Over a third of the National League season is done and dusted and Scunthorpe are sixth, but only three points behind leaders Carlisle, with a game in hand.
Since the beginning of last season, they have lost just nine of the 63 league games they have played. Two victories in the National League North play-offs last season secured automatic promotion back to the fifth tier at the first time of asking.
It is hard to believe it is the same club relegated out of the EFL after a 72-year stay in 2022 – and saved from a dark, uncertain future by chairwoman Michelle Harness just over two years ago.
Harness and her co-owners Roj Rahman, George Aitkenhead and Ian Sharp have worked hard to take care of things off the pitch. And on it, manager Andy Butler is steering the ship.
The 42-year-old’s history with the club is extensive.
He joined the club as a youngster, after being released by hometown club Doncaster, progressed to the first team in 2002 and played over 150 games, winning promotion from League Two in 2004/05 and League One in 2006/07.
Butler won two promotions as a player at Scunthorpe
Butler returned to the club for a second spell in 2019/20, then finished his EFL career with a return to Rovers, latterly acting as caretaker between March and May 2021.
Spell number three started in October 2022, when he was appointed youth development phase coach at the Attis Arena – and it came at just the right time.
“I was managing Doncaster Rovers Belles, I was a postman and also played for Farsley Celtic,” Butler – who also tried his hand as a locksmith, plumber and referee – tells Sky Sports.
“It only rained one day while I was a postie. It was an unbelievable summer, so I had a great time! The difficult part was getting up at six in the morning on a Saturday, delivering, then rushing to Farsley Celtic and getting out there to play 3pm football.
“It just showed me how hard people work in part-time football.
“The youth coaching job came by chance – and if it wasn’t for that, I would still be delivering post around Edlington in Doncaster. It was tough, though. We had about four members of staff for seven age groups. The academy was dying on its feet.”
Scunthorpe United owners Roj Rahman, Michelle Harness, George Aitkenhead, and Ian Sharp (Image: Scunthorpe United)
Then-manager Jimmy Dean later asked Butler to design a set-piece routine and, in June 2023, offered him the job as first team coach, which he accepted during a phone call while on holiday in Greece.
Within a week of Scunthorpe suffering a National League North play-off semi-final defeat to eventual winners Boston United the following April, Butler was appointed manager. His career had, unexpectedly, come full circle.
“As soon as Michelle offered it to me, I had to take it,” he says.
“If I didn’t take it, a new manager would come in, get rid of the coaching staff and I’d back to where I was before. I’d be always kicking myself, thinking what if?
“I told Jimmy I’d been offered it and he told me to take it. I don’t want people to think I stabbed him in the back, because I didn’t. He’s a good guy. I’m really thankful I was given the opportunity
“Once you’re back in football, you want to get your fingernails in and never let go again!”
The 42-year-old was Doncaster’s caretaker manager between March and May 2021
There were learning curves last season, as was to be expected in his first full season managing in senior men’s football.
“You see other managers giving three fist pumps to the crowd – I did that once after the first game against Brackley and I’ll never do it again, because football turns like that. For me, now it’s more, stand back, acknowledge and let the players take the plaudits because they’re the ones doing it.
“And if I’m being really honest, last season, there was a period around November-December where I could have been shown the door. I’ve got to be thankful for the owners, for the patience. You’ve got to try and keep relevant. If you don’t, you disappear quite quickly.”
Butler believes the promotion he helped deliver last season was better timed than if it had happened one year earlier. “I don’t think the club was actually in a position to go up anyway. It’d have been too quick.”
But what about this season?
“I always had a little internal feeling we’d do well, because I know the players. I think we recruited pretty well in the summer as well, so I thought we’d give ourselves a good chance,” he adds.
“There are some big clubs in this division who have got massive budgets – I mean, four times the budgets we’ve got. I was speaking to an EFL manager recently and a couple of teams in this division are blowing EFL clubs out of the water, wages-wise, so that’s what you’ve got to compete with in this division.
“Would I really have seen us in the top seven? No – I’d have gone fifth-bottom. But it comes down to the hard work of the players.
“We always do a tough pre-season when you see the togetherness in running through the woods. I know it’s old school, when you see the group’s determination, you think, they’ve got a chance, these lot. We’ve got quality in goalscorers, people who can make chances out of nothing, a good leadership group who demand off each other.
“Right now we’re in a good position, and we’ve already surpassed what we got last time in this division, so we’ve done pretty well. But it could easily change. We could lose 13 in a row. I’m happy with how it started, but I still think there’s room to improve.”
Last season and the start of this have raised expectations.
“It comes with added pressure now. There’s an expectancy we should be beating teams, even though we’ve just stepped up. I think people see the badge more than where we’ve been at the moment.
“We just approach one game at a time, and that’s the message I put out to the fans – let’s not get carried away. We’ve put ourselves in a good position, but all it is right now is a good position.
“The message to the players is don’t change your approach, no matter who we play.”
Butler allows himself glimpses into what the feeling might be like to secure back-to-back promotions – and a fourth overall with the club. But those glimpses are fleeting.
“I have three-second dreams about it – until the reality hits home that it’s going to be tough!” Butler admits.
“It’d be amazing if we could bring it [EFL football] back. What an achievement for the club it would be, and for the owners as well because they’ve put a lot of time, a lot of personal money into it, so it’s more of a payback for them than personal gain for me.”
But those three-second glimpses keep him going.
“Everyone’s human, they have little pipe dreams – and I want to be as successful as I can. I don’t want to stay in the National League all my life.
“In my playing career, I pushed myself, so why not push for something more in my managerial career?”
