Spotlight on the opposition | Scunthorpe United

Spotlight on the opposition | Scunthorpe United

We head to Sands Venue Stadium looking to make it three wins in a row against a side who were denied victory at the death in their last match.

In the Dugout:

Scunthorpe manager Neil Cox is a local lad and played for the club making 17 appearances from 1990 to 1991. His first managerial role came at Leek Town in 2010 before resigning a year later due to personal reasons. He linked up with former teammate Neal Ardley as assistant manager at AFC Wimbledon and Notts County before taking the job as manager of Scunthorpe in August 2020.

Cox’s thoughts on the weekend’s game “Now we’ve got a home game against a good Port Vale side. It’s going to be tough, but we have to put our stamp on it and play the way we want to play”.

Man with the Armband:

Harry Davis, brother to former Valiant Joe Davis, is the Iron’s first team captain. He started out at Crewe Alexandra and made his first professional appearance in 2010. He would remain at the club for eight years before moving to St Mirren on loan after his father Steve Davis was sacked.

He signed permanently for the Scottish side in 2017, staying there for one season and moved onto Grimsby Town and Morecambe before signing for Scunthorpe United this year. He has played in all but one of Scunthorpe’s fixtures this season which was their most recent game. He has been apart of two clean sheets against Rochdale and Tranmere but the club has had a poor start to the season.

Star Man:

Centre half Emmanuel Onariase is a product of West Ham United’s youth system. He began in 2009 but never made a professional appearance for them or his next two clubs Brentford and Rotherham United. He played his first professional game for Cheltenham on loan from Brentford and would later move onto Dagenham & Redbridge before signing for Scunthorpe last summer.

His best performance came in his most recent game against Carlisle United and scored from a corner making him tied top scorer on one goal alongside Jake Scrimshaw, Ryan Loft, Aaron Jarvis, Myles Hippolyte and Alfie Beestin.

Last time out and recent form:

Scunthorpe have one win in their last five games which was a 1-0 win over Tranmere Rovers. They were defeated by Man City U21s, Northampton Town and Exeter City.

Last weekend the Iron made the long trip to Carlisle and made an impressive start with Jarvis scoring on three minutes. Their lead was doubled on 44 minutes thanks to Onariase who headed home completely unmarked in the area.

Unfortunately, their hard work would be undone late on as Jordan Gibson halved the deficit after 81 minutes before Brennan Dickenson got the equaliser in the fifth minute of second half stoppage time to deny Scunthorpe the three points.

Their Home:

Glanford Park or The Sands Venue stadium is the home of Scunthorpe United with a capacity of 9,088 and was opened in 1988. The stadium has hosted several international matches featuring England youth teams over the years.

Stadium Directions:

Address: Sands Venue Stadium, Glanford Park, Jack Brownsword Way, Scunthorpe, DN15 8TD

Telephone: 01724 747670

Fax: 01724 857986

How to get to Sands Venue Stadium:

BY CAR: Leave the M180 at Junction 3 and take the M181 for Scunthorpe. The motorway will reach its natural conclusion where you should continue forward. You will then come to another roundabout, where you should take the third exit. At the next roundabout take the third exit again (travelling past KFC on your left and McDonalds on your right). Continue forward at the next roundabout through the Sands Venue Stadium gates, with Burger King and Taco Bell on your right.

BY TRAIN: The station is over two miles away from the stadium, located towards the town centre. The best way to get to the stadium from there is by taxi, but alternatively you can walk or go to the bus station and take a bus to either Tesco or Bolsover Road.

PARKING: Car parking at the ground is available in the East Car Park for 600 cars, priced at £5 on a first-come, first-served basis. You can make a £1 saving by buying in advance via sufctickets.com. In the surrounding areas, there is limited street parking with police restrictions, while there are parking restrictions in the retail car parks.

DISABLED PARKING: Free to blue badge holders on a first come, first served basis on a matchday. These spaces in the East Car Park can also be reserved in advance by calling the ticket office during opening hours on 01724 747670 or email sufctickets@scunthorpe-united.co.uk with your request and copy of blue badge.