Scunthorpe United not going down administration route despite takeover collapse, says Peter Swann

Scunthorpe United not going down administration route despite takeover collapse, says Peter Swann

Scunthorpe United owner Peter Swann says the club are not going down the administration route despite rumours suggesting that could soon be a possibility.

The Iron currently sit bottom of the National League, having failed to register a win since the opening day of the season.

And matters off the field are looking just as bleak, with Swann keen to sell the club following ever-increasing pressure from the fans.

That isn’t proving to be an easy task, though. The businessman, who is believed to be looking for a fee in the region of £6m for all the assets – including the stadium and surrounding land – confirmed last week that a potential takeover had fallen through due to the interested party failing to provide proof of funds.

That has exacerbated an already difficult situation even further, with rumours circulating on social media that United could be on the brink of administration.

Those claims, however, have been rebuffed by Swann, who told Radio Humberside he is “not going down that route”.

“I’ve told you where we are with it and we’re trying to get a deal done,” he added.

Swann did concede, though, that there will be a limit to the funding he currently provides to keep running the club, which has a £1m shortfall each year.

“I don’t know when that is, when that decision will be made, but I’m doing my best to give the football club the best future it can.

“But it’s not great, we haven’t had great results over the last few years but I’m trying to make sure the club has a future.”

The Swann family took over at Glanford Park in 2013, following relegation to League Two. Scunthorpe immediately bounced back to the third tier, before losing out in the playoffs in both 2017 and 2018.

But the results have rapidly declined since then, with the Iron suffering relegation to League Two in 2019 and then out of the league altogether for the first time in 72 years last season.

That led to a fierce backlash, with many fans calling for Swann to leave the struggling club.

He decided to step down from his day-to-day role as chairman in April, allowing him to focus on finding a potential new owner.

The deal that was revealed to have broken down last week was thought to be a long way down the line after the group passed the necessary Owners’ and Directors’ test more than a month ago.

But Swann said to Radio Humberside, “if they can’t prove they have proof of funds, how are we supposed to proceed?”.

He said negotiations are now ongoing with “at least” two other groups that previously showed an interest in buying the club, although he admitted a deal isn’t close to being agreed upon.

“I’ve been working with a couple of other groups at the minute and we start again, virtually, on some of the stuff,” Swann added.

“It’s not easy to sell the club, as you can imagine at this moment in time, but that’s why I stepped away, so I can crack on with that.

“Hopefully, we can get something done as soon as we can. It’s not an easy task but I am trying various avenues to get this deal done.”