THE experienced Dutch midfielder became one of the club's best signings of the modern era when he arrived from Aston Villa for £5m in August 2002.

A HIGHLY skilful player, Mark Viduka will be remembered for his fantastic goals and classy displays during his three seasons on Teesside.

AN £8.15m record signing, Massimo's greatest achievements in a Boro shirt were scoring the goals which got the team to the UEFA Cup final.

GARETH wasted no time becoming a firm favourite at the Riverside, winning the club's Player of the Year award in his first season after a series of assured displays.

COLIN was a full-back in his first spell at Middlesbrough under Bruce Rioch but went on to establish himself as a centre-half of international quality.

A FREE transfer signing from Chelsea, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's experience was critical during Boro's first season in the UEFA Cup.

BOUDEWIJN ZENDEN will always be remembered on Teesside as the man who scored the winning goal that earned Boro their first ever major trophy.

CAMEROON international Joseph-Desire Job will always be remembered for his central role in the club's first ever major trophy success.

NO player has made more impact with Middlesbrough in the modern game than Juninho.

THE GUV'NOR was snapped up in a £1m bargain deal from Liverpool, after being told he no longer figured in Gerard Houllier's plans.

ROBBIE was signed for £375,000 from Oxford United in 1990 and made his debut alongside John Wark in a goalless home draw against West Ham.

CRAIG HIGNETT was signed by Lennie Lawrence in 1992 from Crewe Alexandra in a £500,00 deal after making his name as a goalscoring midfielder.

GARY originally arrived at Boro in 1984 from Northern League Billingham Town in exchange for a set of strips.

SIGNING the Magic Man was Bryan Robson's masterstroke as he guided Boro back into the Premiership at the first attempt after the trauma of relegation in 1997.

EMERSON Moises Costa has a lot to thank the North East for.

NIGEL PEARSON was just days off his 31st birthday when Bryan Robson persuaded him to join the Riverside Revolution in August 1994.

THE WHITE FEATHER certainly raised a few eyebrows when he signed for Boro from Italian giants Juventus in the summer of 1996.

A PLAYER who was 37 when he moved to Middlesbrough and who appeared only 25 times may seem an unlikely player to cause interest among Boro fans.

THERE must be something Scotland managers don't like about Middlesbrough.

BORN in January 1962, and beginning his career with Manchester United, Stephen Pears has been described by many Boro experts as the best keeper in the club's history.

LOCAL lad Mark Proctor signed on as a schoolboy and rose through the Boro youth set-up.

BERNARD Joseph Slaven arrived at Ayresome Park in October 1985 after an acrimonious departure from his previous club Albion Rovers, for whom he had been top scorer in Scotland the previous season.

BORN in Middlesbrough, this pacy future England international was twice ignored by Boro.

HAMMY'S will to win had always endeared him to Boro fans and successive managers recognised his value to the team by giving him 259 starts by the age of just 23, when knee injury sadly brought his playing days to an end.

CENTRE-HALF Tony Mowbray was the lynchpin round which the Boro team was built for more than a decade, the local lad who led the club from the hell of liquidation to the promised land of Division One.

LIGHTNING-FAST striker David Hodgson was a special favourite of the supporters at Ayresome Park.

PLAYING an emergency striker, McAndrew became the youngest Boro player to score a hat trick when he stuck three past Sheffield United in 1976.

BORO were one of a whole host of clubs who chased David Mills' signature when the Thornaby teenager left school.

HENDRIKUS Heine Otto, a tall attacking midfielder, was the outstanding player during a mediocre period for Boro in the early 80s.

SIMPLY one of Boro's greatest sons, Harold's greatest contribution to the game was off the pitch - for both club and country.

FIFTH in Boro's all-time appearance list and a career that survived five managers speaks volumes about the character of goalkeeping titan Jim Platt.

JOHN'S goodbye to Newcastle United was a good buy for Middlesbrough.

YUGOSLAVIAN Bosco signed for Boro in February 1979 for a fee of £110,000 from Zeljeznicar.

