Glanford Park: Scunthorpe United
Paul Harrop [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
When Glanford Park opened as a replacement for The Old Showground in 1988 it was the first new, purpose-built Football League stadium that had opened for 33 years. It was officially opened by Princess Alexandra before a friendly game between Scunthorpe United and a Football League All-Star XI team. Another claim to fame for the stadium is that it witnessed former Manchester City player Robinho score his first goal in English football at the ground when City beat Scunthorpe 4-2 in the 4th round of the FA Cup in 2010.
For the first seventeen years of its existence Glanford Park only played host to fourth-tier football, before The Iron were promoted to League One in 2005. Since then the club has only appeared in either the Championship or League One. A Manchester club also features in the ground’s history thanks to the record attendance being set when 9,077 people turned out to see Scunthorpe take an encouraging lead against Manchester United in the League Cup in 2010, before eventually going on to lose 5-2.
In 2019 the stadium was renamed The Sands Venue Stadium in a one year sponsorship deal, the first of its kind for the club, but some fans reacted negatively because both the company and the ground were owned by the same person, Peter Swann. The deal was extended however.
Stats
| Glanford Park Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 1988 |
| Capacity | 9088 |
| Average Attendance | 3538 |
| Record Attendance | 9077 (Scunthorpe v Man Utd (22/09/2010)) |
| Pitch Size | 102 x 65 (6630) |
| Owner | Scunthorpe United Football Club |
| Sponsor | The Sands Venue |
| Clubs Hosted | Scunthorpe United F.C. |
| First Fixture | Scunthorpe United v Football League XI (14/08/1988) |
| Scunthorpe United Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1899 |
| Nickname | The Iron |
| Club Mascot | Scunny Bunny, Scunny Hunny Bunny |
| Rivals | Grimsby Town, Hull City, Doncaster Rovers, York City, Lincoln City |
| Previous Stadiums | The Old Show Ground |
| Kit | Claret & Blue (Home) / Black & Yellow (Away) / White & Claret (Third) |
| Training Ground | The Shed |
| Shirt Sponsor | Cancer Research UK |
| Team Owner | Peter Swann |
| Record Goalscorer | Steve Cammack (121) |
| Record Appearances | Jack Brownsword (791) |
Glanford Park Photos
Richard Croft [CC BY-SA 2.0]
Richard Croft [CC BY-SA 2.0]
footysphere / Flickr.com
Glanford Park Seating Plan and Where to Sit
Glanford Park is built in a typically ‘English Style’, with four distinct stands on each edge of the pitch. The Lincolnshire Co-Op Stand is a single-tier stand that is reserved for away fans, whilst The Easy Buy Stand is considered to be the main stand at the ground as it features the changing rooms, the dug outs and match day hospitality suites. The Britcon Stand is commonly referred to as The Doncaster Road End and houses the more vocal Scunthorpe fans in an unreserved terracing section. Finally, The East Stand is an all-seating section of the stadium with a security box behind the central column.
Scunthorpe United Ticket Prices
Ticketing for Scunthorpe matches is a little tricky to understand on first viewing. The club categorise their matches for a start, meaning that you’ll pay a different amount depending on who The Iron are up against. You’ll also pay more depending on where in the ground you want to sit and how old you are. To make things even more complicated you can also reduce the amount of money you’ll have to pay by becoming a Scunthorpe Fan Club Member and/or by booking in advance. Finally, the club offer what are called ‘Executive’ tickets, which are more expensive again.
Here are the non-Fan Club Membership, non-Executive prices for adults and concessions in each of the two categories, with the lowest price representing tickets bought in advance:
- Cat A Adults: £19 – £26
- Cat A Concessions: £14 – £18
- Cat B Adults: £18 – £25
- Cat B Concessions: £13 – £17
How To Get Scunthorpe United Tickets
You can buy tickets online, over the phone, in person at the Glanford Park Ticket Office or even by post – old school.
Where to Buy
Getting To Glanford Park
Scunthorpe’s location in North Lincolnshire means there are probably easier places to get to in the UK, but there are probably more complicated ones to find, too. Here are some of the routes you might want to consider:
Train – Scunthorpe Railway Station is about two miles from the ground, so it will take you over half an hour to walk from there.
Bus – Stagecoach Group operate the buses around Scunthorpe and have a good journey planner on their website. If you’re heading from the train station to the ground, for example, you’ll want the 31A that will take about twenty minutes.
Car – The stadium is quite easy to get to by car as it’s not far from the M180. Take that motorway until you get to Junction 3 for the M181. Stick on that until the end of the motorway and you’ll literally drive past the ground on your right.
