When I started following the Premier League seriously last year for no reason whatsoever I started cheering for Middlesbrough, who were promptly relegated to the Championship…. Turns out I was right to support them:
Middlesbrough footballers have given their backing to thousands of steelworkers whose jobs are under threat.
The players wore Save Our Steel T-shirts on Saturday as they warmed up before their home game against Ipswich Town in the Championship.
Workers were welcomed to the ground and invited to march round the pitch 15 minutes before kick-off at the Riverside ground and fellow fans clapped in support from the stands.
Up to 4,000 Teesside-based Corus employees and contractors face redundancy after a consortium pulled out of a 10-year deal to continue producing steel from its Redcar plant, effectively mothballing it.
Corus multiunion committee chairman Geoff Waterfield said how important the club’s support was to the workers.
“It is long recognised that the steel industry is the heart of our community. The foundations of Middlesbrough and Redcar are forged and built on the steel families of this region,” he said.
“Likewise, Middlesbrough Football Club is and has been part and parcel of our community for generations.
In this age of multi-billionaires buying up clubs like so many subuto sets, it’s good to see a club recognise its local roots.