The club were formed at the turn of the twentieth centaury in 1899, and were former under the name Brumby Hall FC before amalgamating with North Lindsey United to become Scunthorpe & Lindsey United in 1910; and they became the Scunthorpe United were know today in 1959.
Since there formation in 1899 the Iron played at the Old Showgrounds stadium and despite its long history had to wait until 1950 to take part in their first ever Football League fixture. On 19 August United drew 0-0 with Shrewsbury Town in the Division Three (North) league.
Scunthorpe United moved from there Old Showgrounds Stadium in 1988 and was opened by the present monarch Queen Elizabeth II. The old ground was 'I would imagine' dilapidated as is the current one despite only being nineteen years old this year.
They boast there best record league victory as 8-1 thrashings against Luton Town in April 1965 and matched the same result against Torquay United in October 1995 whilst there highest Cup win was a 9-0 victory over Lincolnshire rivals Boston United in November 1953 in the FA Cup.
Club Guide
Team: Scunthorpe United |
Having set off at 12:15pm from Bramall Lane the coaches arrived at Glanford Park an hour later; around the ground it was littered with bars and restaurants as well as a hotel and a shopping complex that was similar to Parkgate, Rotherham.
There wasn't a lot to do around the ground (except shop); though a visit to McDonalds and local pub were inviting.
Stadium and Pitch: 5/10
The ground, can at best be described as a shoe box, a 9,000 capacity structure fitted tightly into small surroundings. The ground is arguably out dated but there is no need to re-locate as there ample room all round the ground to expand.
Each side of the ground is exactly the same with the visitors section being housed traditionally behind goal in what looked like a former terrace as no leg room was given to the tiny seats; unlike at MK Dons which made the Stadium:MK look like a 'Giants Paradise' compared to the Alan Wright sized seats supplied at Glanford Park.
At the other end of the ground was a terrace which was full to the rafters with Scunny fans, I would have thought that the Football League would have made them install seats but the Iron seem to have gotten away with it. However, if controlled correctly I am in favour of standing for those who want to - it does create a better atmosphere.
United were given an away allocation of 1,600 which sold out within three days of sale before, eventually a further 400 were issued.
Programme: 6/10
Like Manchester United, West Ham United and Newcastle United the Iron produce a disgusting square programme which for the avid collector can hardly be kept safely with the rest of the other programmes. The visitors section features five pages to absorb with an in-depth interview with manager Bryan Robson whilst unsurprisingly Billy Sharp was named as the visitors star player.
An extra feature giving tribute to a legendary player is given, in this case Tony 'TC' Currie was chosen, giving a full page player profile whilst further on (near the rear) of the programme is an Q&A with the Sheffield Star on the game at Glanford Park.
Each edition has a feature called 'Fast Forward' which features a Q&A session about the Iron's future home game. In the previous game against Burnley I myself was lucky enough to be chosen to write about the Blades and see my work published for all to see - my only disappointment was not to see it published on the day United came to North Lincolnshire!
Performance and Result: 5/10
Scunthorpe United 3-2 Sheffield United: The performance by Sheffield United was shocking and furthermore highlighted the need of an Attacking-Midfielder which has yet to arrive. With no service to the strikers the Blades struggled to create opportunities and came as no surprise when the Iron went 2-0 up with goals from Andy Crosby and Martin Paterson.
Blades boss Bryan Robson changed things around and super substitute Danny Webber twice latched onto headers from James Beattie to level the score. However the game turned sour when both Derek Geary (United) and Cliff Bryne (Iron) were set off for going head-to-head with each other before a defensive error allowed Matthew Sparrow to dispatch the winner for the home side in the last minute.
Atmosphere: 5/10
The home faithful gave good applause to former favourite Billy Sharp and rapidly sung their number one song about him, whilst the away crowed also sung there version about the said player. Other than that the Iron fans, with exception to chose housed behind the opposite goal muttered a single chant when there team didn't score.
Overall: 21/40
:: Previous Visits to Glanford Park ::
- 01.09.2007 - Scunthorpe 3-2 Blades