As Iron fans for more than 25 years, we’ve watched the club reach seemingly unlikely heights and sink to unthinkable depths.
The situation in which Scunthorpe United now finds itself is a new low — relegated to the sixth tier, potentially homeless, and caught in the middle of a now public feud between two businessmen on the eve of a new campaign.
We prefer to comment on the club, not ourselves, but we have been caught in the crossfire. As such, we’ve got to address several accusations.
First, we have seen several supporters claim that we played a part in writing Peter Swann’s statement on the Iron Bru forum earlier today. We wish to make clear that we had no part in writing this, or indeed prior knowledge of the contents. Our site has a free and available forum that anyone can use and Mr Swann decided, without the help of publicists, to use it to communicate with the fans and deliver his version of events.
Mr Swann claims he has evidence to support his statement, whilst we note Mr Hilton has refuted these allegations on Facebook. We hope that both parties are willing to provide evidence to back up their claims or, better still, work towards an amicable solution with the best interests of the club in mind.
It is also important to clarify that the admin team do not endorse or agree with every post made on the forum. We rarely contribute to the debate and while we do moderate, Iron Bru always has been and always will be an open forum. Supporters are free to write what they wish, so long as it falls on the right side of the law.
It is often forgotten that we were frequent critics of Mr Swann’s stewardship of the club. We frequently challenged Mr Swann while he was the owner (even when the club were riding high in League One). Fans criticised us for that, just as they did when we patched up the relationships to better report on the club when any other line of communication was lacking.
We have never made any personal accusations or insults to Mr Hilton or any other supporter and have largely refrained from commenting on a delicate situation to attempt to avoid a scenario such as the one that has developed today. Personal attacks are not acceptable and should not be tolerated.
Finally, we would also like to clarify that David Hilton did make contact via a third party to invite us to the club in April. We initially thought this would be an opportunity to interview Mr Hilton for the podcast however, there was an element of miscommunication. This was likely because we were communicating through a middleman. We politely declined when it was clarified that this would be an off-the-record chat.
Wanting what’s best for the club often requires scrutiny, but we have no agenda beyond wanting to see the club succeed. We hope that fans can evaluate the situation for themselves, and a solution can be found imminently to enable the club to move forward.
We have always been respectful of the opinion of others and will continue to be loyal fans of the club with only its best interests at heart.
Iron Bru
As an Iron fan for well over 50 years there has been witness to a number of ups and downs and at times some general poor decision making (on and off the pitch). This public fall out between Swann and Hilton is unedifying for both parties, and I’m sorry to say in my opinion Iron Bru has been played by Swann, and he really should not have been allowed to post. There has been some great opinions from Iron Bru contributors over the years. However, this is not reasoned opinion or even supporter’s gripes but a business man opening up business issues (final negotiations) to a public that just doesn’t have the knowledge of the commercial details of the purchase. Seems to me Hilton has looked under the bonnet and seen an issue that needs further financial negotiation, probably lower price to be paid. Who knows – they are seasoned business men who know how to work negotiations. But, totally wrong in my view for either of them to bring this into the fan domain. Yes we want a good and winning football team run by competent and passionate people. Seems to be moving in the right direction with the appointment of a Board of Directors with some very seasoned and sensible heads to bring to the club.
To my mind Swann should recognise he really made a hash of his time at Scunthorpe and has upset many fans – withdraw from the club with some grace please.
…and Iron Bru please don’t fan the flames. Thankyou