IT might be a familiar feeling, but that doesn’t make it any easier to bear. When Mike Dean blew his whistle to signal the end of an unexpectedly one-sided play-off final that added yet another chapter to Middlesbrough’s seemingly unending tale of Wembley woe, it felt as if we had been here before.

As he stared vacantly at the Norwich fans cavorting in the stands, Grant Leadbitter could so easily have been Mark Proctor, who skippered the side that suffered Boro’s first Wembley defeat in the final of the Zenith Data Systems Cup in 1990.

Lee Tomlin, inconsolable as he wiped away tears, evoked memories of Juninho, who was similarly unable to inspire Boro to victory in either of their Wembley finals in 1997. And Aitor Karanka, who shook the hands of each and every one of his players as they trudged from the field, was standing in the shoes of Bryan Robson, who experienced defeat three times in the space of two years as English football’s national stadium proved a graveyard for Teesside dreams.

At some point, Middlesbrough will win one of these games, and experience what it is like to clamber up the steps to the Royal Box rather than stand like children with their faces pressed against the sweet-shop window as their opponents bask in glory. For now, though, it is someone’s else triumph, just as it has always been when the Teesside hordes have trekked down Wembley way.

To extend things out further, the North-East as a whole must hate the sight of the Wembley Arch, just as the Twin Towers became portents of doom in the wake of Sunderland’s FA Cup triumph in 1973. A region that prides itself on its footballing achievements has racked up a remarkable record of failure on the nation’s biggest stage. Increasingly, it looks anything but a coincidence that Boro’s one golden victory, in the Carling Cup in 2004, saw Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium assume hosting duties.

Never mind Wembley, Middlesbrough supporters can be forgiven for asking, ‘When will it be?’ The next time the stadium is due for rebuilding perhaps, and yet still they travel in their thousands, imbued with hope, pride and litres of over-priced ale.

Boro’s long-suffering fans had waited almost two decades for a Wembley return, so it should have been no surprise that play-off final day effectively became play-off final weekend. Indeed, for some, it is probably still going strong despite the pain of defeat.

Throughout Saturday, Trafalgar Square was transformed into a cross between Central Square, with the National Gallery having to make do as a stand-in for MIMA, and a typical Friday night at the Empire, with thousands of supporters frolicking in the fountains and drinking London’s off-licences dry.

Last season, Sunderland fans commandeered Covent Garden for an impromptu pre-Capital One Cup final party. Fourteen months on, and it was Teesside’s turn to turn one of the most recognisable parts of the capital into a North-East enclave. Little wonder that London’s economy is so buoyant if it is fuelled by our region’s football fans once a year.

The raucous party atmosphere remained in evidence on Wembley Way long before kick-off, and by the time Middlesbrough players arrived at the ground – somewhat belatedly after they battled their way through the London traffic – the mood was one of boisterous elation. When Pigbag burst out over the tannoys, it was the cue for Boro-driven bedlam.

And yet for all the joy at being at Wembley, there was also a nervousness that bit into the pit of the stomach. Go to a ‘normal’ cup final, and while the result obviously matters, win, lose or draw and it is still a hell of a day out. The play-off final, regularly billed as the biggest game in football, is different. Win, and you’re rewarded with a place in the Premier League. Lose, and as will now be the case, you’re heading to Preston.

Perhaps, given that Boro’s fate now feels pre-ordained, it was merciful that the fatal blows were applied so quickly. Just moments after Jelle Vossen rattled the crossbar with a searing strike that proved to be the high point of his side’s attacking ambitions, Norwich swept upfield and Cameron Jerome took advantage of some uncharacteristic defensive hesitancy from Daniel Ayala to slot the ball past Dimi Konstantopoulos.

Did Jerome foul the Boro defender? Possibly, although Ayala’s dithering betrayed a nervousness that reflected his team’s lack of experience on such a big stage. It was surely significant that every member of Norwich’s starting XI had played at least one season in the top-flight.

Three minutes later, and things went from bad to worse. Nathan Redmond skipped past England Under-21 team-mate Ben Gibson and rifled a fierce low shot into the far bottom corner of the net. Fifteen minutes gone; 40,000 dropped jaws in the red-and-white end.

The remainder of the game saw Boro’s players regroup and regain at least a modicum of their composure, but their threat was slender and their creativity nowhere to be seen.

Too many key players underperformed, from Ayala and Ben Gibson, who were surprisingly hesitant at the back, to Grant Leadbitter and Adam Clayton, whose ability to harass and close down deserted them at the worst possible moment, and on to Lee Tomlin and Vossen, whose attacking spark was snuffed out with a minimum of fuss.

Patrick Bamford, hobbling around on one foot for the second successive game against Norwich, was a passenger. One suspects his journey has now ended with a one-way ticket back to Chelsea and then perhaps on to another loan deal, but this time with a team in the Premier League.

That team will not be Middlesbrough, and as the club’s supporters trudged back towards London’s bright lights, they could begin to reflect on the harsh realities of another season in the Championship.

There has been so much that has been positive this season, from the brightness of the football on the pitch to the strength of the newly-cemented relationship between club and fans off it, that it would be exceptionally wasteful to throw it all away on the back of one defeat, no matter how painful or significant it may feel right now.

Yet as the history books prove, bouncing back from a play-off final setback is one of the toughest tasks a Championship club can face. Derby couldn’t force their way back into the promotion picture after failing at Wembley 12 months ago, while it took Watford two years to recover from their disappointment in 2013. The losers before that, Blackpool, have disappeared without trace.

Can Middlesbrough buck the trend next season? Let us hope so. But you suspect, after yesterday, that if involves another trip to Wembley, the answer is probably not.