Middlesbrough may, admittedly, not be the club that Ray Parlour is best known for.
The midfielder of course, spent the first 13 seasons of his senior career with Arsenal.
During his time there, Parlour won nine major trophies, and made over 450 appearances in all competitions.
After leaving Arsenal in 2004, he would then make the move to The Riverside Stadium on a free transfer.
Parlour went on to make 60 appearances in all competitions for the club between 2004 and 2006.
He then departed for Hull City in February 2007. Now, it seems that while he may not have been there as long as he was at Arsenal, Parlour feels he missed a chance to add more silverware to his collection while with Middlesbrough.
Ray Parlour reveals Middlesbrough regret
The club were still a Premier League side during Parlour’s time at The Riverside Stadium.
They also enjoyed some excellent cup runs in that period. Perhaps most notably, was reaching the final of the UEFA Cup in 2006.
However, with some of the players in that squad at the time, Parlour feels Middlesbrough should have gone one better at that point, and actually lifted silverware.
Reflecting on his time with ‘Boro, the former England international told Football League World:
“I had a great time playing for Middlesbrough. We had a super squad including Mark Viduka, Mark Schwarzer, Gaizka Mendieta, Stewart Downing, Gareth Southgate, Yakubu, and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
“We had quality all over the pitch and it showed by getting through to the semi-final of the FA Cup and also the final of the UEFA Cup. The cup form was good and it was such a shame we couldn’t get a trophy.”
In their current incarnation, Middlesbrough are currently 10th in the Championship under the management of Michael Carrick.
‘Boro may wonder what might have been
You can understand why Parlour may have some regret about not lifting a trophy during his time at The Riverside Stadium.
When you look at the names he mentions as being part of that squad, there is a huge amount of quality in there for the time.
Indeed, that covers all areas of the pitch as well, so it is not as though there was a particularly week area to that team.
Meanwhile, with the experience winning trophies that the likes of Parlour especially possessed, there was the insight there to get them over the line in those pressure matches.
As a result, it does seem as though this could well be considered something of a missed opportunity for Middlesbrough.
Even so, it these cup runs still provided some fantastic experiences that many ‘Boro fans will remember for a long time.
It is notable that they have stayed with Parlour, even after everything else he has done in his career. That may therefore be appreciated by people connected to Middlesbrough too.