LeamingtonFC.co.uk - We've Met Before

It may come as a surprise to supporters of both clubs, but this Saturday is not the first time that Leamington have visited Scunthorpe!

We had never faced The Iron’s first team in a competitive fixture before this season, but their Reserve side were opponents in the Midland Counties League between 1965 and 1968. The two clubs faced each other on six occasions, with Brakes winning four, Scunthorpe winning one, and one draw.

The Lincolnshire club first visited us at the Windmill Ground back in November 1965; with their last visit coming March 1968, which they won by three goals to two. Scunthorpe were a Division 3 club at this time, with Brakes regularly facing members of their first team in these fixtures.

We certainly enjoyed our visits to United’s Old Show Ground, which was famous for having the first cantilevered stand in the country, winning on each of our three visits.

As you will see from the match reports, the stadium was mistakenly called The Shay (which is of course Halifax Town’s ground) by Leamington Courier on our final visit there. Thanks go to a number of Iron supporters on the Scunny United Fans Group on Facebook, who confirmed that the club did indeed play their reserve games at the Old Show Ground during that period.

I was also able to chat on the aforementioned group with a chap called Ian Armiger, who told me that he played in goal for Ashby Institute against Lockheed Leamington in the same league in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s. Ashby is one of five villages that became part of Scunthorpe as it is today. We didn’t enjoy our visits there quite as much as the ones to Scunthorpe, nor theirs to us, as Ashby Institute won four of the six games Brakes played against them.

1965/1966 - Midland Counties League

09/11/65 Scunthorpe United Reserves 1 (Neale) Lockheed Leamington 3 (Holmes 2, Shorthose)

25/11/65 Lockheed Leamington 4 (Ward, Hancocks, Holmes 2) Scunthorpe United Reserves 4 (Hutton 3, Mahy)

1966/1967 - Midland Counties League

03/12/66 Lockheed Leamington 3 (Holmes 2, Morrow) Scunthorpe United Reserves 1 (Coatsworth)

10/01/67 Scunthorpe United Reserves 3 (Barker, Rusling, Coatsworth) Lockheed Leamington 5 (Holmes 2, Hall, Morrow, Salmon)

1967/1968 - Midland Counties League

28/10/67 Scunthorpe United 0 Lockheed Leamington 1 (Vest)

*With some help from Scunthorpe fans on their Facebook group, we have established that the Leamington Courier copywriter must have mis-heard the reporter when typing up this match report. The Shay is in Halifax, which is not exactly near Scunthorpe!

16/03/68 Lockheed Leamington 2 (Holmes, Vest) Scunthorpe United Reserves 3 (Verity, Rusling, Foley)