennon Darlington 17 January 2026 31 August 2025 LB Neto Borges Bristol City 31 May 2026 1 September 2025 CF Marcus Forss Bolton Wanderers CM Law McCabe Plymouth Argyle 5 January 2026 2 September 2025 CDM Daniel Barlaser Hibernian 31 May 2026 26 September 2025 CDM Luke Woolston South Shields 2 January 2026 25 October 2025 RW Max Howells Darlington 31 May 2026 11 November 2025 RW Frankie Coulson Morpeth Town 9 December 2025 13 January 2026 CF Sonny Finch South Shields 27 March 2026 29 January 2026 LW Delano Burgzorg Bristol City 31 May 2026 30 January 2026 CDM Abdoulaye Kanté Saint-Étienne 2 February 2026 CF Jayden Carbon Ross County 19 February 2026 GK Seny Dieng Sheffield Wednesday 26 February 2026 19 March 2026 CM Brayden Johnson Kidderminster Harriers 31 May 2026 27 March 2026 CB Archie Baptiste Rochdale GK Shea Connor Gateshead RWB Rio Patterson-Powell
Released / out of contract DatePos.PlayerSubsequent clubJoin dateRef.30 June 2025 CB Jack Hannah Queen of the South 1 July 2025 CM Jack Stott CB Cain Sykes South Shields CB Afonso Lindo Iberia 1999 15 July 2025 RB Nathan Simpson Chester-le-Street Town 22 July 2025 RB Anfernee Dijksteel Kocaelispor 28 July 2025 CB Alfie Myers-Smith Darlington 1 August 2025 CF Daniel Nkrumah Wealdstone 8 August 2025 CM Jonny Howson Leeds United 11 August 2025 LW Pharrell Willis Columbus Crew 21 August 2025 RB Terrell Agyemang Morecambe 27 August 2025 LB George Gitau Dagenham & Redbridge 1 November 2025 1 September 2025 GK Tom Glover RB Omiya Ardija 24 December 2025
New contracts DatePos.PlayerContracted untilRef. 2 October 2025 CM Isaac Greenup Undisclosed 9 October 2025 RWB Rio Patterson-Powell 17 November 2025 CF Cruz Ibeh 4 December 2025 CF Layton Campbell 22 December 2025 GK Sol Brynn 30 June 2030 6 January 2026 CB Oliver Martin Undisclosed 30 March 2026 RB Luke Ayling 30 June 2027
Pre-season and friendlies On 27 May, Middlesbrough announced their first pre-season friendly, against Rangers. A week later, a second fixture was confirmed, against Hartlepool United. A third trip was later added against Bradford City. A home friendly was later announced, against Deportivo La Coruña. On 4 July, a trip to Mansfield Town was added.
Competitions Overall record
Championship
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches On 26 June the Championship fixtures were announced, with Middlesbrough hosting Swansea City on the opening weekend.
Play-offs
Middlesbrough finished 5th in the regular season and were drawn against Southampton. Prior to the first leg, while training at Rockliffe, a member of staff believed they spotted a member of staff for Southampton spying in violation of Rule 127 of the EFL rules (No viewing of training within 72 hours of kickoff), dubbed by the media as Spygate 2.0. The following day, Southampton were charged by the EFLhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cy92vn803lno and were expelled from the playoffs and given a 4 point deduction for the next season on 29 May, pending appeal with Middlesbrough currently reinstated to the final to play Hull.https://www.efl.com/news/2026/may/19/efl-statement-southampton-football-club/
FA Cup
Middlesbrough were drawn away to Fulham in the third round.
EFL Cup
Middlesbrough were drawn at home to Doncaster Rovers in the first round.
Statistics Appearances and goals
Players with no appearances are not included on the list; italics indicate loaned in player
|colspan="14"|Players who featured but departed the club on loan during the season:
|colspan="14"|Players who featured but departed the club permanently during the season:
Disciplinary record
Rank No. Pos. Nat. Player Championship FA Cup EFL Cup Total 1 12 DF Luke Ayling 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 0 02 2 DF Callum Brittain 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 03 5 DF Alfie Jones 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 9 FW Tommy Conway 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 14 MF Alex Gilbert 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 06 3 DF Matt Targett 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 07 7 MF Hayden Hackney 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 11 FW Morgan Whittaker 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 18 MF Aidan Morris 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 29 DF Adilson Malanda 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 011 8 MF Riley McGree 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 22 FW Samuel Silvera 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 013 10 FW Delano Burgzorg 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 13 FW David Strelec 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 16 MF Alan Browne 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 19 MF Sverre Nypan 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 20 FW Kaly Sène 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 018 6 DF Dael Fry 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 25 DF George Edmundson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 26 DF Darragh Lenihan 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 27 FW Sontje Hansen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 31 GK Sol Brynn 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 42 MF Abdoulaye Kanté 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 45 FW Jeremy Sarmiento 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0Totals72012001007501
References