Mike Pollitt    

The 6ft 3in goalkeeper came through the youth ranks at Manchester United and had loan spells as a teenager, first with Oldham Athletic then Macclesfield Town making just two first team appearances for the Conference club. He was then transferred to third tier side Bury in the summer of 1991 but had not made a first team appearance for them when Imps manager Steve Thompson brought the 20-year-old to Sincil Bank on loan in March 1992 to act as cover for Ian Bowling following the sale of Matt Dickins. He was however not called upon for any first team action and returned to Bury at the end of the season.

Pollitt started the 1992/93 season on loan to a Conference club again, this time Altrincham, making four appearances for them until he returned to Lincoln for a second loan spell towards the end of September after Bowling fractured his ankle in the first leg of the League Cup tie with Crystal Palace. Steve Thompson stated that he had in any case been tracking Pollitt as a possible replacement for whenever Bowling should leave the club.

He went straight into the side along with new permanent signing Peter Costello for a home match with Shrewsbury for what was his Football League debut, winning the Sponsors Man of the Match award. He was in the side for the next five games including the second leg of the League Cup tie when the Imps held Premier League Crystal Palace to a 1-1 draw at Sincil Bank. In his penultimate game Bury allowed him to play against them in City’s visit to Gigg Lane which seemed somewhat unusual, but was maybe a pointer as to how they saw his future with them. At any rate he only let one goal in as the Imps triumphed 2-1.

With Bowling fit again Pollitt was retained on loan and then signed on a permanent basis but played another game for Altrincham. Then, after Bowling had let in six goals in two games Pollitt displaced him from the starting line-up at the end of December. He stayed in the first team and was given a two-year contract in March with Bowling going on loan to Bradford City. However, after being sent off when conceding a penalty towards the end of a match at Cardiff Pollitt was suspended for the last two games of the season with Bowling recalled.

He remained first choice for the 1993/94 season under new manager Keith Alexander until it was announced City were signing 42-year-old John Burridge on a non-contract basis as cover over the Christmas period. But it was the veteran who came into the side for the next two games before Pollitt returned for an Autoglass Trophy game as Burridge was cup-tied and kept his place for the next game. This saw a 3-1 home defeat by Wycombe with Pollitt blamed by Alexander for two of the goals. Burridge was back for the next two games, although Pollitt was forced to miss the second of these due to a broken nose. He was then back in the side until mid-March when the Imps signed Andy Leaning from Bristol City. The new man went straight into the side and was first choice for the rest of the season.

With Keith Alexander sacked at the end of the season new boss Sam Ellis put Pollitt on the transfer list during the summer and he quickly joined fellow fourth tier side Darlington. He went on to appear for a string of clubs including being reunited with Steve Thompson at Notts County, and during a lengthy spell with Rotherham being rated by some as one of the best goalkeepers outside the Premier League, later playing a number of games in the top flight itself for Wigan.

Nicknamed rather unfairly by some City supporters as ‘Mike Drop-it’ his time with the Imps could be summed up as average and while not particularly successful couldn’t really be called a failure either.