March 31, 2022 1.43 pm This story is over 23 months old

Peter Swann steps down as Scunthorpe United chairman

Scunthorpe are bottom of League Two, with relegation a matter of when not if

By Local Democracy Reporter

After intense fan pressure and protests, Scunthorpe United chairman Peter Swann has announced he will be stepping down from the football league’s basement club with immediate effect.

Swann, 56, took over the Iron from the retiring Steve Wharton in 2013 when the side were relegated to League Two. It came five years after he took over at Gainsborough Trinity.

He will be making a statement over the weekend, but the club has acted quickly to name Lee Turnbull as the new chief operating officer, taking on the chairman’s roles in the process.

In his almost nine years at the club, there have been 11 different managers, two of which have served multiple terms in charge, earning Swann the reputation of being a trigger-happy sacker.


Read: Time running out for Scunthorpe as relegation to non-league looms


The Iron have gone into freefall in recent seasons, dropping from League One play-off contenders to the lowest ranked professional football side in the country, and are currently looking down the barrel of relegation to the National League for the first time in 72 years.

Scunthorpe are sat bottom of League Two at the time of reporting, ten points adrift of safety with just seven games remaining, following another humbling defeat at the hands of Harrogate Town on Saturday, March 26.

It has resulted in a breakdown in relationship between the ownership and the fans of the club, with protests being staged throughout the season, most notably when fans locked the gates at Glanford Park before a match.