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Andy Butler hoping the hometown buzz can push Scunthorpe to victory in Promotion Final
Scunthorpe is a town ready to celebrate once again, as Glanford Park gets set to host the National League North Promotion final between United and Chester on Sunday - a game you can see live on DAZN.
Last month, a bill was passed by parliament stopping British Steel's Scunthorpe plant from closing and now the football club wants to keep the good vibes going by winning promotion back to the National League.
Andy Butler's side were a Championship club as recently as 2011, but a decade of woes both on and off the pitch saw the club tumble down the football ladder. However, Butler is hoping the buzz around the town can inspire its revival by winning promotion to the National League.
"Obviously, the Steelworks, which has just been rescued. So, the town got a bit of a buzz about that," Butler exclusively told DAZN News ahead of Sunday's showpiece.
"Steelworks and Scunthorpe United now go hand in hand. They're both probably the two standout things you'd probably recognise Scunthorpe for.
"So, the Steelworks got rescued, we hope that's a good omen for us, and we make sure we follow up on that now.
"We had a record attendance with Chester last time. We probably will get that again.So, it was a massive, massive game for the National League North. I think it will show how far the National League North has come on.
"Our support's been brilliant all season. We've averaged over 4,000, nearly 4,500 every single game. So, for a club of a town of our size, which is not massive, the support has been unbelievable.
"And it's just, again, the encouragement for one last game. Make sure we go out there and give everything we've got for the fans and make sure the fans give everything for us."
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With the format different in the National League North, the Promotion Final isn't played at a neutral venue but at the home ground of the higher-placed team in the league. Scunthorpe finished second in the table, giving them the vital home advantage on Sunday.
Butler has urged the fans to make the most of the advantage and create an atmosphere that will spur his team on to a memorable victory on home turf.
"It's our ground," he added.
"So, yeah, players are buzzing because we've got massive home support, there'll be a big away following. With that second place, it guaranteed us here and we've got to take full advantage and make full use of our surroundings.
"So, the encouragement to the crowd is to get behind the players and make sure we have a vocal support, a real hostile environment for the away fans, obviously, in the correct manner.
"But, yeah, the players are buzzing because they know the surroundings and they know how to play on this pitch."
A win would mark a significant achievement for Butler in his first season and first permanent managerial role in the men's game, but his association with The Iron goes back a long way.
As a player, he started his career with Scunthorpe and played in the Championship with them before going on to have two further spells with the club during his career.
And, he says, taking United back to the National League would mean so much to him.
Admitting, "It'd be fantastic for myself, personally.
"I know people look at your experience, but I've actually managed a women's team successfully. I managed Doncaster Rovers as an interim spell there. This is my third, well, proper first job, but third managerial role. Dazn Media
"But yeah, as a lad that came here as a 15-year-old, peroxide, blonde, bleached, curtained hair, I've got a real affinity for the club.
"I always kept an eye on the results wherever I went. And it meant a lot - I never actually wanted to leave Scunthorpe at the time.
"When I got offered a contract at Huddersfield, it was more of an agent pushing me, saying he would charge me a lot of money if I didn't leave the club, because he had Huddersfield sorted out.
"So I never actually wanted to leave the club. But things happen for a reason, and I went on to have an OK career.
"But now it's the next step in hopefully what is a long future."
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