Swift tumble from League One play-offs to foot of League Two leaves eighth manager in three years trying to turn fortunes
No team have conceded more League Two goals than Scunthorpe this season and their worrying slide to the bottom of the
Football League has been punctuated by some PR own goals too. They have banned the local paper, the Scunthorpe Telegraph, over its refusal to pay for access and in April the transfer of the stadium to another company owned by the chairman, Peter Swann, caused alarm among a disillusioned fan base, amid dwindling crowds. Then there are the accusations of nepotism, with Swann’s son Will tasked with leading player recruitment.
Swann responded promptly to questions from the Guardian, explaining each decision. Scunthorpe flirted with a return to the Championship as recently as three years ago when they reached the League One play-offs for a second successive season. Ivan Toney was on loan, Charlie Goode – also now at Brentford – was there and Conor Townsend, now of West Brom, was excelling in defence. Duane Holmes and Murray Wallace were mainstays, both now Championship regulars. Many supporters look back with bewilderment on the sacking of Graham Alexander when the club were fifth with seven games to play. Scunthorpe were relegated the following season, during which they had three managers.