Roll back the years.

There was a time when the visit of Luton Town to Sincil Bank would have barely caused a ripple in the Lincoln pond although they have always seemed a much bigger club than City thanks to Eric Morecambe and that run in the top division that seems many moons ago now. It must seem like it never happened to Hatters fans just as Forest supporters must wonder if their heyday was a dream.


Did we have a heyday? Yes, of course but it was never along the lines of our illustrious opponents and you would be getting on a bit now if you remember the days when City regularly battled it out with the biggest names in football. There I go again, getting all morose. Tomorrow is a chance to relive those heady days when we were a football league club at least and occasionally a successful one.

The big time was far from the mind of manager David Holdsworth this week as he discussed in his regular column in the Lincolnshire Echo the relative virtues of a regional league. In yesterdays Echo, an article on the fact that City cannot afford, as a matter of routine, to send players for a scan to assess the extent of injuries. Any fan will be aware that our football club must cut its cloth according to its means and we should applaud them for trying, at least, to run a tight ship. The problem is, for this fan, that I feel we are being prepared for continued life at this level or below.

Football is about dreams and escape. City fans dream of an escape from the drudgery of our current existence. Do they really want to hear about the present straightened circumstances? David Holdsworth will want us to hear the message to justify the Imps present lowly position but does that sell tickets? I don’t think it does. In my view, whilst acknowledging that no one will be inspired to watch a side struggling at the bottom of the league, we are after all down to the real hardy few, a bit of inspiration might not go amiss. Surely there is something uplifting we could hear about? Paul Farman’s selection for England C perhaps? That has hardly been shouted from the rooftops.

A look at the Dunstable Today website reveals an article all about the forthcoming game, just football, no sob stories at all as well there might not be with a club sitting fourth in the table, two above you know who. Our own website features an admittedly tongue in cheek offering entitled “Your club needs you” as indeed they do but is that what we’ve come to? You can download a flyer and what? Put it in your window, hand it around at work? Anyway, I’ll be there and I hope you will be too. Your club needs you.