| Full name | Scunthorpe United Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Iron | ||
| Founded | 1899[1] | ||
| Ground | Glanford Park Scunthorpe (Capacity: 9,088) |
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| Chairman | J. Steven Wharton | ||
| Manager | Alan Knill | ||
| League | League One | ||
| 2010–11 | The Championship, 24th (relegated) |
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| Current season | |||
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One.
Nicknamed "The Iron", the club played in the Football League Championship until its relegation in 2011 and was the highest-placed league club located in Lincolnshire. The Club has undergone a major transition over the last 5 years; after nearly being relegated in 2003–04, the club has since had three promotions, one relegation, a Johnstones Paint Trophy final appearance in 2009, and numerous broken records including its highest transfer fees paid and received, its highest capacity in the current ground, and its longest period without defeat (19 games).
The club has produced many good quality strikers, with the majority being purchased for a small amount of money and sold on to bigger clubs for a large profit. The most notable of these in recent times was the partnership of Andy Keogh and Billy Sharp who were sold on to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Sheffield United respectively. Other notable strikers to have moved on from Scunthorpe in recent years are Martin Paterson, Jermaine Beckford and Gary Hooper, the latter moving to Scottish giants Celtic for a fee of £2.4 million.[2]
They were the bookies' odds on favourite to be relegated in 2009–10 along with Blackpool (who achieved promotion that year). After the departures of some of the club's better players (more noticeably the strike partnership of Paul Hayes and Gary Hooper), the club made a positive start to the 2010–11 season with a 2–1 victory away at promotion favourites Reading, but was relegated back down to League One on 30 April 2011 after a 5-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest.
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Scunthorpe United was formed in 1899.[1] In 1910 they merged with local rivals Lindsey United to become Scunthorpe & Lindsey United, and joined the Midland Football League in 1912.[1] After an unsuccessful application to join the Football League in 1921,[1] Scunthorpe & Lindsey won the Midland League in 1926–27 and in 1938–39.[3] When the 1939–40 season came to an abrupt end, due to the outbreak of the Second World War, Scunthorpe & Lindsey finished as runners-up in the second emergency competition, losing 3–2 to Peterborough United in an unofficial play-off game.[3]
After the end of the war, in 1945, Scunthorpe & Lindsey would re-apply to join the Football League at every opportunity.[1] The club finished as runners-up in the Midland League in 1947–48,[3] and in 1950 was accepted into the Football League, ahead of Workington and Wigan Athletic when the league structure was expanded.[1] The club's first game in Football League Division Three North was against fellow new entrants Shrewsbury Town.
Scunthorpe was the first club in England to build a cantilever stand, four years before Sheffield Wednesday's at Hillsborough..
In 1988 Scunthorpe United became the first English football club in the modern era to move to a new, purpose-built stadium, Glanford Park.
When it became apparent that the Old Show Ground needed significant investment to maintain its fabric and to make it comply with new regulations introduced in the wake of the Bradford City stadium fire (which the club was unable to make due to financial difficulties) the decision was made to relocate. The ground was sold to the former supermarket chain Safeway (now Sainsbury's) and the search was started for a new location.
Land was secured at an out of town site in what was then the administrative area of Glanford meaning that the new ground was outside the boundaries of Scunthorpe (although this changed with the re-organisation of local government in 1994 as both Scunthorpe Borough Council and Glanford Borough Council became North Lincolnshire Council).
At this time there were no grants available and the development had to funded with the cash from the sale of the Old Show Ground, sponsorship, directors' loans and bank loans. This lack of outsider cash means that Glanford Park was built in a rather simplistic, box-like style, with a significantly smaller capacity than the Old Show Ground.
The ground was so named because it was sponsored by the Glanford Borough Council. The site of the former ground is now home to a Sainsbury's store and can be found at the junction of Doncaster Road and Henderson Avenue. When the store was opened a plaque was laid where the centre-spot was, just in front of the delicatessen counter; the plaque has since been removed.
In 1992, the club made the third division play-off final, at Wembley, losing out eventually on a penalty shootout to Blackpool (see here).
The club again made the play-off final in 1999, again at Wembley, this time beating Leyton Orient 1–0 after a goal from Alex Calvo-Garcia. It was promoted to the Football League Division Two, but subsequently relegated at the end of the following season.
It started the 2004–05 season in Football League Two, but gained promotion to Football League One. The club was nearly relegated to the Conference National the season before. In the 2004–05 season they led Chelsea, the Premiership champions, 1–0, in the FA Cup 3rd Round, but were denied eventually going down 3–1.
In the 2005–06 season the club finished 12th in Coca-Cola League 1. Billy Sharp finished the season joint top scorer of the season with 23 league goals, sharing the Golden Boot with Southend United's Freddy Eastwood. The club reached the third round of the FA Cup, beating Bury and Aldershot Town before losing 3–1 away to the Premiership's Manchester City despite leading 1–0 at one stage.
The league season got off to a poor start, with Scunthorpe losing 1–0 to Bristol City. This was followed by 2–2 draws with Swansea City and Crewe Alexandra. Scunthorpe also went down 2–1 to Rotherham United on 19 August, which was followed by a 1–1 draw with Brentford. On 1 September, Scunthorpe gained their first win of the season, 2–0 away to Gillingham. However, Scunthorpe then suffered a 1–0 defeat at the hands of Oldham Athletic. Scunthorpe then won their first home game of the season, beating Port Vale 3–0, quickly followed by a home win over Cheltenham Town.
The Iron set a new club record when they achieved a 16 game unbeaten sequence after drawing 1–1 at Brighton & Hove Albion on 17 March 2007. This run continued for another 3 games, setting a new club record of 19 games without defeat, until Northampton Town beat The Iron 2–1, bringing the run to an end.
