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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Guardian sport

Has any club ever played every game in every competition in a season?

Middlesbrough's Fabrizio Ravanelli celebrates a goal against Villa in May 1997
Middlesbrough's Fabrizio Ravanelli celebrates a goal against Villa in May 1997. Photograph: Tony O'Brien/Action Images

“If Liverpool make it to the final of the Champions League they will end up playing every game in every competition they entered this season,” explains Niall Carey. “Has any other team managed this feat before?”

This has happened more often than we realised. Let’s start with a heartbreaking example from the north-east. “In the 1996-97 season, Middlesbrough reached (and lost) the final of both the League Cup (after a replay) and the FA Cup and were relegated from the Premier League,” writes Paul Brack, a single tear rolling solemnly down his cheek. “They hadn’t qualified for Europe, so they played every game in every competition they entered.”

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