IronEye

A place for Iron fans to write about events, memories, nonsense and the like.

Time for a reality check?

OK.  Let's get the credentials thing out of the way first.  I have supported the Iron since the early 70's when I moved to the town to work, having previously flirted with Everton and Colchester (both teams near to where I lived as a child and teenager), but Scunthorpe United is my team.  In the mid 70's I helped to run the Scunthorpe Juniors in the Northern Intermediate League visiting Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and most teams in between.

The infamous" Lincoln Physcos" incident

My first Scunthorpe United, Lincoln City derby at the Old Show Ground. Quite excited and wary at the same time. Most my friends at school and mum seem to think their townsfolk either live in a loony bin or have recently escaped from one. I wonder quite a lot about what a loony bin might look like. I doubt it's shaped like a bin.

Laws takes his place in Iron history

The first time I really noticed Brian Laws was when he came to Glanford Park as a player with Darlington, shortly after being shown the door at Grimsby. His play was one of the single best displays I have ever seen at Glanford Park.

Smitho on Laws

First of all, it goes without saying that I express a great degree of sadness to see Brian Laws leave Scunthorpe United after almost ten years at this club. He's been a mainstay in the town of Scunthorpe for so long, it's going to take a lot of people to come to terms with the loss. No one can doubt his dedication and enthusiasm; these will be some of many great characteristics that Brian will be taking with him to Sheffield Wednesday. I for one wish him all the luck in the world and I have faith in his ability to be a big hit for many years to come in a managerial capacity anywhere he may be.

Man to row boat up Everest

To celebrate the momentous announcement that Sir Brian Clough-Laws KPZ (Knight of the Pro-Zone) is to single-handedly attempt to conquer the heights of the “Promised Land” of the Premiership, with only his trusty husky, Russ, and a backroom staff of doctors, dieticians and physical trainers to help, we have pleasure in announcing an exclusive interview, only available on www.ironunion.net and any other website that pinches it, conducted by Dr David Burnsuh.

The four major turning points

In my mid 50s now, when I look back, I can see a number of relatively negative areas of my life which all, rather unexpectedly, became the positives of today.
It was a shock to meet the love of my life when only 17. It all seemed rather too early but has been a cornerstone of my life.

AC Milan v Lazio

While planning a holiday in the Italian lakes I couldn’t resist the idea of taking in an Italian Match. I checked the internet and found AC Milan were at home to Lazio only eighty Miles from where we were staying, the temptation was too much and the promise of day in Milan, the fashion capital, was enough to persuade my girlfriend that it was a good idea.

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Ickle Scunny

“Au contraire,” argue the rosy cheeked and blandly smiling jester hats. “It’s not the winning but the taking part that counts. Ickle Scunthorpe done good.”

Fiddlesticks – as they say in the anthem-swelled bars and beer houses of Hull. The whole world loves a winner and the only good reason for competing is to be one.

Good grief, sometimes I swell up with embarrassment when I read how plucky Scunny did well not to get thrashed. What a small club we are and how well we do to even exist.

Levante v Athletico Madrid, 19th November 2006

Ever fancied taking in a foreign game? I did, especially when a mate rang and said He was going to Valencia to watch Levante vs. Athletico Madrid, flights were cheap, and accommodation was cheap too. It started with a train journey to Stanstead, quick flight to Valencia few pints and bed.

Next morning, woke early, as I wanted to see the famed Mestella. took a walk, partly along an old riverbed, where they had dammed the river to stop flooding and between the bridges It was a nice day so they had set out lots of football pitches for the Valencian Sunday League to play on, imagine the middle of York without water and you have the idea. Without putting to fine a point on it, the exterior of the Mestella is awful, from TV pictures it looks really good but close up looks like a Glasgow tenement and needs pulling down before it falls down.

1982 and all that: Wobbly, NGK and The Dynamic Duo

We all have memories of when we were most fanatical about our team. This is the period in time that evokes the fondest memories of the games, the players and the trappings. For me, despite the many great match days I have enjoyed since, the ‘golden’ days are the three seasons from 1980-81 culminating in our promotion to the old Division 3 in 1983. I had first gone to the OSG with my dad on a Friday night in September 1971 as a wide eyed 6 year old to watch us play out a goalless draw with Northampton. I was instantly hooked. My interest in all things football had been kindled by watching the 1971 Cup Final between Liverpool and Arsenal on TV, but this was the real deal. There was a 5,000+ crowd and the memory of the floodlights beaming down, the smells of embrocation, pipe smoke and Bovril, and the colourful shouts of encouragement and reproach remains strong.