Scarborough takes centre stage on BBC's Football Focus as part of 'Non-league Day'

Presenter Alex Scott MBE hosted the show with former Premier League stars Glenn Murray and Ashley Williams, but it was the people of the town and the supporters of Scarborough Athletic who stole the limelight.

The special programme kicked off with a heartwarming video of fans and residents talking about their love for the town and the club, with a musical backdrop of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘Scarborough Fayre’.

Scott, who even introduced the town by its ‘Scarbados’ nickname, described the club as one which “really has the community at its heart” as Athletic supporters spoke from the heart about what it means to them that the club managed to be reborn after the hard times.

Retro footage of the famous Chelsea game was cut with pictures of the gates being padlocked shut by administrators as the club plunged into financial uncertainty.

The montage of fans said: "£15 to own part of your own football club, you can’t go wrong...” and “How many other fans can say they own part of their football club? Not many.” With another saying: “The club is in the very good place, the best place it has ever been...” and finally: “The town of Scarborough is back in love with its football club.”

Play-off chasers Scarborough Athletic focus on home clash against Southport

Celebrating ‘Non-league Day’ a campaign to encourage fans to find a new local club on international weekends when the nation’s Premier League and Championship clubs take a break from action.

Club volunteer Bill Hunter told the show just what Scarborough means to him and the town: “I first came to watch the club in 1970 and I have actually been involved as a volunteer since 1981 so over 40 years. In 1987 we were the first club to get automatic promotion to the Football League and that is something that will never be taken away from us. The memories of that season… I could talk a long time about… but the main thing was the final game when 5,500 people turned up.”

After financial hardship left the club homeless and on the brink of disaster, its resurrection has been a slow and steady process to now seeing a team fighting their way back up the football ladder.

“For the town, it was difficult because we spent 10 years going backwards and forwards to Bridlington and we did not get the foothold that we needed,” he added. “But since coming back to Scarborough we have kicked on, secured a couple of promotions and now you can see kits being worn around the town, and on the kids also, which is the important thing. It makes a massive difference, we are back home.”

IN PICTURES: 21 photos of Whitby primary schools sports fun

Local boy, now manager, Jonathan Greening said: "It is really special to manage your hometown club. It has been a tremendous first 22 months. I got the job a couple of years ago and didn’t really know too much about non-league, despite playing out my final few years at Tadcaster Albion.

"But it is great to be back. The whole club is built on the community, the fans have been terrific since I have been in charge. The chairman, the board, the volunteers behind the scenes all work incredibly hard and it is all about the whole club.

"I have a lot of respect for the players because they work full time, they have to look after their families and then they need to shoot across to training and it is a really big commitment. Not as easy as for us when we were playing in the Premier League.

“We obviously want to win a few more games and try and get promoted again. In my first year we got promoted and won the North Riding Senior Cup, which was fantastic and two good things to happen. This year a lot of people were saying we were favourites to get relegated but we are doing OK. We are in the play-offs, we have a game in hand and we just need to keep pushing.”

Finally, chairman Trevor Bull spoke of the special nature of a club that is at very heart of its town, and revealed that as of this morning, the club had hit a milestone of 1,00 owners.

"If you look around the ground, the local businesses have supported us, the local council have supported us and the people of Scarborough have come back to support us since we returned to the town,” he said. “It is a very special place to be and because we are 100% fans owned, people believe in what we are doing. They know it is run and owned by volunteers and that we will do the best job we possibly can and see where it takes us.

"We are delighted because as of this morning, we hit the milestone of 1,000 owners and since we went live on air today, we had nine more sign up so it is a great day for the club and thank you for the part that you have played in it.

"At the start of the season people asked what our objective was and I always said ‘to get 50 points and stay in the league’ but then we started off and we have been in the play-offs all season… so I would be disappointed now if we did not make it. If we can get in the play-offs, see where it takes us, then I think Jonno is probably a good enough manager to see us through.

Steve Machen, the clubs community director spoke about their programmes such as walking football and schools work, while Julie Tate also had chance to discuss the Scarborough Women’s section.

The programme ended with the Scarborough Girls Under-11s singing a rendition of Sweet Caroline.