Play-Off Winning Management Team Earn a Crack at Full-Time Football

Jimmy Dean and his assistant Chris Plummer have been rewarded for their unbelievable success at last season’s Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central play-off winners Peterborough Sports by being appointed as the new full-time management team at Vanarama National League club Scunthorpe United.

The Iron are struggling in second-bottom spot after suffering relegation from League Two at the end of last season.

However, the Iron will be hoping that Dean and Plummer will be able to continue the success they have enjoyed for the past seven years at the Bee Arena.

It was Plummer, a former Queens Park Rangers and England under-21 defender, who took over as manager of the Turbines in January 2014 after the club had finished 16th in their first season as a United Counties League outfit.

The following season saw the side challenging for promotion right to the end of the season, but a run of seven away games to finish saw them eventually finish in fifth.

At the end of that season, Plummer stood aside, and his assistant Jimmy Dean took the reins for the 2015/16 campaign.

In his first year, the club won the title at a canter by a huge 21 points, helped by winning their first 23 games.

The side also picked up the UCL League Cup, becoming the first side from Division One to ever do so, after a penalty shoot-out triumph against Premier Division Holbeach United.

The side also added the Northants Junior Cup for a second time and the prestigious Hinchingbrooke Cup for the first time and were to be forever dubbed the 'Fourmidables'.

That success was continued into the 2016/17 as the team won the UCL Premier Division with a league record point tally of 112 and were the top scorers in the top eleven levels of English football with 150 in the league and 205 in all competitions!

The Hinchingbrooke Cup was also retained with a 2-1 victory over second-placed Deeping Rangers and the side had its best ever run in the FA Vase reaching the Fourth round.

The side entered the Northern Premier League for the 2017/18 season and initially found the going tough – indeed the side went into 2018 bottom of the table before a dramatic turnaround saw the Turbines finish a most respectable 12th with that summer seeing the side transfer across to the Southern League, with Grant Biddle replacing Tom Cooper as chairman and Paul Venters joining as vice-chairman

With an additional Step 4 league implemented for 2018/19, Sports were moved into the Southern League to play in the Division One Central section where the side duly won their third title in four years under Dean.

The side only lost three games all season (which included twice to runners-up Bromsgrove Sporting) which was mark of their consistency.

The side also had probably the best win in its history when beating Vanarama National League North and former Football League side Boston United 2-0 away in the Emirates FA Cup Second Qualifying Round.

Their reward was a home tie with unbeaten National League North side Chorley with the game screened on the red button on the BBC which attracted a peak viewing figure of 240,000 and a club record 404 in attendance.

Unfortunately, Sports went out 3-0 on a dreadful day weather-wise, which was replaced with the glorious weather at Easter and the raising of the championship, secured on the Saturday with a 2-0 win away at Kidlington with the trophy presented on the Monday before the derby win over Cambridge City.

Sports went onto beat the Southern title winners Blackfield & Langley 5-1 in the Championship Match

Season 2019/20 was to be spent in the Premier Division Central at Step 3 for the first time in the club’s Centenary year and Sports were leading the way when the league for declared null and void due to COVID-19.

The 2020/21 season was again greatly affected by COVID-19, but this did not stop Sports progressing well in both the FA Cup, where they reached the Third Qualifying Round, and the FA Trophy where they reached the Fifth Round.

But the progress continued and 2021/22 saw Sports challenge for a top-five spot all season.

The title was out of reach as Banbury United ran away with that, but Dean’s side finished second – a point in front of Coalville Town – thanks to a 0-0 draw at Leiston and in the play-offs, managed to see off Alvechurch 2-1 in the semi-final and then win 2-0 at the Bee Arena against Coalville in the final in front of a record 1,895 crowd to obtain a place at Step 2 level – just nine seasons after stepping up from Step 6 level!

It would not surprise me if the highly motivated Dean worked his magic again and kept Scunthorpe up – his main task this season.

It’s an opportunity he couldn’t turn down as it means a crack at full-time football for the first time with a club that has a big fan base and needs a kick up the backside to get going again – and Dean’s just the right sort of manager to do just that!