By Air – The closest airport to Scunthorpe is Humberside Airport, which is less than twenty miles away. Slightly further afield but still within easy transfer distance is Robin Hood Doncaster-Sheffield Airport.
Taxi – A taxi from Scunthorpe Railway Station to Glanford Park will cost you about £5 and should take no more than seven or eight minutes, traffic depending.
Parking Near Glanford Park
There is limited on-street parking near to the ground, but that doesn’t matter too much as there are about 600 spaces available at the stadium itself where you can park at a cost of £3 per car.
Useful Resources
- Parking - Just Park
Glanford Park Hotels
Leeds, Sheffield and Doncaster are all big towns that are not too far away from Scunny, as the locals call it, but you should only be drawn there if you can’t resist the bright lights of a big town. Scunthorpe itself is a nice little place to spend a bit of time, so here are some of our hotel recommendations:
Royal Hotel - £45+
The Bridge Hotel - £60+
Forest Pines Hotel & Golf Resort - QHotels - £95+
Pubs and Bars Near Glanford Park
Scunthorpe is a town full of local characters and fun little drinking holes that you might want to consider for your pre-match pint. Here are some of our favourites:
Old Farmhouse - Fayre & Square
Warren Lodge
Ironstone Wharf
Facilities
The facilities at Glanford Park are functional, with the club barely having improved upon them since the stadium was first built. That said, you’ll find places to buy a drink or a bite to eat before and during the match on the characterful concourses.
Prices
- Programme: £3
- Pie: £2.8
- Cup of tea: £1.2
- Beer: £3
Hospitality
The match day hospitality options at Glanford Park aren’t exactly the most luxurious in the Football League, but you can hire an executive box, sponsor the match ball or even the match itself. You can also upgrade your match ticket to the Sir Ian Botham Lounge, which entitles you to enter the lounge before and after kick off to enjoy some refreshments; or you can book the Legends Lounge which is recommended for Stag do’s and birthdays at it has it’s own private cash bar.
Private Hire
The club profess that the facilities at Glanford Park are first class, and whilst we might snobbishly suggest that this is an exaggeration, it’s certainly true that you can host a range of events or special occasions at the home of Scunthorpe United thanks to the club’s dedicated staff. The function rooms are nothing special but are perfectly adequate, and you can even hire the pitch if you had reason to do so.
Stadium Tours & Museum
At the time of writing Scunthorpe United don’t offer tours of Glanford Park and nor is there a museum. The club’s official website has a nice picture of a cupboard with a few shiny trinkets on though, if that helps.
About Scunthorpe United
Nicknamed The Iron because of the local area’s involvement with the steel industry, Scunthorpe United have played their home games in Claret & Blue for most of the club’s existence. Formed in 1899, The Iron turned pro in 1912 and joined the Football League in 1950, after a number of failed attempts to do so earlier in their history. The club actually began life as a merger between themselves and Lindsey United, going by the name Scunthorpe & Lindsey United for their formative years.
The club has a history of seeing top-class players come through their ranks. Two former Liverpool stars played for Scunthorpe, for example, with Ray Clemence also going on to appear for Tottenham and Kevin Keegan twice being named the European Footballer Of The Year. More recently Swansea star Jack Cork, Sheffield United hitman Billy Sharp and one-time Leeds United and Everton forward Jermaine Beckford have all played for the club. They also had something of a celebrity player on their books when former England Cricketer Ian Botham played eleven games for The Irons in 1980.
Glanford Park History
As well as being the first purpose-built stadium in the Football League for 33 years when it opened in 1988, Glanford Park was also the first ground in the country to feature a cantilevered roof, and we all know how exciting that is. The decision to leave the club’s former stadium, The Old Showground, was reached when it became obvious that it was going to cost too much money to comply with the new safety legislation brought in in the aftermath of the 1985 Bradford City Stadium Fire.
Despite selling the plot of their former ground to Safeway supermarket, the new stadium was built on something of a budget. That meant that it was more about function than form. It is well-known for its low-hanging roof that can block the view of supporters towards the back of the stands, whilst its box-like appearance is unlikely to ever win any awards for style.
Future Developments
The club received permission in 2014 to build a new, purpose-built 12,000 seater stadium at Lincolnshire Lakes at a cost of 18 million pounds. It was hoped that they would be able to take up residence in their new ground by the 2016-2017 season, however, in October of 2017 Scunthorpe United confirmed that the plans had been dropped after several set-backs.
They instead intend to re-develop Glandford Park itself, stand by stand across a number of seasons to allow the club to keep playing there. These plans were confirmed in July of 2019 but so far no work has started, and the Coronavirus outbreak may have had an impact there.