Francis Green
The signing of Francis Green heralded in a new era for Lincoln City. We had spent so long in the financial wilderness making do with cast-off players and non-league hopefuls. It had seen us through to the playoff final, but to kick on we needed to spend. Handing over £25k to Posh for Francis Green announced that we were back challenging for good players. I seem to recall Barry fry announcing we’d have to pay £75,000 too, as he does.
‘Franny’ was lightning quick and offered another dimension to an already bulging attack. He arrived not long after Gary Taylor Fletcher and between them they pushed us up into the race at the top of the table. Franny knew where the net was and a late winner against Macclesfield in October showed his potential. Another winner in January against Bury showed he could pop up with an all-important goal. Off the bench he could be devastating, if he played from the start he was a livewire and always involved.
He scored eight times in his second season at Lincoln, but couldn’t make a difference at the Millennium Stadium against Southend. Despite his early promise he never scored as many goals as perhaps he should have, and in his second full season he managed just five. When Keith Alexander left the club, Green followed out of the door. He moved to our close rivals Boston United and typically scored a winner for them against us at York Street.
Franny is perhaps best remembered for being the player that broke ground for us in the transfer market rather than one who made the sort of impact that earns a player legendary status. He scored a few goals and excited on occasion, but he really never achieved the potential he had shown when we first signed him.