This year will mark 45 years since a special team of Middlesbrough schoolboys did what no other schoolboys side from Teesside has done before or since.

Beating Reading in a two-legged final - the first of which was played in front of a healthy crowd at Ayresome Park - the under-15s side won the 1980 English Schools’ Trophy - a competition which still runs to this day but has not been won by a Teesside team since.

Covering a wide range of the town’s best young players at the time from eight different schools, it speaks volumes of the talent that so many went on to professional clubs. Nine of the squad signed schoolboy forms at Middlesbrough, while Tony Sharkey, who later became an agent and represented former Boro keeper Luke Daniels among others, joined Leeds United and had one year there as a professional, albeit without an appearance.

READ MORE: The Teesside fish and chip shop named one of UK's best

READ MORE: Why Middlesbrough's Latte Lath replacement policy will be different to Morgan Rogers last year

As far as progressing beyond that to the professional game, Paul Wood went to Portsmouth and had a really respectable career, representing Pompey, Brighton, Bournemouth and Sheffield United among others, while Stephen McPhee played in the Football League for Darlington.

At Boro, Stephen Bell soon became the club’s youngest ever debutant at 16 and retained that record until Nathan Wood made his debut in 2018. He was soon followed into the Boro side by promotion-winning midfielder and future head of recruitment Gary Gill, who is the main instigator of a reunion that will be taking place this weekend, to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the cup triumph.

Gary told Teesside Live: “We were a great team - some exceptional players. Belly, who’s sadly no longer with us, was the best player in the country of his age group at the time, make no mistake.

“But it has to be said, Steve Smelt [the manager] was such a huge influence on us. For all the talent we had, Steve made sure we all gelled and worked together. He got the best out of us and was central to everything.

“He had this ability to make us believe and we all loved and respected him so much. It’s 45 years ago but I still remember in the semi-final against Coventry we were having a tough game. We won 3-2 in the end but we needed a talk at half-time. Smelty came in that day and whatever he said worked because we won the game.

“Things like that really stick with you. I had some great times in the game - winning promotion with Boro etc. But winning that competition as a schoolboy is probably the most special moment I had in football really.”

Steve, who went on to coach Boro, Sunderland and the England Schoolboys side, had such a profound impact on so many young players at that time. As well as Schoolboys manager, he was involved in the Counties coaching setup and in that period coached names such as Gary Parkinson, Tony Mowbray, Lee Turnbull, Stuart Ripley and Peter Beagrie, who along with Bell and Gill, all went on to be Boro first-teamers.

For Gary, the reunion is mainly for Steve, and was inspired by a chance meeting between the pair at a football match recently - with Garyl there to watch his son, and Steve his Grandson. It was the first time they’d spoken since Smelt coached Gill at Boro.

While Gary is keen to talk up Steve’s importance and impact, the coach was keen to stress the importance of all the lads to him too. He said: “I’ve been in football all my life and had many different experiences - highs and lows. Of the highs, I was part of the Sunderland coaching team in ‘92 when they got to the FA Cup Wembley final and I’ve had various promotions.

“And yet, the pride and contentment I felt when that final whistle went and we’d beaten Reading, it was my proudest achievement in the game. They all say I did well for them, and Gilly keeps bigging me up in interviews, but I want to make sure they all know how much they all helped me in my football career and allowed me to experience all the things I did in the game subsequently. As much as I gave them, they gave so much to me.”

“It was a very talented team and I was fortunate to have so many good players in one team,” he continued. “As a manager, of course you want to win things, but my philosophy was to develop players and help them progress. That team in particular made me so proud because they all progressed to sign schoolboy forms with professional teams, and a few ended up having careers in the game.

“The team was full of stars. I was looking back at the games we played to win the cup. They played nine games from start to finish. They won every game, scoring 35 goals and conceding only seven goals against. To do it in that style, they were just a very good team and I had so much admiration for them as lads as well, really good lads.”

The reunion of remaining players and staff is taking place this Saturday at Gary’s Chadwicks Inn at Maltby. Since first having the idea, Gary set to work on getting in contact with as many people as possible and has been blown away by the response.

“It all came about with a chance meeting when watching my son’s team,” Gary continued. “We worked out it would be 45 years this year and I just thought, why not try and get everyone back together. I haven’t spoken to some of these lads since those schoolboy days.

“What’s been great is how much enthusiasm there has been for it. Everyone’s been sending me old pictures and stuff ahead of it. We have two people coming over from Spain, one lad from France. It was a unique achievement, but so many of us went on to have really successful careers - whether that was in football or elsewhere.

“Neil Scheider, for example, who was our second keeper, was chief executive of Stockton Borough Council until recently - this big, flying job, and he’s been sending me all kinds of stuff for the reunion. It just shows the effect it had on everyone and the affection we all still feel about it. I’m sure we’ll all have a lovely night.”

A unique and remarkable achievement, it deserves its moment of recognition and serves as a reminder for the talented football players that Middlesbrough continues to produce - much to the benefit of the football club.

Steve is certainly looking forward to seeing so many of the lads for the first time in many years - though two who sadly won’t be there won’t be far from his, and likely most of the lads’ thoughts.

“I’ve got to say, Gilly has done so much for this reunion,” Steve concluded. “I can’t wait to see everyone, it’ll be fantastic. If there’s one regret it’s that sadly Stephen Bell and Stewart McPhee are no longer with us. They were two of the flair players for the team. Stephen Bell was an exceptional player.”