Iron in their soul

30/04/2024 10:33

Scunthorpe were in a parlous state back in the autumn, unable to pay staff wages and facing eviction from their home stadium, Glanford Park. Debts had climbed to more than £1.5million ($1.9m), with crippling losses running close to £100,000 a month in National League North, the sixth tier of English football. They stood on the cliff edge… and they tottered.

A club dying in plain sight begged for a saviour and, against her better judgment, that turned out to be Michelle Harness.  In October, the 62-year-old lifelong Scunthorpe fan agreed a £100,000 deal to end the tumultuous reign of David Hilton, and six weeks later, she had secured further funding of £3million to buy Glanford Park from another of the club's former owners, Peter Swann.

Harness squirms at the suggestion she has been responsible for saving Scunthorpe. She points to the hefty donations of backers, volunteers and well-wishers, as well as the increased revenues driven by a long-suffering fanbase stirring to action. That it is uncomfortable for the club to imagine life without her intervention, though, illustrates her importance. 

They had hoped the final chapter of 2023-24 would be a rousing promotion back to the National League, but that was not to be. Scunthorpe lost, on penalties after a goalless draw, to Boston United in the play-off semi-finals on Saturday. It was a full stop nobody wanted.

Instead, simply being in operation, attracting close to a sell-out crowd, illustrated they were a club who refused to go under.

Supporters have rallied around Harness, with an average attendance of 4,012 bettering the crowds seen at Glanford Park during the club's last season in the English Football League (EFL, the second, third and fourth tiers of English football) in 2021-22 — when the average dipped below 3,000. The National League North is not their natural home.

Ridding the club of the toxic former owner Hilton only marked the start of the battle. Every day would bring winding-up orders and county court judgements (CCJs) seeking money the club did not have.

Bailiffs arrived regularly, one taking the leased hand driers from the toilets and another removing the club's telephone system. Kit supplier Kelme had stopped sending fresh supplies to the club shop after previous orders had not been paid for. Outstanding utility bills ran to six figures. Taxes owed to the Inland Revenue stood at £220,000.

The efforts of Harness and her fellow directors offered no guarantees Scunthorpe would come out on the other side of all that as an operational football club.

"The first three or four months weren't very good," she said. "I had advice from an administrator in the first two weeks, because I thought I'd done everything I could. I didn't have a cash flow and I was going home every day asking how I'd pay this or that.

Harness could not have done it alone. She credits the ongoing support of directors Roj Rahman and George Aitkenhead, who helped find the initial funding requirements, as well as Ian Sharp, Tahina Akther and Simon Elliott, three more of her crutches on a long road.

Harness points to two donations of £100,000 that helped clear debts and another of £20,000 from Julie Taylor, a lifelong fan and volunteer member of staff. Taylor says the money was part of her inheritance from her late father, another dedicated Scunthorpe supporter.

Scunthorpe's comeback has illustrated the enduring power of English football's pyramid. A working-class town in the north of England has rallied around its club, with local money plugging some big holes.

"One of the first people who helped us was Jason Threadgold, a funeral director in the town," says Sparks, who sold off naming rights for the club's training pitches. "We're dying on our a**e and it's a funeral company that helped save us."

The visit of Brackley Town on October 7, three days after Harness' takeover, threatened to be the club's final game at Glanford Park.  A short-term extension bought Harness time to negotiate with Swann and, on December 1, a £3million deal was struck that ensured Scunthorpe would not be moved. A community interest company (CIC) set up by the club received £2.5m of UK government funding and will avert the threat of Scunthorpe's home ever being sold again.

"Now that's into a CIC, which means nobody can come and take the stadium away again," says Harness. "That's what we wanted."

It is now called the Attis Arena, after naming rights were sold to a local insurance firm in January. New cladding has been fitted to its frontage by another Lincolnshire firm and solar panels will be added to the roof over the summer. There is also the potential for social housing to be built on nearby land.

A big summer now begins. The majority of Dean's squad, expensively assembled by Hilton, are about to reach the end of contracts and budgets will need to be trimmed.

"Every extra penny that comes in, I'm clearing the debt," says Harness. "What I want to do is be clear of debt before next season starts.

"I'm not saying I can afford to run this football club but I am saying the town can. I went out begging for support to save this club for this town. That's what it's been about — and we're nearly there."