Ron Suart (1920-2015) 18-11-20 to 25-03-15
It is with great sadness the club announce that former manager Ron Suart has passed away at the age of 94.Suart was the unanimous choice from the board of directors to replace Bill Corkhill following his resignation as manager in 1956.
36-years-old at the time, Suart – born in Kendall – took up his first appointment as manager of a Football League side following his debut role at non-league Wigan Atheltic just a year prior to this position.
The new manager took his time with executive decisions and implemented his changes gradually. He would then add his finishing touches to his squad for the end of the 1956-57 following a fourteenth placed finish before he arguably became one of the most successful managers in United’s history when he led the team to the Third Division North Championship; winning the league by a seven point margin.
It would also be a period in which Scunthorpe would overhaul Newcastle United in the FA Cup to reach the fifth round for the first time in the club’s history and only a narrow 1-0 defeat to Liverpool would thwart them of further progress.
Suart departed the club prior to the end of the season, not remaining in charge to fully celebrate his achievements as he took up the managerial role at Blackpool – returning to a club where he started his playing career.
His footballing career would go beyond Blackpool, where he is the second longest serving manager behind Joe Smith, taking up several roles at Chelsea over a sixteen year period which would include a brief spell as manager of the club in the mid-1970’s.
Continuing into the 1990’s, Suart continued to remain in football, working for Wimbledon. He would take up the role of scout, but was unfortunately released in 2002 at the age of 82 following a series of financial difficulties that the club found themselves in.
Our deepest condolences go out to Ron’s family and friends at this difficult time.