Football’s Greatest Hat-Tricks No.10
Middlesbrough pulled off a shock transfer over the summer of 1996, signing Fabrizio Ravanelli from Juventus for a club-record £7 million.
The signing turned a few heads as the Italian had won the Champions League the previous season. He had scored the first goal of the Final, which Juventus had won on penalties against a strong Ajax side.
It made no sense why Ravanelli would want to leave the biggest side in Europe and move to a club that had finished 12th in the Premier League the previous season? It soon became apparent that he had become the highest-paid player in the Premier League.
Middlesbrough fans weren’t complaining though. The addition of Brazilian midfielder Emerson, a £4 million signing from Portuguese champions FC Porto gave the Teessiders real cause for optimism for the season ahead.
The opening game of the 1996/97 season saw Middlesbrough host the previous season FA Cup finalists Liverpool. On a wonderful sunny afternoon at the Riverside Stadium, the two sides shared six goals.
Liverpool’s Norwegian left-back Stig-Inge Bjornebye opened the scoring after only four minutes. Then in the 26th minute, Juninho was brought down in the penalty area to give Ravanelli the chance to open his goalscoring account for his new club.
The Italian striker struck the penalty high and hard into the top right-hand corner of the net and the Riverside crowd roared in delight.
Liverpool regained the lead just three minutes later, with John Barnes scoring a beautiful half-volley after chesting down a cross from Jason McAteer.
The White Feather’ added his second goal of the game after 36 minutes, sliding in to convert a low cross from Neil Cox. He celebrated by lifting his shirt over his head, his trademark celebration that would be copied in parks around Middlesbrough for years to come!
The frenetic first half ended with the score delicately poised at 2-2 but there was still a lot more to come in the second half.
Liverpool’s Robbie Fowler scored his first of the season on 65 minutes with a placed shot into the top corner of the net.
Middlesbrough weren’t done though and Ravanelli completed his hat-trick in the final ten minutes after a scramble at the edge of the penalty area.
The 1996/97 campaign was one of Middlesbrough’s most exciting in their history as they reached both the FA Cup Final and Coca Cola Cup Final. Both finals ended in defeat to Chelsea and Leicester City respectively. Their league form suffered as they put all of their efforts into the cup runs and they were relegated on the final day of the season.
Ravenelli would end the season as Boro’s top goalscorer, scoring 31 goals in all competitions. He never settled in the area and constantly moaned about the club and left at the end of the season to join French side Marseille.
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