Thanks: The FA Cup game in 2016

It remains one of my most enduring memories of the early Cowley era. We’d started well, but crowds had sat around the 3,500 mark, occasionally nudging toward four but also dropping to 3,000 for the 2-0 win against Boreham Wood. We knew something special was happening, but the distrust and apathy in the city had gone on so long that few outside the club truly cared. Cowley, schmowley, that is what the general Lincoln populous probably thought. 

Guiseley we stubborn opponents in the qualifying round, Altrincham gave us a scare in the first round proper and when we pulled Oldham out of the bag it didn’t look promising. Sure, we thought it was winnable, but we knew what was going on at the club. We’d seen it.

That night, everyone saw it. TV cameras beamed the scenes live into people’s living room and life simply wasn’t ever the same again. 7,000 turned up to watch it in person, many more sat at home and witnessed a sub-standard Oldham completely blown away by a Theo Robinson-led Lincoln City. The fog settled in late on, as did a couple of Oldham goals to give the game an ethereal backdrop and help cement it in club folklore. 

I was there the night the wall came down again Stoke, one generation say.

I was there the night Barry Fry was escorted from the pitch by police, others say.

I was there the night the fog came down against Oldham. It’s another game that will become fairy tale and the unwitting victims were Oldham Athletic. Thanks for not turning up until late in the second half lads, you helped create the monster you’re about to face.