Football Season Review

Scunthorpe are coming from a thoroughly disappointing season which ended in their second relegation in three years. The Iron started the season with Alan Knill at the helm, with their then-manager performing a summer squad clear out in a bid to improve the squad that battled against the drop in the 2011/12 season. Knill turned a large section of fans against himself with the decision to release skipper and long serving defender Cliff Byrne, while full-back Eddie Nolan, who was one of the club's best performers last season, was also released. Knill's changed didn't have the desired effect, as the Iron struggled from the off, and he was fired following the fifteenth round, as Scunthorpe lost 9 of their opening 15 matches in the league. Brian Laws came in to replace him, and made an immediate impact, with loan signing Leon Clarke playing a key role in Scunthorpe's escape from the bottom four. However, the Iron lost Clarke in early December, and his departure was the start of their downfall, as they were unable to find another constant source of goals - Akpo Sodje, who signed on a free transfer, did chip in with some important goals, but he struggled for fitness and subsequently failed to find any consistency in form. The Iron started the month of February with only one home win to their name all season, but the fans started hoping that the side was set to move away from danger for good following successive victories over Portsmouth, Crawley and Carlisle. However, it was as good as it got for Scunthorpe, as it was all downhill for them following that run of victories - they lost nine of their following 12 games, with the horrid run of results effectively sealing their relegation - they were able to take their fight against the drop into the final round, but went down due to Colchester's win at Carlisle. Laws did have his job made much harder by too frequent injuries of regular players, but the Iron manager openly admitted that the squad needs a big summer clear out. Winger Mark Duffy has been Scunthorpe's only player that performed consistently well during the entire season, but the club's chances of keeping him over the summer are close to zero, while Laws will be expected to get rid of the majority of other senior players and try to build a side capable of pushing for an instant return into the third tier.

Player of the Season: Mark Duffy