Scunthorpe United Football Club - SUFC History
2006-07 Season
1st, Champions of League One
League Cup: 2nd round; Aston Villa h. 1-2
FA Cup: 2nd round; Wrexham h. 0-2
JP Trophy: 2nd round; Port Vale h. lost 5-3 on penalties.
Highlight:
4-0 win at Nottingham Forest, 7/10/06
Low Spot:
1-3 home defeat by Blackpool, 15/12/06
Good:
Billy Sharp
Plenty of people were probably doubting whether Sharp would be able to maintain his prolific scoring of the season before and 32 goals in 50 appearances was an emphatic response.
This represented a club record and the stocky poacher continued to find the net after his classy partner Andy Keogh had been flogged to Wolves. Instrumental in the clubs' promotion.
Joe Murphy
While Sharp was having fun at one end Murphy got through some serious work at the other. Having failed to fulfill his early promise at West Brom and Sunderland this impressive keeper looks easily capable of impressing in the Championship with Scunny.
The likelihood is that he will need to be on top form again.
In Brief:
3 points from the first 5 games perhaps didn't surprise many people outside the town itself but this gave no indication of the remarkable season ahead. Despite losing manager Brian Laws to Sheffield Wednesday and selling the outstanding forward Andy Keogh to Wolves in January the Iron launched a prolonged promotion bid which saw them end up convincing champions.
After their slow start the club won 8 of their next 11 games, including an amazing trouncing of Notts Forest on their own ground, and cemented this form with good progress through November and December as Nigel Adkins took over from Laws, initially on a caretaker basis before landing the job full time.
There were four draws in January which suggested the wheels might be getting loose as Keogh was shipped off to Wolves but the club remained top and the acquisition of Jermaine Beckford on loan from Leeds as a replacement proved a sound move.
Indeed there were seven successive victories immediately following the sale of Keogh which left the Iron ten points clear at the beginning of March and there would be no hint of a collapse, the gap at the top of the table eventually closing at six points.
Of course there will be serious doubts about the clubs' ability to step up to Championship level, especially as Sharp has now also been sold, but nobody can question the clubs' right to be there after this fantastic effort.
Scunthorpe United Football Club was formed in 1899 when Brumby Hall FC, who played at the Old Showground, amalgamated with other clubs in the area and changed their name to Scunthorpe United.
In 1910 this new club merged once again, this time with North Lindsey United and changed its name to Scunthorpe & Lindsey United. It was not until 1958 that the club reverted back to simply Scunthorpe United.
The club did not gain entry to the Football League until 1950 when it was elected into Division Three North.
In 1958 the Iron won the last ever Division Three North title and moved into the second division where they remained for six seasons before suffering relegation.
After the club were relegated to the fourth division in 1984 Scunthorpe remained in the bottom tier of league football until 1999 when they gained promotion after a play off victory.
They suffered immediate relegation, however, and spent a further five years in the basement before finishing runners up last season to move back into English footballs' third tier.
The club also have a quite shocking cup record.
They have, incredibly, never progressed beyond the 3rd round of the League Cup and have only made the 5th round of the FA Cup
on two occassions, in 1958 and 1970.
In the 1958 competition the Iron enjoyed their finest moment, winning 3-1 away at Newcastle before falling to a 1-0 home defeat to Liverpool .
In 1970 they also claimed the prized scalp of Sheffield Wednesday, 2-1 at Hillsborough, before losing 3-1 at Swindon Town in round 5.
There has as yet been no compensation in the lower divisions cup competition either.
Scunthorpe United probably remain most famous for unearthing the Liverpool legends Ray Clemence and Kevin Keegan, thereby playing their part in the footballing dynasty of the 1970's and 80's.
Scunthorpe also hold the dubious distinction of allowing Ian Botham eleven first team appearances in the early 1980's.
"Beefy" Botham; world class cricketer, pub team footballer.
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