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Scunthorpe lose funding and stadium in days

Scunthorpe United, who play in the National League, are in dire straits this week.

The lower division club have seen owner and CEO David Hilton pull all funding.

Hilton bought the club in January and has decided to pull the plug due to a land dispute.

The club will be playing at Gainsborough Trinity in the near future, as they are vacating their Glanford Park stadium.

A club statement read: "The club owner and chairman has recently notified the Board of Directors of his decision to withdraw his funding from the club moving forward.

"He has also notified them that he feels his position at the club is untenable, and is actively seeking a way out.

"Based on this information, both Ian Dawson and Tahina Akther have decided to resign from their positions with immediate affect.

"We can confirm that numerous parties have made contact with the club with a view to taking over.

"But faced with stadium issues, numerous litigation proceedings and winding up petitions no potential purchasers are looking to move forward.

"This includes the consortium of local business people and supporters.

"The Chairman and remaining board members have now set out a plan in order to very quickly make the club sustainable.

"An outside company will be bought in to work closely with the club's creditors to try and ensure all are paid in a timely and professional manner.

"The club will vacate Glanford Park after the Brackley Town fixture and fulfil the season's fixtures across at Gainsborough Trinity.

This is not a day-to-day cost-cutting exercise.

"This is due to Coolsilk refusing to engage with the club and demanding vacant possession before they will begin to do so.

'This is also due to the risk the club faces of being liable for hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees and back-dated market rent, along with significant monthly legal costs of our own that will certainly impact any attempts to create sustainability.

"In any case, Coolsilk own the property and will undoubtedly get possession back at some point, and therefore it is no longer viable without the financial support of the Chairman to put the club at risk with such a gamble to merely guarantee a few extra months at the stadium."

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Ansser Sadiq

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