Hardy submits final bid for Scunthorpe United

Alan Hardy

A Nottingham entrepreneur’s bid to buy stricken Scunthorpe United has taken a step closer, TheBusinessDesk.com understands.

Alan Hardy, the former owner of Notts County, has submitted a final bid as the head of a consortium looking to buy the National League club, who currently sit bottom of the table after being relegated out of the Football League last May. Current owner Peter Swann is looking to offload the Iron, after a disastrous period in charge, which has seen the club plummet from the Championship to the verge of the sixth tier of English football and become the subject of a winding up order from HMRC.

Hardy, who owns the Nottinghamshire Golf and Country Club in the village of Cotgrave, told us: “I have submitted an increased and final bid today (January 19). Now it’s up to [Swann] whether to accept the offer or not. It all depends on whether he’s mindful to accept or not now.”

Hardy enjoyed initial success at Notts County when he took the club over in 2017, but this soon turned sour as the club was relegated to the National League for the first time in its long history. Shortly after he sold the Magpies to the Reedtz brothers.

The news that Hardy was part of the consortium looking to take over the Glanford Park club first broke last weekend, when in a series of tweets announcing the bid, he said: “I will certainly listen to public opinion as I’m not prepared to come into a hostile and toxic situation. Notts went on a great run and we broke the stadium record for most supporters through the turnstiles in a season. I know what success and failure look like.”

 

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