IF ever you wanted an illustration of determination, the career of Craig Johnston would supply it.

SPIKE Armstrong had become such a familiar figure in the Boro set-up of the 70s he was to be conspicuous by his absence after his a transfer to Southampton in 1981 for a then club record sale of £600,000.

"SIX foot two, eyes of blue, Stuey Boam is after you" was a favourite Boro chant of the 1970s belted out in appreciation of their committed central defender and captain.

DESPITE a career ended by knee injury at the age of just 26, this popular and stylish player had already earned the tag best uncapped defender of his era and is still regarded as one of the greatest players ever to pull on a Boro shirt.

BORN in Castleford in 1944, Terry was recovering from injury and reaching the end of his career when he joined the Boro.

THE battling Scot joined Boro in 1972 after an unimpressive start in the professional game with Spurs.

WHEN only two players have made more appearances and three have scored more goals than you, you know you're a Boro Legend.

CELTIC legend Bobby Murdoch arrived at Ayresome Park on a free transfer in 1973 having won every club honour at Parkhead including a 1967 European Cup winner's medal as a member of the first British team to win that competition.

FOOTBALL history might have been very different if 15-year-old Eric McMordie had had more influence over his friend George Best.

RATED by many as the best header of the ball Boro ever had, Hugh McIlmoyle will always be remembered on Teesside for a game in 1970 that was to become known as the McIlmoyle Match.

THE crowd used to sing "Give us a goal, John O' Rourke" to the tune of "Give It To Me" by The Troggs - and he certainly did.

STANDING second in Boro's all-time appearance list with 527 games under his belt, Gordon Jones clearly earns his place in the club's hall of fame.

DUBBED The Red Dragon, Swansea-born Bill Harris is credited with scoring Boro's fastest ever goal, taking just 11 seconds to put one past Shrewsbury.

LOCAL lad Mick McNeil was studying to be an analytical chemist and turning out for Cargo Fleet when he was spotted by Boro coach Jimmy Gordon in May 1957.

MIDDLESBROUGH-BORN Peacock came to prominence midway through the 57-58 season when, having already been picked for the England youth team, he established himself as an ideal strike partner for Boro goal machine Brian Clough.

OLD Big Head became best known for his success as a manager at both Derby and Nottingham Forest, but it is often overlooked that Clough started his career in 1955 as a prolific goal scorer for Boro.

RELIABLE and stylish, Dicky Robinson was brought to Boro after team manager David Jack spotted him playing for Mandale Juniors.

A COLOURFUL character on and off the pitch, Rolando Ugolini came to Boro from Celtic for a £7,000 fee in 1948.

WHEN Newcastle United resumed football after the war, they believed the best days of 30-year-old Jimmy Gordon were behind him.

ARGUABLY the best player ever to pull on a Boro shirt, local boy Mannion signed from South Bank St Peter's aged 18, making his debut in January 1937.

ALEX McCrae was, in a sense, unfortunate to play for the Boro at the time he did.

GENTLEMAN George's footballing career reads like the plot from a black and white movie. Scoring an own-goal in the first minute of his Boro debut, he went on to captain his club and his country.

THIS one-club man stands fifth in the Boro all-time scorer list with 162 goals despite the outbreak of the Second World War limiting his total appearances to 269 in a playing career spanning nearly 17 years.

BORO's all-time top scorer, the phenomenal Camsell made an inauspicious start with the club when, having signed for £600 from Durham City in October 1925, he made only four appearances in his first season.

IN THE league of versatile players, Bob Baxter has to top the table.

JACKY CARR was the most successful of the four Carr brothers to play for the club and one of the finest players in Boro's history.

GEORGE ELLIOTT went against the wishes of his family to pursue a football career and Boro reaped the reward with more than 15 years of great service and a glut of goals.

GOALKEEPER Tim Williamson holds a record that will surely never be beaten. Boro's all time record appearance maker played over 600 league and cup games of which a staggering 130 were consecutive.