Scunthorpe United visits British Steel to see how they will make steel for their new stadium...
The Iron are set to move from their current Glanford Park base into a new 12,000 seat stadium, which will be built as part of the Lincolnshire Lakes housing development to the west of the town.This summer, British Steel and the League One leaders agreed a new partnership which will see their steel go into the state-of-the-art ground, their name appear on the club’s shirts and us work together on a number of community projects.
And Iron manager Graham Alexander said he was delighted to visit the Scunthorpe steel plant with members of the first team.
Graham said: “The steel industry is at the heart of Scunthorpe so we are proud to wear the British Steel name on our shirts and we’re excited by the fact steel from the town will be used in our new stadium. And while our focus is firmly on the playing field, it was fascinating to see behind the scenes at the steelworks.
“We know we have hundreds of supporters who work for British Steel in Scunthorpe so it was great to be able to meet some of them today and show our support for them.”
British Steel director Peter Hogg said: “When we launched our partnership we said we shared the core values of pride, passion and performance and that has been evident throughout the last few months.
“It is fantastic to see Scunthorpe United at the top of the league, and I know many of our employees are doubly proud because they have British Steel emblazoned across their chests.
“Our steel has gone into football stadiums across the world and it was a major boost to our employees when we announced it would also be going into Scunthorpe United’s new ground.
“It was a privilege to have Graham and the players visit us today and on behalf of British Steel, I’d like to wish the team every success as they battle for promotion.”
Scunthorpe United Chief Executive James Rodwell, who was also on the visit, said: “We have had an excellent start to the season and I know British Steel has made a good start to life under new ownership. Our partnership is working very well and I look forward to it developing further over the coming months.”
Among the Iron players visiting was Neal Bishop, who hails from Teesside where British Steel has two major operations – the Teesside Beam Mill at Lackenby and our Special Profiles business at Skinningrove. Steel for the new stadium will be made in Scunthorpe and rolled at the Beam Mill.
Neal said: “It was very interesting. You drive past here every now and then and it looks big but I don’t think you understand the sheer volume of people who work here and enormity of the site. It’s like a town within a town. Iron and steel are a massive part of this community, it’s good for us lads to get out and have a proper look at it. It was a privilege to be invited and we’ve all really enjoyed it.”
Neal said the players are proud to have the British Steel logo on their shirts, adding: “It’s a big company. Being from Teesside I’m from a steel background. A lot of my friends work in the British Steel plant up there. So I know a lot about the British Steel brand.
“In Teesside it’s (steel) massive, the same probably as here in Scunthorpe. I don’t think you can underestimate the effect the steel industry has on communities. It has been through hard times, similar to here (Scunthorpe), the paths have probably taken a similar route in terms of job losses.”
He said that when job losses were hitting the steel industry, everybody knew someone who was affected but added: “British Steel has come in now and is trying to revive it, and a similar story up there (Teesside). They are proud to work for the company.”
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