Allison was Boro manager from September 1982 to March 1984, one of the most difficult periods in the club's history.
The colourful and flamboyant boss, who will forever be associated with his vintage cigars and fedora hats, led the Teessiders following their relegation from Division One.
With finances in a delicate state and attendances dwindling, Allison was forced to sell a number of the club's senior players before he was eventually dismissed towards the end of his second season at Ayresome Park.
His greatest successes came alongside Joe Mercer at Manchester City, where he helped the club win the First Division, Second Division, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup.
Boro chief executive Keith Lamb said: Malcolm Allison was a remarkably knowledge football man, who was way ahead of his time in terms of football coaching and thinking.
Long before the age of superstar footballers, he was one of the game's most charismatic figures.
Allison, who also spent time in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a manager at nonleague team Willington and a co-commentator at Century Radio, had suffered from dementia for a number of years.
Flags at the Riverside will fly at half-mast today, and Middlesbrough's players will also wear black armbands as a mark of respect.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo