Sports Telegraph | Football | Scunthorpe United | Club history
SCUNTHORPE United were elected to the Football League in 1950.
Leslie Jones was the first manager as they entered the old Third Division North.
They were the last ever champions of that section in 1958, winning promotion to the old Second Division.
They went on to spend six seasons at that level, finishing fourth in the table in 1962, the season Liverpool were promoted to the top flight.
That was the season Barrie Thomas set a club scoring record for the Iron with 31 goals before the middle of January when he was controversially sold to Newcastle for £45,000.
Scunthorpe were relegated from division two in 1964 - and four years later slipped into the fourth division for the first time in their history.
That was the level they stayed at for the best part of 36 years.
Despite unearthing a number of promising youngsters such as goalkeeper Ray Clemence and striker Kevin Keegan, both sold to Liverpool, Scunthorpe were unable to achieve lasting success on the field.
When they were promoted in 1972, they came straight back down again the following year - and it was the same story in 1983.
The mid-1970s were a bleak time for the club with poor crowds and low expectations.
They had to seek re-election to the Football League in 1975 and again in 1982.
1988 saw the dawning of a new horizon for United when they sold the Old Show Ground for supermarket re-development and moved to Glanford Park.
They were the first club in modern times to move to a purpose-built new stadium.
Four times five seasons between 1988 and 1992 Scunthorpe reached the play-offs, but the first three times they were knocked out at the semi-final stages and when they did reach the final for a first ever trip to Wembley in 1992, they were beaten in a penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 draw.
The arrival of Brian Laws as manager early in 1997 was the start of brighter times for the club.
They reached the play-off final at Wembley again in 1999 with a header from Alex Calvo-Garcia giving them a 1-0 triumph.
Twelve months later through, they were back again in the basement division and in 2004 they so nearly slipped out of the Football League, avoiding relegation by the skin of their teeth.
But with chairman Steve Wharton returning to the helm - and Laws brought back after three weeks of 'gardening leave' Scunthorpe's fortunes have suddenly been transformed in the past three years.
May 2005 saw them promoted as runner-up in League Two - and they finished 12th in League One the following season.
But season 2006/07 was the one when they exceeded all expectations, finishing champions of League One to go back to the second tier of English football for the first time in 47 years.
It came despite losing manager Laws to Sheffield Wednesday in the November and the sale of striker Andy Keogh to Wolves for a club record £600,000 during the January transfer window.
New manager Nigel Adkins continued to work wonders in charge at Glanford Park as leading marksman Billy Sharp notched 32 goals to break the long-standing record set by Thomas back in 1962.
Their stay at that level ended after just 12 months, with the club finishing second from bottom in the table, seven points from safety.
Hopefully it won't be quite as long before they make a triumphant return.
