Tony Lormor
Lormor joined the Imps from Newcastle United for a fee of £25,000, and went on to amass over 100 appearances. He netted on his League debut for City in a 1-0 win over Wrexham, and impressed from immediately after his arrival at Sincil Bank, finishing top scorer in two of his first three seasons at the club, and only missing out to Gordon Hobson by one in his first season.
In his pomp, Lormor was an excellent centre forward with a quick footballing brain and an instinct for being in the right place at the right time. He was this writers’ favourite player alongside David Puttnam for his ability to make things happen when City really needed it. His highlights were four goals as we thrashed Carlisle 6-2 in 1991, and a hat trick the following season as we despatched county rivals Scunthorpe 4-2 at Sincil Bank. Unfortunately, Tony suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury which forced him to miss the whole of the 1992/93 season, and after 18 months on the side-lines, he never recovered his old form. He was released on a free transfer after making just 10 appearances the following season, joining Peterborough where he failed to settle.
He was described by one fan in a copy of Deranged Ferret thus; “The biggest compliment I can pay him is that if he wasn’t a player I’m sure he’d be a supporter. In these days when players move from club to club at the drop of a hat and seem committed to only picking up wages it was nice to see someone who actually enjoyed playing football.”
He did regain his old form with Chesterfield, banging in 36 goals from 114 appearances for the Spireites, before a £15,000 move to Mansfield Town, and then a £30,000 transfer to Hartlepool United. Later in his career, he took up refereeing, and still living close to Lincoln he was a regular in the middle in the Lincoln Sunday League. He also served as Commercial Manager for Mansfield in 2007/08 having held a similar position at Chesterfield the season before.