Fans’ GoFundMe for Scunthorpe United staff raises more than £60,000
Fans have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help pay Scunthorpe United staff they say have not received their salaries today following owner David Hilton’s announcement that he was withdrawing funding from the club.
It is not clear whether staff salaries will be paid later than usual due to disruption at the club, which saw two directors resign in the wake of Hilton’s announcement yesterday.
The GoFundMe campaign, by the fans behind The Iron Bru and The Iron Hour podcasts, raised more than its original £10,000 target less than three hours of The Iron Bru host Matt Ellis publicising the campaign on his X (formerly Twitter) account at 11.46am, at which point the goal moved to £15,000.
By 8.15pm the appeal had raised more than £30,000, with more than a thousand people – some of them fans of other clubs sending messages of support as well as cash – donating. The highest individual donation was £1,899. By MKonday morning, the appeal had raised more than £60,000.
TheBusinessDesk.com has approached both Scunthorpe United and Matt Ellis for comment.
Hilton became embroiled in a legal battle with former owner Peter Swann over the club’s use of Glanford Park stadium, which Swann still owns through his company Coolsilk. That dispute is scheduled for a civil trial early next year.
But the crisis at the club deepened after sports news outlet The Athletic revealed Hilton – hailed as a hero in Derbyshire after rescuing Ilkeston Town FC – had served time in prison for fraud offences. Since then the club has lurched from crisis to crisis, with Hilton banning critical fans from attending home games earlier this week.
More follows.
