Archived News from January 2004
|
STAGSNET`S STATISTICAL PREVIEW
|
 |
|
A close look into the season-by-season Stags line-ups in the centenary book reveal that Scunthorpe & Lindsay United (as the Iron were called then) was the last team to face the Stags in a league fixture as a non-league club.
This event happened at Scunthorpe's previous ground, Old Show Ground, on May 2, 1931, when two goals by William Frith saw the Stags last-ever non-league victory to the tune of 2-1. The Stags line-up then was: Chambers H, White, Poyser, Hargreaves, Chambers B, Cooke E, Goddard, Frith, Grice B, Trotman, Murphy. The Iron enjoyed their best league moments in the early 60's when they played in the old 2nd division, finishing 4th in 1961-62, only five points (under the two-point ruling) less than Leyton Orient in runners-up position. Many of the Iron's goals came from Barrie Thomas, one of several players that have figured for both sides. Thomas, who was a Stag during the whole of 1957-58 and 1958-59 scoring 48 goals in 72 appearances, was transferred to the Iron early on in 1959-60 and went on to net 92 times in the sixties, a long-standing club record which was beaten by Steve Cammack in the mid-eighties. Even in the non-league days of both clubs in the Midland Counties League, there were goals galore in the in total 20 non-league outings. None of them were goalless and the Stags scored at least once in all but one – an away game on September 26, 1925. This tradition continued when Scunthorpe were elected to the League twenty years after the Stags. None of the previous 29 league outings at Field Mill have been goalless compared to the very first and the most recent league game at Scunthorpe. And only on three occasions have the Stags been goalless in home games against the Iron. Some away games ensured the first Stags away win that season, worth mentioning are 1-0 on August 25, 1965 (scorer Curry) and by the same scoreline on August 24, 1974 (scorer Clarke), thus ensuring the first Stags away win since December 16, 1972 – a 4-0 thrashing at Crewe. And over the non-league and league years, the Stags have had a fairly good away record at Scunthorpe, even though the latest Stags win up in North Lincolnshire was a 2-0 on February 8, 1997, with Doolan and Martindale finding the net. Memorable thrashings: * April 22, 1924, saw the Stags biggest Midlands Counties League win against Scunthorpe – and this at Field Mill. Three goals from Jack Flint, two from A E Donoven and one from Thomas Lawrie melted the Iron. * 51 years later, nearly exactly to the day, April 21, 1975. Two goals apiece from Clarke and Lathan, one each from Bird, Hodgson and Eccles in front of 11020 at the Mill saw the Stags clinch their first-ever championship by hammering Scunthorpe 7-0. Scunthorpe fielded that night one of the West Ham FA cup killers six years earlier: Dudley Roberts. * October 26, 1991. Two goals from Steve Wilkinson, one apiece from current Ilkeston manager Phil Stant and Steve Charles, latter converting a penalty, fixed the 4-1 mauling at the Old Showground. * Earlier this season, on August 26, 2003, the Stags recorded their biggest league win of the current campaign. Day, Mendes, Lawrence (2) and Christie contributed to the 5-0 rout in front of 5142 – and the winning margin should have been even higher! The biggest Stags league defeat at Scunthorpe was as recently as November 25, 2000, when 3258 saw a 0-6 stuffing with four goals from Ipoua, one each from Larusson and Torpey. The Stags ground out a 1-0 win at home to Southend last Saturday with a suspension-ravaged team to keep up the promotion challenge while the Iron have faded out of the play-offs picture with a recent poor run – yet gave Premiership Portsmouth a real run before narrowly losing 1-2. Yet the Iron did put six goals past current form team Huddersfield at home on November 1, 2003 – exactly summing up Scunthorpe's so far inconsistent season – also drawing at home to Hull and Oxford. Scunthorpe is also known for unearthing England internationals such as Ray Clemence in goal and Kevin Keegan – both later to play for Liverpool. Richard Money, who currently manages Swedish premiership club AIK Stockholm, also learned his league ABC at the Iron. As expected – considering the short distance between the towns – several players – see list below – have appeared for both sides – even when non-league. Among them are one of the West Ham KO heroes, Dudley