58 Lee Thorpe

Popular striker Thorpe finished as the leading scorer for City in five consecutive seasons (once joint with Tony Battersby), no mean feat at all. That included the promotion season of 1998, our foray into the third-tier and every year after that until he left in summer 2002. Robust, mobile and strong, Thorpe won many admirers during his time with us and still remains hugely popular today.

57 Phil Hubbard

Phil Hubbard is another legend whose inclusion is a testament to his enduring appeal. He bagged 53 goals in 261 league appearances, either side of spells with Norwich City and Grimsby Town. He’s an active member of the Former Player’s Association and is as cherished now as he was at the turn of the seventies when he seemed to score for fun.

56 Nathan Arnold

A generation of fans who know nothing of Hubbard, Booth and Cooper will be looking to modern times for their heroes, and in 2016/17 Nathan Arnold proved to be just that. He turned down a contract with promoted Grimsby to sign for City, then scored a hatful of goals in the early part of the season to put us on a collision course with the Football League. Of course, his most famous goals came as we downed Ipswich in the FA Cup, a truly historic night for the club, as well as his late strike against Gateshead that all-but sealed the title.

55 Adrian Patulea

The legend of Patulea is perhaps more of a pull than the reality. He arrived in the city wanting a trial and famously ran around the training ground with his wife on his back to earn one. He then came on in a friendly against Lincoln United, from nowhere, and hit goals left, right and centre to burst onto the scene. In serious action, he netted 11 in 33 appearances but was often overlooked by then-manager Peter Jackson, with whom he reached a contract dispute before leaving the club.

54 Terry Fleming

‘Terry’s got a long one’, a reference to his enormous long throw, was a popular chant of the mid-nineties for a slick midfielder often remember for the famous double booking and not his versatility, or his committed and often cultured midfield performances. He made a few too, 210 in total, scoring 12 times. One of those goals, late into stoppage time against non-league Emley, saved us from humiliation (for a week) and perhaps highlighted the never-say-day attitude displayed by the former Coventry City trainee.

53 Stuart Bimson

He loved a corner and he relished a tackle. Stuart Bimson was the first of the 2002/03 play-off side to leave the club, but that final season was just reward for his persistent endeavour. He appeared 201 times for the Imps, scoring four goals, one of which helped us to a win at the KC Stadium, inflicting Hull’s first defeat on them.

52 Dick Neal

Like Michael J Fox, we are going back to the fifties for the next player on our list, left-half Dick Neal. He had two spells with City, the first of which started in 1954. He won three England Under 23 caps whilst on City’s books too, a rare international honour for one of our players. He was eventually sold to Birmingham City for £15,000 (around £400,000 with inflation) and Bert Linnecor. He played for the Blues in the Inter Fairs Cup, a precursor to the UEFA Cup, and returned to us as a Division Four side in the early sixties.

51 Joe Morrell

Morrell is a darling of the younger supporters, having had a strong season for City as we survived in League One last time out, and he just misses out on the top 50 of a generation. I guess the purists won’t like it, but Morrell was clear Player of the Year last season and does look set for a long and successful career, especially if he establishes himself as a senior figure at Luton, which he should.

You can discuss the Top 100 here, and help earn the Imps a few quid in the process

Full list so far

100 Jason Barnett

99 Dean West

98 Bert Linnecor

97 Mark Wallington

96 Mark Stallard

95 Paul Smith

94 Albert Scanlan

93 Stuart Naylor

92 Paul Mayo

91 Gary Lund

90 Sam Habergham

89 Andrew Boyce

88 John Whitney

87 Jeff Smith

86 John McGinley

85 David Johnson

84 Liam Bridcutt

83 Lee Beevers

82 Keith Alexander

81 Tyler Walker

80 Phil Turner

79 Phil Brown

78 Bruno Andrade

77 Steve Thompson

76 Scott Kerr

75 Jamie Taylor

74 Phil Stant

73 Tony James

72 Jeff Hughes

71 Alan Harding

70 Dean Walling

69 Jason Shackell

68 John Kennedy

67 Gijsbert Bos

66 Ian Baraclough

65 Dixie McNeil

64 Tony Cunningham

63 Tony Emery

62 John Akinde

61 Terry Cooper

60 Dennis Booth

59 Mark Bailey