[3] The first team finished that initial season in the lower reaches of the table, but when competitive football resumed after the First World War, they enjoyed consecutive top-seven finishes, culminating in their first Midland League title in 1926–27, a success fuelled by 52 goals from former England international Ernie Simms.
The voting was tight, but Scunthorpe became one of two Midland League teams to join the Northern Section when each regional third-tier division grew from 22 to 24.
They also reached the fifth round (last 16) of the FA Cup for the first time, defeating First Division club Newcastle United and holding Liverpool for 75 minutes before conceding the only goal of the match.
[1] They spent six seasons at that level, and finished a club record fourth in 1961–62, five points behind the second promotion place.
After four seasons in the Third Division, they dropped to the Fourth, in which they remained for the next 36 years, apart from three single-season ventures into the higher level; the last of those, in 1999–2000, came courtesy of their fifth attempt at promotion via the play-offs.