Scunthorpe will be playing in the National North League next season.
Last January the club was taken over by former Ilkeston Town chairman David Hilton.
Two weeks earlier the club was served with a winding up order because of unpaid tax.
Following relegation the club held a fans forum last Thursday.
'Due to recent rumours circulating, David Hilton confirmed during the
first 40 minutes of the meeting that he had recently provided proof of
funds to Simon Elliot who is a well-respected representative of
supporters. He went on to also confirm that the club is not currently
under a transfer embargo as falsely reported and have not been since he
took the club out of the one he inherited in February. HMRC payments are
continually paid on time along with all staff wages. However, he did
confirm that after inheriting a pension debt, it has risen further since
the takeover. This is not an oversight, it is a simple mandate issue
which allows the new regime to access all of the relevant information
required to understand fully the clubs current position. Payments will
be made in due course and the account bought up to date.
Mr Hilton also confirmed that he plays no part in the recruitment
process. He has provided a budget only and the instructions to build a
top seven National League (Step 1) side. Acquisitions moving forward,
along with the recent completed signings, are solely down to the hard
work of Jimmy Dean and Lee Turnbull.
A new training facility has been secured, however its location at
this stage cannot be disclosed. It was described as an excellent
facility and a further £2m has been set aside to enhance the current
facilities to provide everything required away from matchday. This is to
include a gymnasium, players restaurant, medical facilities and,
hopefully, temporary player accommodation. A state of the art 4G surface
will also be installed along with several grass pitches and LED
floodlighting.
It has been confirmed that the club will move away from the current
kit provide Macron. Mr Hilton felt that the relationship was at an
irreparable stage, and we could not gain the required commitment in
respect of delivery times despite the club being signed into a long term
contract. It was said that he believed the breakdown was caused by the
current league position of the football club, along with the absence of
payments over the season despite the club receiving and selling the
stock a year ago. Kelme will provide our kits for the forthcoming
season.
The two recently acquired sites at Warren Road and Glebe Road were
then discussed and Mr Hilton confirmed that, subject to the relevant
planning consents, a new stadium will be erected and hopefully completed
in time for the start of the 2025-26 season. Civil contractors, stadium
construction experts, architects and various surveyors have all been
instructed and a comprehensive ground testing survey has already been
provided to the relevant parties. He confirmed that North Lincolnshire
Council are extremely supportive of the potential development and are
working closely with the club to ensure things happen quickly. Enabling
development, potentially retail, will be key to the application to help
fund the new stadium and it was explained that this was the reason for
acquiring both sites. The government levelling up fund is also to be
discussed and many more options that are not open to a Glanford Park
modernisation. Mr Hilton has also confirmed that the amount of
personally allocated funds will obviously rise significantly. Long term
he feels the move is in the best interests of the club and supporters.
The purchase of Glanford Park from Peter Swann was next on the
agenda. It was confirmed that the two parties were no longer on speaking
terms and that the deal had stalled. Mr Hilton confirmed that this was
due to various legal issues such as unregistered parcels of land
(potential ransom strips), the inability for him to purchase the stadium
in the clubs name due to Mr Swann not following the correct procedure
for a sale of an asset of community value, previously undeclared access
rights for a third party, expired planning consents, flood risk and a
much lower valuation. Mr Hilton went on to reiterate that at no point
did he want to withdraw from the process however was insistent that the
legalities were carried out correctly in order to protect the club
moving forward. An extension was requested in order to complete the
processes professionally and a rent offered of £20,000 per month in
order to show that there is no benefit to the club to create unnecessary
delays. All of this was offered despite the fact the legal issues are
the responsibility of Mr Swann to remedy, despite the insistence in
January by Mr Swann that all of this work had recently been carried out
during the extraction of the stadium from the club to his company. Mr
Swann declined the offer and insists that the club, the Iron Foundation
and Study United, all of which have been occupiers of Glanford Park for
many years, will have to vacate on May 24th unless £3m is paid without legal works being completed or him even acknowledging the serious issues.
Mr Hilton confirmed that he has instructed his own legal team and
Barristers to act on behalf of the club moving forward and feels that
after taking their advice and carrying out certain administration
processes he has protected the club ensuring its stay for the
foreseeable future at its rightful home.
This unfortunate scenario has left some uncertainty surrounding the
Club 1899 membership. Mr Hilton confirmed that he would certainly
implement measures in new facilities to ensure members have protection
over the club. They will continue to receive all benefits apart from an
1899 lounge. This is due to the cost of creating such a facility with
only five current members wanting tickets in this area. These five
members will be offered executive lounge access and all members who do
not request a refund will be entitled to a share in the football club
which are not currently available.
Finally, Mr Hilton has decided that due to us all wanting to forget
the past mistakes, he has taken the steps to remove all banning orders
at the football club and hopes we can all unite and see this as a fresh
start for all. He has requested that people remain respectful of
players, staff and most importantly each other throughout the coming
season and enjoy the ride.
During the meeting, first team manager Jimmy Dean stated he would be
working hard to ensure that the club rediscovered its family feel. He
stated there needs to be a strong presence of the football club within
the community and he will be working with the relevant people to ensure
that he, his players and his staff regularly undertake visits and
appearances within this local area. He would also like to extend this to
the players and staff returning upstairs to the Executive Lounge, and
also the Iron Bar, after a home fixture where supporters will be able to
meet and talk to, as well as gain autographs and pictures of the squad.'
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