Middlesbrough's £6.5m deal with Aston Villa will forever be remembed fondly by Boro supporters: View | OneFootball

The 2000s was a solid decade for Middlesbrough, for the most part.

The club spent 11 consecutive seasons in the Premier League between the years 1998 and 2009, and had some very memorable players pull on a Boro shirt.

During those years, Boro won the EFL Cup in the 2003/04 campaign, overcoming Bolton Wanderers at Wembley Stadium, and even enjoyed two European football campaigns. In addition, they amazingly made it all the way to the UEFA Cup final in the 2005/06 campaign, before losing out to Sevilla.

Now that Middlesbrough are currently struggling to achieve promotion from the Championship in the present day, their supporters will look back on those glory days with great fondness.

Their captain through those successful years is now one of the most high-profile figures in English football. While Gareth Southgate is mostly known for being the manager of England's national team, he had quite an illustrious playing career as it goes.

Now a leader on the sidelines, the 53-year-old was once a huge influence on the pitch and will be remembered fondly by Middlesbrough supporters who saw the very best of him as a player.

He can certainly be considered as one of their best signings of the last couple of decades.

An exciting transfer from Aston Villa

At the time of Southgate's arrival at the Riverside Stadium as a 30-year-old, he was very much a proven defender in the Premier League and had plenty of top-flight experience under his belt with both Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.

He wore the captain's armband for both clubs, and showed superb leadership from a young age, having first pulled on the captain's armband for Palace aged 23.

With Aston Villa, Southgate won the EFL Cup, made an FA Cup final and appeared in several UEFA Cup games, all while earning several caps for England.

In 2001, Middlesbrough agreed a deal with Aston Villa worth £6.5 million, making Southgate the first Boro signing under Steve McClaren.

The signing of the England international was a hugely exciting one for Middlesbrough, and rightly so as he arrived with plenty of pedigree.

Southgate’s time at Middlesbrough

The now England boss became a hugely influential player for Middlesbrough, who were a mid-table Premier League club at the time of his arrival.

In total, he made 204 appearances for Boro across five seasons and wore the captain's armband for the most part.

In the 2003/04 campaign, Middlesbrough reached the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium and met with Bolton Wanderers as their opposition.

Southgate played the full 90 minutes and became the first Boro captain in 128-year history to lift a trophy, as his side won 2-1 on the day.

This was followed by two campaigns in the UEFA Cup, in which Middlesbrough enjoyed a decent run.

The 2005/06 season amazingly saw Southgate lead his side to a UEFA Cup final, but they were overcome by Sevilla at the final hurdle. It was a fantastic achievement for Middlesbrough who were enjoying the best football in their history.

Southgate was an enormous part of their success in these years as he showed real leadership and a winner's mentality.

He was adored so much at the Riverside Stadium that, upon his retirement from playing, he was handed the manager's job, despite not having the required coaching qualifications to manage a top-flight club.

Unfortunately, his managerial spell was a slight disappointment which culminated in relegation to the Championship.

On the flip side, Boro supporters will look back on Southgate's playing spell with huge pride as he captained the club through some fantastic moments.