April 15, 2022 4.54 pm This story is over 29 months old

Scunthorpe United relegated to National League after Leyton Orient humiliation

Just four wins all season

By Local Democracy Reporter

Scunthorpe United have become the first team to be relegated from League Two this season, ending their 72-year stay in the English Football League with four games still to play.

The writing has been on the wall for the Iron for quite some time now, having only managed four wins in their 42 matches in League Two, but relegation was confirmed on Good Friday, after a heavy 3-0 defeat away at Leyton Orient.

The defeat left Scunthorpe 14 points adrift of safety in 24th place with just 12 points up for grabs until the end of the season, sealing the club’s fate as a non-league side next season.

The game started poorly and only went downhill from there for Keith Hill’s North Lincolnshire side, with Paul Smyth opening the scoring for Leyton Orient after 15 minutes.

As if the day couldn’t have got any worse for Iron fans, on-loan Lincoln City winger Theo Archibald got on the scoresheet for Orient to make it 2-0 in a first half that saw Scunthorpe blown away in just 30 hapless minutes, crowned by Cypriot forward Ruel Sotiriou’s strike for the home side to make it 3-0.

A goalless second half brought to an end not just the match, but Scunthorpe’s time as a football league club after 72 long and prosperous years.

What the future holds for Scunthorpe is anyone’s guess, but if Keith Hill is to be the man that remains in charge in the National League, he has a mammoth task of overhauling the squad and building a side capable of regaining confidence in a team that has been in freefall for quite some time now.