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Scunthorpe’s fall and the story behind their Football League survival fight

Swift tumble from League One play-offs to foot of League Two leaves eighth manager in three years trying to turn fortunesNo 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...

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Paul Hurst’s new Shrewsbury side are riding the crest of a wave | Jeremy Alexander

Shropshire’s only league club are the Football League’s only unbeaten side, beating Scunthorpe 2-0 to stay top of League One by four pointsTen years ago, as Shrewsbury moved out of town after 97 years at Gay Meadow, they changed their crest too, losing two of its three loggerheads as well as the inscription “Floreat Salopia”. This season they restored them. Evidently three dunces are better than one. The crest is of a wave and Shrewsbury are flourishing, the Football League’s only unbeaten club and top of League One by four points after beating Scunthorpe United 2-0 at home on Saturday.“It was a big win,” said Paul Hurst, their manager, not because it was their first by more than a goal...

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Scunthorpe show their mettle in steel city as League One battle intensifies | Jeremy Alexander

The League One clash of Blades and The Iron, two resurgent sides, at Bramall Lane ended in a vibrant, heavy-metal 1-1 drawScunthorpe could take a leaf out of Lincoln City’s book. At Burnley the Imps had the nous to score in the 89th minute. At Bramall Lane The Iron, the county’s only League club for five seasons before Grimsby’s return, had the cheek in League One’s top-of-the-table match to take the lead straight after an interval they had reached in ragged relief at level terms. Two minutes later Sheffield United equalised and so it stayed, with each side hitting a post in the closing minutes, Scunthorpe again first, and honours even from a contest fit for a fine old stadium...

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