AFTER seven years of financial realignment following a costly relegation from the Premier League, promotion will automatically propel Middlesbrough into the world’s top 30 richest clubs.

A guaranteed prize pot of £95m awaits for just spending next season in the top-flight and that will grow regardless courtesy of parachute payments which will see Middlesbrough recoup a minimum of £170m even if they spend just one season in the big league.

But one campaign is not in the thinking of chairman Steve Gibson. After years of trying to guide Middlesbrough back to the top-flight, he has no intention of allowing that status to slip in 12 months’ time.

In an era when more and more clubs are under foreign ownership, Middlesbrough remain close to their roots. That is largely due to the man from South Bank’s ownership; after all he was a boyhood fan before becoming a director who helped save the club from liquidation in 1986.

“The football club gives the town its identity and a lot of pride,” said Gibson. “We’ve got a population of 130,000 and we’re punching above our weight by getting into the Premier League, but we’re hungry for it, the town’s hungry for it and it can be a catalyst for good things in the town.

“All the figures talked about are relative. But it means we’ll have to pay more for players and pay more for salaries, because if we’re going to be competitive the money that comes in will have to be the money that goes out. But it’s a great problem to have. We’re very pleased to have that problem!”

Gibson has already had the words ‘Leicester City’ mentioned to him on numerous occasions because of the remarkable story of the Foxes stunning football lovers around the world by winning the Premier League.

But having waited since 2009 to be planning for a season in the top tier of English football again he is not about to get carried away – and he has warned clubs trying to get out of the Championship just how hard it is to achieve that goal.

“Leicester is an extraordinary story, of course it is,” said Gibson. “There’s a levelling out in footballing resource because of the TV rights. It gives the smaller clubs much more muscle and much more power and I think we’ve seen quite a bit of that this year with Leicester.

“The last seven years have been a slog. Getting out of this league was far, far harder than I expected it to be, but this league has got stronger and stronger and it’s got to be one of the best in Europe. Outside the very biggest clubs, if you took most clubs out of the elite divisions they’d struggle in this division.”

Having experienced promotion parties as a chairman in 1995, 1998 and now in 2016, Gibson will never forget the events of last Saturday when thousands of supporters invaded the pitch to celebrate with the players after sealing the crucial point against Brighton.

He said: “It was brilliant. The town was totally united and in the past we’ve sometimes disappointed the crowd, but we’ve been tenacious and we’ve kept going. This bunch of players, this manager and this coaching staff have got us to the right place.”