Fans seem to be getting back onside. Are you positive?

Lincoln City, no doubt hoping to shift a few more, have confirmed that season ticket sales are up a bit on last year. It’s a quiet time of course but all the signs are that an increasing number of fans will be spending their Saturday afternoons where any self respecting chap or chapess for that matter should be, Sincil Bank.


We had the conundrum of the Chairman hinting that the budget would increase only to discover that it would remain the same. Presumably the manager has been told that any increase in revenue caused by an upturn of interest would be met by an increase in the amount of money available.

Andrew Boyce has been the headline signing recently, keeping the manager on tenterhooks, presumably waiting to see if any better offers materialise. I’m not going to pretend I’m not excited by that news but for me the capture of Tom Miller has really got my juices flowing.

Jamie Taylor has gone, well we all knew that would happen at the end of last season and Vadaine Oliver, we couldn’t have expected to hang on to him for much longer even if he had re signed so good luck to them both. They were bright lights in another forgettable season.

The new players seem to have met with the approval of those fans I’ve spoken to so, every reason to approach the forthcoming season with a bit of optimism. Let’s hope that’s not all evaporated by the end of the summer, when it gets here.

The players will be returning from their break soon although with the advent of twitter some fans have been fed a constant diet of titbits whilst all has been quiet on the playing front. Friendlies will soon be upon us, increasing the anticipation another notch. Yes, footie? I don’t mind if I do.

The season that woke the club up. I wish I’d thought of that.

Not my words, I hasten to add but taken from an anonymous contribution to the www.lincoln.vitalfootball.co.uk website but whoever gave that quote never spoke a truer word. Or at least we hope it’s true because if Lincoln City haven’t woken up after the near miss we’ve just had then we’re all in trouble.


When you look back it’s been another desperate season yet there have been good points, principally the cup run and particularly the defeat of Walsall even if we did catch them at just the right time, and that wonderful flourish to round off the season and cast Stockport into the pit. Some justice in that actually as, if my memory serves me correctly Stockport were one of those clubs that managed to escape relegation that first awful time when automatic relegation, as opposed to the old boys club that was the system previously, determined which, if any, teams were to be replaced following a finish in the bottom four. Talk about it’s not what you know it’s who you know. Our own Colin Murphy was the Hatters manager and therefore saviour then but at least he had the good grace to throw in his lot with us to rescue us at the first time of asking.

Just one more quote from Vitals, I’m not here to copy other websites’ stuff but this does sum up exactly how I felt at the game:-

'The season was so bad it nearly finished me off as a supporter, the relief and tension I felt when Power took and scored that penalty against Tamworth made me realise that I still wanted to watch the Imps on a regular basis.'

My thoughts exactly. You can read the article by following the link above.

Ever closer union.

Now that the excitement is over for another season it makes quite a pleasant change to have, not an inquest but an appraisal of where we now are as fans and club. Lincoln City have made the first move praising the fans both for their support over the season and particularly in the final game, away at Hyde. Hyde directors and VIP’s we are told were very complementary about the Imps support both in terms of numbers and general good nature. It does help when your team produce the sort of performance that is going to delight any set of supporters but as they say, we’ll take that.


Furthermore the board of directors have broken with recent tradition and negotiated a three year contract with manager Gary Simpson. Rather surprisingly the fact that Simpson has even been confirmed let alone granted a long contract has raised eyebrows amongst some fans. David Holdsworth’s efforts produced such a poor points return, eclipsed by his successor, that one would have supposed the new man would have been welcomed with open arms as I’m sure he is by most of us worn down by watching such unsuccessful campaigns lately. A three year deal though? Time will tell as ever.

Simpson did well at Macclesfield before falling victim to the curse of the lower league manager, player sales and budget cuts. Well Bob Dorrian has some news for us. The board are looking at supplying a larger fund this time, provided gates increase. In this regard Simpson has shown he can do this in the short time available to him culminating in that marvellous show on Saturday, not that away support provides a penny for the away team but it has shown interest is there.

As ever, how the season pans out and how the finances hold out depends on the sort of start the team can get off to but the next big financial hurdle, season ticket sales, is taking place against a background of considerably more optimism. We’ll take that too.

Unaccustomed as I am.

Strange feeling isn’t it? City finish the season in style and all of a sudden we’re remembering what it is like to summon up a bit of enthusiasm and start to look forward to our football again.


A little bird tells me that there is a possibility of some news on the financial front. Quite significant news, if my sources are correct and sure enough Bob Dorrian is in, well it would be this evening’s paper if the city ran to such a thing, he’s featured in an interview with the Echo’s website that I would guess happened last weekend as Leigh Curtis commented on something that was said, that there would be increased investment in the team next season.

That would seem to tie in with what I’ve heard and there’s no doubt that lack of investment in players has certainly been the Imps Achilles heel of late. Whether the board thought that gates would hold up better than they did is debatable but they haven’t although fans have not entirely given up yet as the last few attendances have shown and certainly Saturdays magnificent show of support for the team must be encouraging both for those in charge of City’s meagre finances and, for that matter on players who might be considering joining the Imps.

There is much debate on City’s pricing policy on the message boards. Certainly I can’t see a reduction in gate prices and presumably these are largely set by the league but, in my view it’s not so much the price of entry, although that does seem awfully expensive for this level of football, it’s the feeling that it’s a lot of money to pay out in order to not have a terribly good time. There’s a saying, a fool and his money are easily parted but if that’s the case then Imps fans have been showing they’re no fools but of course we knew that didn’t we?

