Interesting with hindsight to see how John Neal saw what was just around the corner on 6 December 1980.
He talked in a newspaper article and his programme notes for that day's game against Aston Villa about his fear that just as the squad had developed a squad of true quality it would fall apart because they'd be victims of their own success and freedom of contract would see his best players picked off by the bigger clubs.
Boro duly played title winning Villa off the pitch at a snow swept Ayresome Park. Scroll forward 3 months - a bad night at Wolves, FA Cup heartache and the beginning of the not so slow road to Division Three and liquidation.
As we celebrated David Shearer's late winner that afternoon few of us would probably of believed what was about to happen.
He talked in a newspaper article and his programme notes for that day's game against Aston Villa about his fear that just as the squad had developed a squad of true quality it would fall apart because they'd be victims of their own success and freedom of contract would see his best players picked off by the bigger clubs.
Boro duly played title winning Villa off the pitch at a snow swept Ayresome Park. Scroll forward 3 months - a bad night at Wolves, FA Cup heartache and the beginning of the not so slow road to Division Three and liquidation.
As we celebrated David Shearer's late winner that afternoon few of us would probably of believed what was about to happen.
