Workers from the giant Corus steelworks factory on Teesside, threatened with mass redundancies, demonstrated inside Middlesbrough’s Riverside stadium on Sunday 13th December before the league clash with Cardiff City. Players from the club also showed their support by warming up on the pitch with “Save our Steel” t-shirts.

The demonstration by the steelworkers and their families, who marched around the pitch before kick-off, comes after last week’s announcement by Tata Corus, who own the plant, to mothball Teesside Cast Products (TCP), costing the region over 1,700 jobs.
This is the second such demonstration by the steelworkers at the Riverside. A similar protest was staged at Boro’s game with Ipswich in September, which had the full support of the club and fans, who gave the protestors a standing ovation.

Geoff Waterfield, chairman of Corus’ multi-union committee stated: ‘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” adding “Generations of Teesside families have worked in the local steel works and many have followed with the same passion to see Middlesbrough Football Club play when and wherever the club takes them, with undying loyalty”.

Middlesbrough FC have one of the highest proportions of locally-born season ticket holders at 80% in the country, and one of the highest proportions of female fans at 20%. It also has the largest community-based football scheme in the UK with its Middlesbrough Football Club in the Community (MFCIC).

Tata is the world’s 5th largest steel producer after British Steel merged with a Dutch steel company to form the Corus Group that was eventually bought out by Tata Steel, of which Corus remains a subsidiary. Last year Tata’s turnover increased by 38 per cent to $18.91 billion and profits rose by 114 per cent to $2.47 billion.

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