I think there’s plenty of evidence to show that Lincoln football fans are still willing to spend their Saturday afternoons at Sincil Bank and, I’m tempted to say all that’s required is a good start to the season, if only it were that easy but if a good competitive squad can be put together and the best of the current team can be retained and early results are encouraging then the fans may return either directly putting more money in the coffers or at least giving the board the confidence to invest further or even borrow, sensibly, to invest in the team knowing that the public of the Lincoln area are falling back in love with Lincoln City. You don’t really want to go shopping do you?

Glad it's all over.

That's an old song isn't it? And for much of the season past Lincoln City have been singing the same old song. Down down deeper and down springs to mind. This time though, City or rather their manager Gary Simpson, had an answer and in order to have an answer you have to have a plan. When Imps fans heard it they were sceptical to say the least. The Kidderminster and Luton matches were not worth sacrificing tired limbs over not to mention players who were close to a ban. City did not put out their strongest sides for those games, with inevitable consequences but instead the manager saved his best formations for winnable games and it was those games, coupled with the run of four games undefeated, that banished the spectre of relegation culminating in the remarkable 5.1 win yesterday at Hyde.

There are those, and I will admit I was one of them, who wondered if, in ditching David Holdsworth and appointing Gary Simpson, City had shot themselves in the foot. When I saw Simpsons side for the first time the term all hell and no notion came to mind, Simmo screaming from the dugout and football that the term biff bang seemed to put a gloss on. However Simpson has shown that he does have a strategy and his plan did work and it is Lincoln City remaining in the division and, shockingly for me, both in the fact it was them and in some of the behaviour at ther final match, Stockport County who plunge, as the Manchester Evening News put it, into the abyss. Such a fall from grace is astounding for such a celebrated club, certainly amongst us lesser lights of the football pyramid.

It seems such a long time that City have finised a season with such panache. I had been musing over whether to go to Hyde, I'd actually said I would if we were safe but then in any case my plans were changed due to having to be at home to accept a delivery, plenty did go though and they were pleased they did as City swept aside their opponents and finished the season in style doing wonders, I would imagine, for potential season ticket sales and also, importantly, for Imps fans perception of the way they view their club, The last attendances lately, coupled with yesterdays magnificent gathering of away support to roar the boys on to safety, giving rise to dangerous thoughts that, at long last Lincoln City's fortunes might be about to improve.

So that's that for this season but continue to log on for my take on all the goings on down at Sincil Bank, news views and, let's hope not too many boos, we've had enough of them thank you very much.

A nice bit of sparring before the main event.

No shortage of material in the press in the build up to this season’s finale which would be fun if it wasn’t so serious. Gary Simpson was on This is Lincolnshire with a headline “It’s in Hyde’s interests to help Stockport by beating Lincoln City”. I’m not so sure of the reasoning for that, when all said and done Hyde are a professional football club although of course we are talking about a team and a manager wanting to win a game which is a world away from deliberately losing to help a neighbour.


Simpson stated the team will maintain a solid state of mind, although what affect his words will have on his charges is another matter:-

"There is obviously more on the game for us than there is for them, I just don’t want us to be frightened of it. We have to remain how we have been – positive."

Simpson expanded on his theme but says he still hasn’t made up his mind on how to approach the match:-

"We could look at it and say we are going to block it up against Hyde,"

"But you could say the best form of defence is to attack these ("these" presumably Hyde) because they can concede as well.

"In my head I want to go and be positive, that’s how we have been all they way through.

"I thought it would go down to the final game and I have maintained that since I walked through the door.

"I am just focusing on what we want to try to do. If we are positive and get the right result it doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing. It’s in our hands."

Meanwhile Stockport’s reporter on the local rag sounded disconcertingly confident when interviewed on BBC Radio Lincolnshire this morning although that was maybe for outside consumption, the Manchester Evening News headline, “Glory days are gone as Stockport County stare into the abyss” perhaps reflecting the local view of the potential catastrophe lurking round the corner for a club relegated along with City from the football league.

The Evening News deems Lincoln City barely worth a mention in their piece, concentrating on Hatters recent past as a stark reminder of how far and how fast County have sunk of late and their man did confirm to BBC’s Rod Whiting this morning that the Imps are the best paced of their rivals to survive. That doesn’t make things any easier as we impatiently wait for judgement day.

We’re fully committed says Bob.

It’s the lull before the storm at the moment and if City weren’t involved I dare say it would really be quite exciting. Various clubs are feeling the strain although I can’t say particularly we are although, this being Lincoln City the capacity for calamity is never too far away.


Gary Simpson said in today’s Lincolnshire Echo the team won’t be instructed to go hell for leather for a win:-

“We will not be going gung-ho that is for sure,” he said.

“If you go out all guns blazing you leave yourself in a vulnerable position and we don’t want that or need it.

“Let’s face it. Would you rather be in Stockport’s position or ours?

“There’s no question you would want to go in to the final day with the cushion that we have.

He went on:-

“We need to have a balanced approach and make sure that we have done our job, because if we do, it does not matter what has gone on elsewhere.

“Our fate is in our own hands which is exactly how you want it to be.”

There will be a big following for the Imps at Hyde and the coaches have sold out. Simpson acknowledged the role away fans play but also paid tribute to the home support doing their bit:-

“If they can turn Hyde’s ground into Sincil Bank that would be fabulous,” he said.

“Their support has been terrific just as it was the first time I was here.

“They are the reason I came back. They are pivotal to what we are trying to achieve at this football club now and in the future.

“It would be magnificent to see them turning up in their droves and roaring the lads on. Everybody at the football club appreciates the backing they have given us.”

Meanwhile Chairman Bob Dorrian confirmed on BBC Radio Lincolnshire last night that the club would remain full time come what may. He tempted providence saying it would take a disaster of monumental proportion to force the board into confirming that notion and I think, on this occasion at least fans and board are united in that although of course disaster and Lincoln City are two constant bedfellows.