They play their home games at Glanford Park—currently known as The Attis Arena for sponsorship reasons—having moved from their original stadium, the Old Show Ground, in 1988.

[2] When the 1939–40 season came to an abrupt end, due to the outbreak of the Second World War, Scunthorpe & Lindsey finished as runners-up in the second emergency competition, losing 3–2 to Peterborough United in an unofficial play-off game.

During this period, a young Kevin Keegan was discovered and developed by Ashman before being sold to Liverpool in 1971 for £35,000,[5] having made 124 appearances and scored 18 goals for Scunthorpe.

He was also a regular in the Central League for Scunthorpe United Reserves, once scoring a hat-trick against Blackpool at the Old Show Ground.

[citation needed] The next five years saw United remain in the bottom half of Division Four, finishing second-bottom at the end of the 1981–82 campaign.

In 1988 Scunthorpe United became the first English football club in the modern era to move to a new, purpose-built stadium, Glanford Park.

Further play-off failure occurred in 1991 as the Iron lost to 3–2 on aggregate to Blackpool in the semi-final under Buxton's replacement, Bill Green.

[citation needed] The following four seasons saw United sit consistently in the middle of the now Third Division table under a succession of managers, namely Richard Money and David Moore.

[14] On 25 March 2004, Laws was sacked from his position as Scunthorpe United manager after a poor run of results saw the Iron sitting just 6 points above the Division Three relegation zone.

After a successful start to the 2006–07 season, Laws was offered the job of manager at Sheffield Wednesday, which he accepted, ending almost a decade in charge of the Iron.

[21] The club then qualified for the League One play-offs before defeating MK Dons on penalties in the semi-finals,[22] before beating Millwall in the Wembley final 3–2 to achieve promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking.

[25] After spells from Ian Baraclough and Alan Knill as manager, Scunthorpe were ultimately relegated in bottom position.

[30] Laws was sacked in November 2013 and was replaced by Russ Wilcox who oversaw a 28-game unbeaten run, which broke the all-time football league record.

[31][32] The unbeaten run was ended with a defeat at Exeter City, on the same day Scunthorpe achieved instant promotion back to League One.

[14] After narrowly missing out on the play-offs on goal difference in the previous 2015–16 campaign, the Iron finished in third, having never been outside the top six during the season.

[39][40] On 31 March 2022, with the Iron bottom of League Two and 10 points from safety, chairman Peter Swann announced his resignation with immediate effect.

[42] The club's final league game was a 7–0 hammering away at Bristol Rovers, leaving the Iron bottom of the table with just 26 points.

[46] Hilton settled the club's HMRC tax debt, spelling the end of a transfer embargo[47] but ownership of the ground continued to be disputed.

On 28 September 2023, after the emergence of details relating to previous criminal offences committed by Hilton, and a damning expose article in The Athletic online football magazine, plus subsequent disagreements with various fans groups and individuals on social media, he withdrew the club's funding.

[51][52] With going out of business seemingly immediately ahead for the club, an online initiative by longstanding fans website Iron Bru raised over £70k which was then used to pay some of the wages of staff, players and management (who had gone unpaid under Hilton for two months).

The Old Show Ground needed significant investment to maintain its fabric and ensure compliance with new regulations introduced in the wake of the Bradford City stadium fire.

In 1988 Scunthorpe United became the first English football club in the modern era to move to a new, purpose-built stadium, Glanford Park.

This lack of outsider cash means that Glanford Park was built in a rather simplistic, box-like style, with a capacity of 9,088—significantly smaller than the Old Show Ground.

[58] At the same time, Swann told the fans they could expect stadium improvements and that the club would have a 99-year lease so they couldn't be evicted.

[59] In January 2023, David Hilton had completed a takeover of Scunthorpe and announced the deal included the stadium and surrounding land.

[48] However, Hilton's legal team raised concerns about the valuation, the stadium's status as a community asset and issues of planning permission and access.

[48] Hilton did not buy the stadium within the agreed timeframe;[61] instead he found a loophole solution: a lease agreement that let the club stay at Glanford Park for 7p a week rent - something Swann considered to be trespass and squatting.

[64] Swann began legal proceedings to sue both Hilton and the club, with an initial court hearing being adjourned until between January 2024 and March 2024.

[69] Tahina Akther, a local born barrister, crafted a deal that enabled The New Show Ground Community Interest Company, a not for profit entity, to purchase the stadium alongside the local council purchasing the surrounding training fields and car parks for development.

[79] George Thomas was the most recent Scunthorpe player to make a full international appearance, for Wales against Trinidad and Tobago on 20 March 2019, during a season-long loan spell from Leicester City.