On 14 April 2007, Scunthorpe beat Huddersfield Town 2–0, after two goals from Billy Sharp, thus ensuring their promotion to the Coca Cola Championship. They also clinched the title on 28 April 2007, despite a 3–1 defeat at Blackpool. Scunthorpe recorded another 3–0 home win and later were crowned champions of League One.
2006–07 was arguably the Iron's best season to date. The number of points achieved (91) and the number of goals scored by Billy Sharp (30) were greater than those achieved by any other team in the Premiership and the Football League.
Cup Competitions
A 4–3 extra time home win against local rivals Lincoln City in the Carling Cup earned the Iron a big money match against Premiership side Aston Villa, at Glanford Park. Aston Villa won the match 2–1. In the FA Cup, the Iron beat Cheltenham Town 2–0 after a replay. In the second round they lost to Wrexham 2–0, missing out on the third round for the first time since the 1999/2000 season. The Iron also lost to Port Vale on penalties in the second round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy.
Scunthorpe's return to this level began with an away match against newly relegated Charlton Athletic. The first match between these sides in 33 years resulted in a 1–1 draw at The Valley.
This was followed a week later with the first home game played by United in the second tier of English football for 43 years with Burnley being the visitors. Scunthorpe ran out 2–0 winners.
Scunthorpe enjoyed a good start to the Championship season, rising as high as 4th at one point, however their form, especially during the second half of the season faltered, this included a 5–0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion. They did manage to earn some wins in the second half of the season, most notably against former Premier League club Charlton Athletic and promotion chasing Plymouth Argyle.
On 12 April 2008, their fate was sealed 4 matches prior to the end of the season with a two – nil loss away to play-off candidates Crystal Palace.
They finished second from bottom in the final table with 46 points, drawing their final game of the season 3–3 with bottom-placed Colchester. [1]
In the cups, Scunthorpe were knocked out of the Carling Cup after a first round 2–1 home defeat to Hartlepool United. While in the FA Cup they were knocked out in the 3rd round after a 1–0 defeat away at Preston North End.
Scunthorpe were drawn at home for their first game of the season, losing 2–1 to Leeds United. They also lost to Walsall and then lost to Hartlepool in the League Cup. Since that defeat their form picked up, with wins against Peterborough United, Stockport County, Brighton and previously unbeaten Carlisle United.
They picked up more wins against Hereford United and Yeovil Town, before a 2–2 draw with Leyton Orient prevented a club record 8 wins in a row, they won their next match against Crewe 3–0 and were then top of the Coca-Cola League One, they beat Cheltenham 2 – 1 away from home, to make it 10 wins out of 11 games, they drew at home with Southend United, before beating their nearest rivals Millwall 3–2 at Glanford Park, their unbeaten run came to an end when they lost 3–0 away to Oldham Athletic.
After a month of hovering in and around the play-offs, they secured the final play off place at home to Tranmere Rovers when they drew 1–1. They secured a place in the Championship with a 3–2 victory over Millwall in the final.
They were drawn away to Walsall in the first round of the FA Cup, they beat them 3–0. In the second round they drew non-league side Alfreton Town at home whom they beat them 4–0.
They reached the final of the Football League Trophy where they lost 3–2 to Luton Town after extra time. Their route to the final saw them beat Notts County, local rivals Grimsby Town, Rochdale, Tranmere Rovers and Rotherham United in the Northern section final.
A difficult season ended with relative success for Scunthorpe when a 2–2 draw at home to Reading in their 44th league game of the season ensured survival and another year in the Championship. A notable highlight of this campaign was the 2–1 home win over eventual Champions, Newcastle United.
Second Level: 1958–1964, 2007–2008, 2009–2011
Third Level: 1950–1958, 1964–1968, 1972–1973, 1983–1984, 1999–2000, 2005–2007, 2008–2009, 2011-
Fourth Level: 1968–1972, 1973–1983, 1984–1999, 2000–2005
Among the hundreds of players who have turned out for the club, five may be considered outstanding:
Players whose careers progressed in the professional game, or gained international honours have included:
Occasional celebrity player: Ian Botham (cricketer)
A number of former United players have become managers including:
More recently successful players include:
Second longest serving player, Paul Longden. 455 appearances from 1982-1993.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Management: Manager:Alan Knill Assistant Manager:Chris Brass Goalkeeping Coach:Neil Cutler Physio:Alex Dalton Youth Development Manager:Tony Daws Centre of Excellence Co-ordiantor:Paul Harsley
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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The team's local rivals include Grimsby Town, Hull City, Lincoln City and Doncaster Rovers. Matches between Hull and Scunthorpe are often referred to as Humber Derbies, due to the fact that the teams lie either side of the River Humber.
The Lincolnshire teams have met regularly in the Lincolnshire County Senior Cup.
Record attendance (Old Showground)
Record attendance (Glanford Park)
The highest position: 4th in Second Division (1961–62)
The lowest position: 24th in Fourth Division (1974–75)
Record victory
Record defeat
Highest fees paid
Highest fees received
The women's football club, Scunthorpe United L.F.C., who play in the Northern Combination Women's Football League, is affiliated with Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United's official team mascots are the Scunny Bunny and the Scunny Hunny Bunny,[6][7] who wear the same claret and blue kit as the team's players do.
The most played chant is Sunny Scunny Tripitakas. Also played is Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag, Hi Ho Silver Lining by Jeff Beck and Tom Hark (common to many clubs). A song associated with Scunthorpe United is Any Old Iron, though it is rarely sung as a chant. More common are songs indicating disdain for Grimsby Town. In 2006, the club's fans began a new football chant "Who needs Mourinho, we've got our physio" after Nigel Adkins, the club's former physio replaced Brian Laws as manager, eventually to lead United to promotion.[8]
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