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Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire. It currently plays in Football League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
The team is nicknamed The Iron, and has played in a home strip of claret and blue for most of its history. It plays its home games at Glanford Park, having moved from the Old Show Ground in 1988. Grimsby Town, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers and Lincoln City are its main rivals, although none of these clubs currently play in Scunthorpe's division. It is currently the only league club located in Lincolnshire.
The club was formed in 1899, turned professional in 1912 and joined the Football League in 1950. It achieved promotion to Division Two in 1958, where it stayed until 1964, but has spent most of its time as a Football League club in the basement tier. The club has had more success recently, however: it was promoted from Football League Two in 2005, and has spent three of the last five seasons in the Football League Championship. The Iron were relegated to Football League One in 2011, having finished bottom of the Championship.
In recent years, the club has developed a reputation for developing promising young strikers, having sold Billy Sharp, Martin Paterson and Gary Hooper on for seven-figure sums. The club was also considered one of the most financially prudent in English football, being one of only three in the top four divisions to be debt-free. This status has recently changed after it was announced that a £2 million loan from the outgoing chairman Steve Wharton was on the accounts to help the club maintain some sense of financial stability.
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