Scunthorpe United to play home games away from Glanford Park

Scunthorpe United have confirmed that they will no longer play home games at Glanford Park after their match against Brackley Town on Saturday 7th October. 

The news was announced after the club Owner and Chairman, David Hilton, recently notified the Board of Directors of his decision to withdraw his funding from the club moving forward. He has also notified them that he feels his position at the club is untenable, and is actively seeking a way out. 

A club statement said:

"We can confirm that numerous parties have made contact with the club with a view to taking over, but faced with stadium issues, numerous litigation proceedings and winding up petitions no potential purchasers are looking to move forward. This includes the consortium of local business people and supporters.

The Chairman and remaining board members have now set out a plan in order to very quickly make the club sustainable.

An outside company will be bought in to work closely with the club's creditors to try and ensure all are paid in a timely and professional manner.

The club will vacate Glanford Park after the Brackley Town fixture and fulfill the season's fixtures across at Gainsborough Trinity. This is not a day-to-day cost cutting exercise. This is due to Coolsilk refusing to engage with the club and demanding vacant possession before they will begin to do so.
This is also due to the risk the club faces of being liable for hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees and back dated market rent, along with significant monthly legal costs of our own that will certainly impact any attempts to create sustainability. In any case, Coolsilk own the property and will undoubtedly get possession back at some point, and therefore it is no longer viable without the financial support of the Chairman to put the club at risk with such a gamble to merely guarantee a few extra months at the stadium.

The club can confirm that Chairman David Hilton is under investigation by the FA for matters that were reported to them by The Athletic prior to releasing their article. Documentation is being provided to the FA in order to evidence the validity of his ownership rights and expect it to be concluded imminently.

Finally, numerous fake club statements and messages have been circulating in recent days. We can confirm that no investigation is currently taking place to our knowledge and that all of the material is completely fake. We are appalled by its content.

Moving forward, the club can progress and challenge for promotion as originally planned. The playing side can be left relatively untouched and the debts cleared, but it will require supporters, sponsors and the community to be patient and continue to support the club the way they have done over the last few months.

Falls in attendances will undoubtedly mean further cuts and this will inevitably impact the playing squad and promotion aims.

We hope that the support continues regardless of how uncomfortable some of the decisions feel or the inconvenience those decisions will cause."