We continue to take a look back at the hat-tricks that have been scored for the Iron since their admission to the league in 1950.
At the time of writing, there have been 41 trebles netted by United players in league games and we're going to delve into the Iron Vault to remember them and, if applicable, following the subsequent career of the player who scored it.
| SEASON | DATE | OPPOSITION | H/A | SCORELINE | SCORERS |
| 1962-63 | Aug 28, 1962 | Chelsea | H | W3-0 | Kaye (3) |
For this issue though, we fast-forward to trebble number 11 in United's league football. That trio came 12 seasons after the first.
If you said we'd win 3-0 against Chelsea in the modern era, and registering a hat-trick against them to boot, you'd think we were going mad. But back in 1962-63, the two teams shared the same division and it was the Iron who came out on top at the Old Show Ground when the two teams locked horns in the August.
It was to be the Citizens' only league visit to Scunthorpe, with Chelsea relegated from the First Division at the end of the previous season. It may have been August, but the Iron had already visited Stamford Bridge - and already had lost 3-0.
IRON: Jones, Hemstead, Brownsword, Gibson, Neale, Howells, Wilson, Lindsey, Hake, McGuigan, Hodgson.
CHELSEA: Bonetti, Shellito, McCreadie, Venables, Mortimore, Upton, Murray, Tamling, Bridges, Moore, Blunstone.
10,973 THERE TO WITNESS IT...
This result came in the infancy of the 1962-63 campaign, but there was a sense of real optimism in Scunthorpe after the side's highest ever finish in the previous campaign.
They had surrendered a first place position due to the sale of Barrie Thomas to Newcastle United, but the players who had been offered in his place, Ken Hodgson and John McGuigan had began to fire on all cylinders. Things could hardly have been better at the Old Show Ground, where the magnificent, ground-breaking cantilever stand was just a few years old and the Iron were attracting 10,000+ crowds.
It was just a few weeks until the side would be top of Division Two, but the season would ultimately end in a mid-table finish.
RIP PETER BONETTI...
It's with great sadness that, at the time of writing this article, Chelsea announced the passing of the man who conceded the trebble in this game. Peter Bonetti, described as "our brilliant former goalkeeper, who made an incredible 729 appearances, one of Chelsea Football Club's greatest ever players."
Only Ron Harris has played more games for the club, with Bonetti playing for the club for almost 20 years. He made his debut as an 18-year-old in 1960, keeping 208 clean sheets - a record only broken by Petr Cech in 2014.
10 MEN, WE'VE ONLY GOT 10 MEN...
United managed the victory with 10 men for more than half the game, with Derek Hemstead out of action with an injury.
Referee Bill Crossley refused to allow the defender back on the pitch, as he tried to return with his arm in a sling.
The match itself was a tough-tackling one, with Crossley having his notebook out on no fewer than four occasions - something that was quite rare back in those days.
JOHN KAYE - THE HAT-TRICK HERO
Kaye got his first goal after just eight minutes, slamming home from close range after both Hodgson and McGuigan had combined.
His second saw the side settle into the second half, with the match entering the 50th minute. Andy Wilson played the ball through, with Kaye beating Bonetti to the ball to slide it into an empty net.
The third, and final, goal of the game came in the 83rd minute in a goal which would surely be awarded as a foul in the modern game. Archie Gibson floated in a free-kick, which was gathered by Bonetti. He was bounded into by Kaye at the time, forcing him to drop the ball, with the ball rolling over the line and into the net.