Scunthorpe Steelers History 1985

1985

With around a year of training and three flag non-contact games in the books, the Scunthorpe Steelers made their fully-kitted playing debut in an exhibition game against the Leigh Razorbacks on April 28, 1985.

Clad in yellow and black like their US-based namesakes from Pittsburgh, Scunthorpe did not enjoy a winning debut as the more experienced Razorbacks ran out 21-14 winners at the Ashby Ville playing fields, but they had got their first taste of competitive gridiron action and a season-opening showdown with the Sheffield Sportsmen was on the horizon… or was it?

Just days before the Steelers were set to meet the Sportsmen at Ashby Ville, the Sheffield-based club received a sponsorship of £20,000 and decided to make a move into the British American Football Federation, with Locomotive Derby dropping down to the AAFC for financial reasons.

It was a disappointing start for Scunthorpe, but they did not have to wait much longer to finally play a league game, with the Kingston Liberators of Hull providing the opposition on May 19, 1985.

Hull’s inability to put a full kit together meant the game was played in what was described by the Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph as a “rugby-style”, but the Steelers were victorious as Rick Hatfield and Rick Clowes both scored three touchdowns, while club mainstay Steve Rack converted five extra points and ran in one himself.

Their next outing would see the Steelers put the pads and helmets back on, but they could not make it back-to-back victories and their first away game ended in a convincing 65-6 defeat at the hands of Locomotive Derby. Scunthorpe rebounded by beating Kingston for the second time, and a revised schedule meant there were no more hiccups during the final few months of the 1985 AAFC season.

The programme cover for the Steelers' first fully-kitted match.

Despite a string of injuries the Steelers whitewashed the St Helens Cardinals 37-0 in their return to Ashby Ville, but when the two sides met again a week later it was the Cardinals who ran out 18-14 winners. A second meeting with Derby resulted in another defeat, but having been walloped by 59 points in their previous meeting Scunthorpe put up a much better showing this time around, losing 18-6 to Locomotive.

The Steelers avoided a sequence of three consecutive defeats in spectacular fashion as they annihilated the Macclesfield Cobras 76-0 in what would prove to be the biggest win in the history of the club. A 98-0 ‘friendly’ demolition of the Newark Vulcans followed, with Rick Hatfield and John Strachan combining for a staggering nine touchdowns as Scunthorpe took a brief break from league action.

They returned to AAFC competition a week later and a 25-23 win at home to the Leigh Razorbacks showed just how far the Steelers had come since the two teams met in pre-season, but any hopes of a playoff appearance in their first campaign were ended when Scunthorpe lost at Leigh, 32-8, one week later.

A 57-0 hammering of the Macclesfield Cobras meant the Steelers joined the Razorbacks on 6-4 behind 8-2 Derby, but Leigh’s superior Points For and Points Against totals meant it was them who would face Locomotive in the inaugural Steel Bowl – at Scunthorpe’s Quibell Park venue – that September.

Having wrapped up their season with friendly games against the Wirral Wolves and the Sherwood Outlaws, Scunthorpe watched from the sidelines as Derby and Leigh went head-to-head at Quibell Park, and the goal for their sophomore season was set. The Steelers were determined to ensure they would be in action when the AAFC crown was up for grabs in their hometown in 1986.