Glanford Park was the newest League ground in England in 1988

"My guess is there is a 50-50 chance of it going ahead," he told a fans' forum.

"The council have until the end of April to decide what their preferred option is for planning applications on the new housing development."

The Iron only moved to their current Glanford Park home - which has a capacity of 9,088 - in 1988.

They had previously played at the Old Show Ground, which held 25,000.

The move to Glanford Park was the first time a new Football League stadium had been built since the end of the Second World War - although many clubs have moved home in the subsequent 20 years.

606: DEBATE Discuss Scunthorpe's stadium hopes on 606

Wharton added: "That (April) is a key moment as to whether the developers we are talking to would feel in a position to support a new ground.

"We are talking about the stadium costing �20m - we have not got to the finer details on seating, but we are talking approximately 10,000 to 15,000.

"If it is tied to a housing development and we can get it all funded by outside sources, we could go to a brand new state-of-the-art stadium in a strong financial position without spending any of our own money.

"Whereas, if we develop one of the stands here, it will have to come out of our pockets, although obviously we will get some grant funding.

"It would be great to have a new stadium - it might be too good to be true, but if it is a possibility, I believe I have a responsibility to explore that opportunity."

Scunthorpe, who were promoted to the Championship last summer, have had an average attendance of 6,639 this season.