#OnThisBoroDay 1998: Boro edge past Port Vale to keep their automatic promotion dreams alive

Two games to go, four teams still in with a chance of grabbing the automatic promotion spots. Ring any bells?

The current campaign is proving to be one of the tightest in recent years at the top of the Championship.

But the last time Boro were fighting for automatic promotion to the Premier League, it was just as nail-biting and just as nerve-wracking.

How vital the 1-0 away win at Port Vale on this day in 1998 proved to be.

It was the stage of the season when there was simply no more room for slip-ups. Level on points with Sunderland before a ball was kicked and with the Mackems not in action that day, it was crucial Boro got the job done at Vale Park.

They did - but only just.

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Paul Merson’s goal proved to be the matchwinner as Bryan Robson’s men reached 87 points with two games to play, three behind Sheffield Wednesday and three ahead of Sunderland and Charlton, although the Black Cats still had a game in hand.

It wasn’t pretty for long periods against The Vale. No real surprises there. Just two points above the drop zone, the game was as pivotal for the hosts as it was Boro.

The similarities between that season and the current campaign don’t stop at the fact the league was hotly-contested at the top.

Just like Aitor Karanka’s side have done this season, the 1998 Boro outfit had the bottle to grind out results.

True, they’d smashed Swindon for six, put three past Norwich and hit Bury for four - all without reply.

But the victory at Port Vale was Boro’s third 1-0 win on the bounce.

With two promotion deciding games to come at the Riverside, Boro simply had to keep their nerve.

Teesside skydiving firm Skydive St George announce expansion plans - and new jobs

Entrepreneurs Steve and Sara Heath have announced expansion plans - and more jobs - at their Teesside skydiving business after securing funding with Barclays.

The couple’s company - Skydive St George, based at Durham Tees Valley Airport - was established in 2011.

It’s the UK’s newest and fastest growing skydiving facility and employs a professional team of current and ex-military instructors.

The company currently employs four full-time staff and around 15 contractors. The latest funding will allow them to buy new static line jumping equipment - and allow them to take on a further three full-time and two part-time staff.

The new equipment will lead to an increase of the number of skydiving opportunities the business can operate and also enable it to run a training school for skydiving licenses.

Sara Heath, joint owner of Skydive St George, said: “An opportunity arose to grow the business and really take things to the next level.

“Purchasing the static line equipment is a large commitment for us but we believe the time is right to expand what we offer and will allow us to really strengthen our position in this exciting niche market.”

Skydive St George business partner Steve is a decorated RAF pilot with over 3000 hours of flying experience and has ensured the company only uses state of the art equipment, which is meticulously maintained to the highest standards required by the British Parachute Association.

Ian Kirk, Business Banking Manager at Barclays said: “The adventure sport industry is clearly an exciting and rapidly expanding sector. This fantastic business brings adrenaline sports to the masses in a safe and professional way. It really has been a pleasure working with Steve and Sara to support their growth plans and I look forward to seeing the business develop a great deal this year.”

Nifco UK partnering with Middlesbrough College to provide over £285k of training

Teesside car parts maker Nifco UK is putting money back into Teesside - by partnering with Middlesbrough College to provide more than £285,000 worth of training.

The growing Eaglescliffe-based firm has recently completed the first year of a three-year operative training programme with the college.

The programme will see staff at the car parts company undergo productivity training with a value of almost £1,000 per person.

Nifco was awarded the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS)’s Employer Ownership Fund (EOF) to help deliver an extensive people development programme to support its rapid expansion. It will work with the college to deliver training, including employee ownership, improvement activities and coaching courses.

The training is just part of the company’s commitment to investing in people, after it announced its intention to add at least six apprentices to the team for each year it recruits.

Nifco awarded the programme, internally called Total Productive Maintenance and scheduled to run until March 2017, to Middlesbrough College after considering a number of options for training. The £285,000 committed to the programme with the college is funded in-part by an EOF grant of up to £142,000, which the business must match-fund with its own money, and will allow Nifco to provide staff training in areas such as maintenance, quality and principles. Nifco was one of only five businesses in the country that successfully qualified for EOF funding.

Mike Matthews MBE, managing director of Nifco UK and European operations officer, said: “As a business, we genuinely believe that the growth we have seen has been, in no small part, down to investing in our people. We believe that they are the key to the ongoing success of the business too, so we are in no doubt that we have to invest in them to realise our full potential.

“We are delighted to be working with Middlesbrough College to deliver this training programme, the college has strategically aligned itself with our needs by investing in the same equipment we use. It’s fantastic to be able to offer mutual support to an institution that is a playing such an important role in the development of the Tees Valley.”

The college will continue to roll out training at Nifco over the coming months, working with employees from across the business. This company-wide programme, which targets improvements in equipment effectiveness, efficiency and quality, will provide the foundation for Nifco UK to engage the whole workforce in the next step in achieving the company vision, which is to be the European number one supplier of choice for automotive plastic functional components.

Ian Smith, director of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at Middlesbrough College, said: “We are very excited to be working with Nifco UK as the business is a real advocate of skills development, apprenticeships and investing in people, and that’s something that we as a college strongly support.”

Mike added: “We’re so grateful to Middlesbrough College, Tees Valley Unlimited and BIS for all of the support they have given to Nifco UK.

“We’re thrilled to have been offered this grant and we have made firm plans to put it to good use to ensure that we further the positive effect Nifco has on the local and regional economy.”

The business has a current turnover of more than £50m and is aiming to reach a turnover of £100m by 2020.

Aitor Karanka: 'We need to win both games - we can't make more mistakes'

Boro are not under pressure and have nothing to lose going into tomorrow’s crunch game at Fulham insists Aitor Karanka.

With two games to go, it’s incredibly tight at the top of the Championship.

Leaders Watford are one point better off than second-placed Bournemouth and third-placed Boro, who are both on 84 points.

Karanka believes all the pressure is on the top two because his team have achieved their stated pre-season target of a play-off place and anything else is a bonus.

“We are not under pressure because we are third so we don’t have anything to lose,” he said.

“Our objective at the beginning of the season was to get into the play-offs and we did that two weeks ago so the pressure is not for us.”

The Boro boss knows, however, that failing to beat Fulham will end his side’s hopes of finishing in the top two.

In fact, he believes six points from the final two scheduled fixtures is a minimum requirement.

“We have to win,” he said. “We made mistakes against Bournemouth and Watford and now we can’t make more mistakes.

“We need to win both games and we are working to beat Fulham on Saturday and then we will prepare for Brighton.”

Aitor Karanka would have been surprised if Riverside WASN'T full for Brighton game

Aitor Karanka is pleased Boro’s final home game of the season against Brighton is a sell-out, but says he would have been surprised if it wasn't.

Boro will be backed by a capacity crowd of 33,600 against the Seagulls in a game that could decide their automatic promotion fate.

“I’m pleased, but imagine if we were playing for promotion and the stadium was not full,” Karanka said.

“If that was the case, we would have a problem.

“We know our crowd is going to be there, and our crowd, especially away, this season has been amazing."

Karanka commented on the size of Boro's crowds compared to their promotion rivals ahead of the game with Rotherham.

“I said two weeks ago that I would prefer to have sold out when we played against Rotherham and Wolves. But the people who went to those games were amazing for us.

“I said after the Wolves game that we had won the game because they were supporting us for 95 minutes. For us, it’s nice to finish the season playing at home with all the stadium full.”