Scunthorpe United FC

Scunthorpe, The Iron. They have recently won promotion to the National League and have got off to a solid start worthy of their nickname – undefeated in their first six games. So let’s do this ambitious team with an iconic name and badge the honour – and #GetTheBadgeIn. Because if ever there was an example of a football club embodying local identity - and then that indentity coning under risk - Scunthorpe is it.

Let's rewind to begin with: Scunthorpe United Football Club were formed in 1899. Shortly afterwards, in 1910, they merged with a neighbouring side, North Lindsey United, becoming Scunthorpe & Lindsey United. They joined the Midland League in 1912, turned professional, and built up through league successes.

Over the decades, Scunthorpe United enjoyed periods of greater success. They won the Midland League several times, notably in 1926–27 and 1938–39, before finally being elected into the Football League in 1950. They rose through the divisions, reaching the Second Division (now the Championship) for stretches, and had memorable promotions under managers such as Nigel Adkins, including gaining promotion to the Championship via a play-off final.

However, recent times have not been kind to the club. After long spells in the Football League, they dropped out in 2022, ending a run of 72 years among the league’s members. Since then they have also experienced further relegations, financial difficulties, ownership changes, and even the threat of collapse — only to be saved by local people and new owners who stepped in.

So what then of their badge? A worker’s fist grasping an iron girder. It points directly to the industrial roots and identity of Scunthorpe as a steel and iron-making town. Their nickname, The Iron, echoes this industrial heritage.

To understand the club’s identity, you must understand Scunthorpe itself. The town was transformed from a largely agricultural area to a major centre of iron and steel production in the mid-19th century, once large deposits of middle Lias ironstone were discovered east of Scunthorpe. The ironstone, while plentiful, was not of the highest grade — relatively low in iron content and high in lime — so processing it required importing coal or coke and dealing with large amounts of slag.

Railways played a critical role. The construction of the Trent, Ancholme and Grimsby Railway in the 1860s connected Scunthorpe’s ironstone fields to coal sources (especially from South Yorkshire) and to shipping routes. This transport infrastructure turbocharged the iron industry in the area. Several major works were built: Appleby-Frodingham, Redbourn Iron Works, and Normanby Park (Lysaghts), among them. These consolidated over time, forming larger companies.

In 1967, under the Labour government, many steel and iron operations across the UK were nationalised via the British Steel Corporation. In Scunthorpe, the various works — Appleby-Frodingham, Redbourn, Normanby Park and others — were brought under this national ownership. Later privatisation, mergers (Corus, then Tata Steel), and recent ownership changes have shaped the modern era. Scunthorpe Steelworks remain one of the UK’s last major primary steel producing sites — that is, making steel from iron ore, not only recycled scrap.

There have been recent concerns about the future: high costs, environmental pressures, the need to modernise (for example shifting from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces), and repeated talk of closure. Around 2,700 jobs are directly employed by Scunthorpe Steelworks today, jobs that remain the backbone of the town.

This summer, the industry was given a lifeline. Prime Minister Keir Starmer summoned MPs to an emergency session of Parliament, where the new Labour government passed a bill to prevent Scunthorpe Steelworks from shutting down. The move, widely linked to possible renationalisation, has been hailed as a turning point not just for the plant but for the community that depends on it. For Scunthorpe, steel is not just an industry — it is an identity.

Scunthorpe have a good record with their kits recently too - an away one from two seasons ago had the steelworks silhouette embedded in it and their current home kit includes blue iron chainlinks in place of the traditional pinstripes as yet another nod to the heritage.

The town's other great export are Golden Wonder crisps. Hopefully the town, and the team, can retain its Iron making heritage... nobody wants to play "The Golden Wonders" in the future.

Just like their football club, Scunthorpe’s people continue to fight, endure, and believe. And they're on the way back up...