Roberts and the one out-field player with most league appearences, Tony Ford. And Sid Ottewell must have been the first player coming from Stags to Scunthorpe in league history – being transferred in March 1952. Played for both sides: Steve Charles, Graeme Crawford, Tony Ford, Stuart Hicks, Ian Juryeff, Jim Lumby, Doug O'Connor, Sid Ottewell, Noel Parkinson, Malcolm Partridge, Martin Pemberton, Nicky Platnauer, Dudley Roberts, Stuart Thom, Barrie Thomas, Alan Wilson. Adam Gibson, Harrison (1909), Ibbotson (1912), Arthur Reed and William Robinson were players who starred for both sides before the Stags inaugural league season 1931-32. Pre-league days (before 1931): Home stats: P 10, W 7, D 1, L 2, GF 34, GA 14 Away stats: P 10, W 5, D 0, L 5, GF 15, GA 17 Season Home Date Away Date 1921-22 3-1 1922-03-22 1-3 1921-10-27 Midland Counties League 1922-23 1-1 1923-02-24 1-2 1923-01-06 Midland Counties League 1923-24 6-0 1924-04-22 2-0 1924-04-19 Midland Counties League 1924-25 3-0 1924-11-29 3-2 1924-12-06 Midland Counties League 1924-25 4-3 1925-05-02 1-0 1925-04-23 Midland Counties League, secondary competition 1925-26 3-1 1925-10-10 0-3 1925-09-26 Midland Counties League 1927-28 5-1 1927-11-05 1-5 1928-04-19 Midland Counties League 1928-29 5-0 1929-01-05 3-0 1929-02-09 Midland Counties League 1929-30 1-3 1930-03-22 1-2 1930-04-12 Midland Counties League 1930-31 3-4 1931-04-06 2-1 1931-05-02 Midland Counties League League games: Home stats: P 29, W 17, D 7, L 5, GF 56, GA 31 Away stats: P 28, W 10, D 8, L 10, GF 41, GA 48 Season Home Date Away Date 1950-51 1-1 1950-08-26 0-0 1950-12-23 Div 3 (N) 1951-52 4-1 1951-11-03 1-4 1952-03-22 Div 3 (N) 1952-53 1-0 1953-11-04 1-0 1952-09-25 Div 3 (N) 1953-54 2-1 1953-10-24 2-2 1954-03-13 Div 3 (N) 1954-55 2-1 1954-09-25 0-2 1955-02-12 Div 3 (N) 1955-56 3-2 1955-08-22 0-3 1955-08-31 Div 3 (N) 1956-57 1-1 1957-02-09 1-0 1956-09-29 Div 3 (N) 1957-58 3-5 1958-01-18 3-3 1957-09-14 Div 3 (N) 1964-65 3-2 1964-10-03 1-0 1965-02-12 Div 3 (old) 1965-66 2-2 1966-03-07 1-0 1965-08-25 Div 3 (old) 1966-67 3-1 1966-12-27 1-2 1966-12-23 Div 3 (old) 1967-68 3-0 1967-12-23 3-3 1967-08-25 Div 3 (old) 1973-74 2-2 1974-04-20 3-5 1973-12-08 Div 4 (old) 1974-75 7-0 1975-04-21 1-0 1974-08-24 Div 4 (old) 1980-81 1-0 1980-12-26 0-2 1981-04-21 Div 4 (old) 1981-82 1-1 1982-04-13 0-1 1982-02-02 Div 4 (old) 1982-83 0-2 1982-10-18 2-2 1983-03-01 Div 4 (old) 1984-85 0-1 1985-04-24 2-2 1985-05-04 Div 4 (old) 1985-86 1-1 1986-03-25 3-0 1985-09-21 Div 4 (old) 1991-92 1-3 1992-02-08 4-1 1991-10-26 Div 4 (old) 1993-94 0-1 1993-08-28 3-2 1994-02-19 Div 3 1994-95 1-0 1995-02-21 4-3 1994-11-19 Div 3 1995-96 1-1 1995-09-23 1-1 1995-12-09 Div 3 1996-97 2-0 1996-11-02 2-0 1997-02-08 Div 3 1997-98 1-0 1998-01-17 0-1 1997-08-30 Div 3 1998-99 2-1 1999-02-27 2-3 1999-09-19 Div 3 2000-01 1-0 2001-05-05 0-6 2000-11-25 Div 3 2001-02 2-1 2002-03-02 0-0 2001-09-29 Div 3 2003-04 5-0 2003-08-26 (at Field Mill) Div 3 The clubs have also met in the cups on several occasions. Ray Clemence was the Scunthorpe goalie in the 2nd round FA Cup tie at Mansfield on January 7, 1967. A young Kevin Keegan appeared in the Scunthorpe team that dumped the Stags out of the 2nd round of the FA Cup on December 12, 1970, to a 3-0 scoreline at home. Here are the previous cup meetings: 1966-67 2-1 1967-01-07 FA Cup 2nd round at Field Mill 1970-71 0-3 1970-12-12 FA Cup 2nd round at Old Show Ground 1973-74 1-1 1973-12-15 FA Cup 2nd round at Field Mill 1973-74 0-1 1973-12-18 FA Cup 2nd round replay at Old Show Ground 1975-76 4-0 1975-08-20 League Cup 1st round at Field Mill 1975-76 2-0 1975-08-26 League Cup 1st round at Old Show Ground (Stags win 6-0 on aggregate) 1976-77 2-0 1976-08-14 League Cup 1st round at Field Mill 1976-77 0-2 1976-08-17 League Cup 1st round at Old Show Ground (aggregate 2-2) 1976-77 1-2 1976-08-24 League Cup 1st round replay at Old Show Ground (Scunthorpe through) 1981-82 0-0 1981-09-01 League Cup 1st round at Old Show Ground 1981-82 2-0 1981-09-14 League Cup 1st round at Field Mill (Stags win 2-0 on aggregate) 1984-85 1-0 1984-08-29 League Cup 1st round at Old Show Ground 1984-85 1-2 1984-09-05 League Cup 1st round at Field Mill (aggregate 2-2, Scunthorpe win on away goals ruling) Svante Bernhard aka Sweden Stag (pictured, above right) Note: All details on the pre-league fixtures between the clubs are courtesy of the Stags centenary book – also some on players and cup fixtures. |
Latest | January 2004