Those big teams from the past? That’s us now.

Many many moons ago, I think I was at college and I remember thinking, were a third division side now.

For third division read league one. City had finally escaped the dead hand of the fourth division which they had occupied since it’s inception I think, not very honourably. It seemed on a more or less permanent basis the Imps finished in the bottom four which wasn’t quite as bad as it sounds as instead of automatic relegation there was a sort of reverse beauty contest whereby each club would vote on the four worst teams and normally they would escape as it was pretty much a closed shop although if it was a club on the far extremities of the country they could be vulnerable as each club weighed up its travel costs. If they were voted out they were replaced by, usually a team that had made its name in the cup or been knocking on the door for a while.

Anyway, City had escaped all that, courtesy of the late great Graham Taylor and although his team or rather their successors did eventually get relegated there then followed a period when they really did become a third tier outfit.

I remember, when Taylors team did win the fourth division the big noise in the league above were Portsmouth but also, periodically, the Sheffield clubs came into our orbit, some way from their former glory.

When either United or Wednesday came to Sincil Bank often the ire of the supporters was raised when the board of directors allocated the open Sincil Bank terrace to both those clubs. The reason being they could bring the then unheard of travelling support numbering 5000 and the retort from the board was always, we’re not going to turn down that sort of money.

So here we are, not in league one but the basement boys and we are going to bring those numbers not an hour down the road from Sheffield but a more considerable distance, us, little old Lincoln as John Beck described us.

To say the supporters are excited is something of an understatement. Here we have, for me another Wembley or Arsenal and in its own way a stadium worthy of the occasion. Unlike those aforementioned matches, not a one off cup game either, thrilling though they were but a bread and butter game and furthermore a game for the right to play our football and watch our football at some more grounds like this.

What’s more, City can approach the game in a relatively relaxed manner. As I’ve been saying, a draw, whilst neither use or ornament to MK Dons, would do very nicely to the Imps as it keeps our points ticking over and denies our opponents two.

Does it sound to you that the times they are a changin’? It does to me.