2005 also saw the arrival of Steff Wright as chairman, a man who in 2011 said he appointed John Schofield because “The fans wanted a better quality of football than had been played under Keith Alexander and appointing John was definitely the right thing to do at the time,”
I didn’t. I was perfectly happy with playoff finals and mesmerising players like Taylor Fletcher and Peter Gain. I was perfectly happy with the resurgence the club experienced under Rob Bradleys stewardship. I was perfectly happy in 2005 because deep down I knew I was watching one of the true great Lincoln City sides.
I confidently predict that the next great Lincoln City side will be the one that wins promotion from the Conference and gets back into the football league. I also confidently predict it will happen at some point in the next few years. The club has suffered a massive fall from grace since 2005, with successive toothless play off failures and then successively bad seasons culminating in relegation. It’s been a long hard ride, but when I look back to 2005 I can’t help but think that when the good times do come back, they’re worth every second of suffering in between.
So why not visit YouTube, find the match I’m talking about and watch 6,000 fans witnessing a great Imps side dominating and taking apart their county rivals. Watch the true Pride of Lincolnshire that season score two great goals. Watch it again and again and remember that no matter how bad it has been, something like that may just be around the corner again.