Lee Frecklington

Can't believe I missed Freck….surely in with a shout?

— Chris Steadman (@cjsteadman) April 20, 2018

Lee Frecklington was born in Lincoln, and to some extent born to play for Lincoln as well. He made his way through the Centre of Excellence and was rewarded with a scholarship place in the summer of 2002. Under John Schofield Frecklington’s ability developed and was well noted and during his schooldays he undertook trials with both Norwich City and Leeds United.

He made rapid progress in Lincoln’s youth set-up and in the 2003–04 season, making significant strides towards the first team. He particularly impressed in a friendly against Manchester City, and Keith Alexander gave him his full debut in the Football League Trophy against Telford United in October 2003. He continued his progression in the final season of his scholarship and made his Football League debut as a substitute in the game at Rochdale on 12 February 2005. It was no surprise that he was handed a one-year professional contract by then manager Keith Alexander.

After a spell out on loan at Stamford he became a regular presence on the substitutes bench and in February 2006 he came off the bench to score his first league goal in the game at Stockport. His reward was his first league start the following week at home to Torquay United. Always impressing, he made 18 league appearances in the second half of the season though only three of these were starts.

Lee had a lot of ability and for a player so young was able to show it in and around the first team. Over the years we’ve seen lots of these ‘bright young things’ emerge and ultimately fail. Ollie Ryan, Gary King and even Connor Robinson were given chances that they didn’t take. Lee Frecklington was different. In the 2006–07 season he featured heavily in a very pivotal role towards Lincoln’s unsuccessful push for promotion to League One. John Schofield placed a lot of belief in his former protégé and he boasted a number of exceptional performances. He was named in the PFA League Two Team of the Year for the 2006–07 season, and he was only beaten to the Imps Player of the Year by Lee Beevers.

In January 2008 the Imps turned down two bids for Frecklington from Peterborough, and in his programme notes around that time Jacko remarked; “I didn’t think it was the right offer or the right club for Freck, and we’re now in talks to keep him at the club because he’s a real asset for us. There’s only one or two midfielders in the division who can do what Lee does and we’ve come to expect it every game despite his age.”

The following season as his star continued to rise he seemed increasingly less likely to remain a Lincoln player. There was some surprise when he didn’t move on in the January 2009 transfer window, and even more surprise when just six days after the window closed he finally moved to Peterborough initially on loan. Our home-grown talisman was gone, and in a master stroke of managerial genius we couldn’t bring anyone in permanently to replace him. Since then he’s gone on to play regularly at Championship level, whilst the manager that only a year before wanted to keep him, gave him away. Peter Jackson now runs a care home. That tells a story in itself.

He made a sensational return in 2018, but this nomination is surely for the exciting and vibrant youngster who climbed out of the youth team to earn national acclaim.

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