December

So it was back to Vale Park again on the Wednesday night for a game which actually drew a higher attendance than two nights earlier – perhaps there was less rain about, plus Port Vale did reduce admission charges for the match. Phil Neale was now fit enough to be included in the squad along with Beavon, but it was an unchanged lineup which went down to a deserved 2-0 win for the home side. After falling behind early in the second half City brought on Gordon Hobson in place of David Carr to throw men forward, but ten minutes from time, Vale’s Neville Chamberlain raced through to seal the win.

Meanwhile, the age of video had arrived with the club planning to make videotapes of all their games in order to help the players in training. It was also hoped these could be hired out to supporters ‘if they have the right equipment’ – whether it was to be VHS or Betamax was not mentioned. A video camera platform was planned to be set up on the Sincil Bank terracing.

The following Saturday’s visit to Reading was City’s fourth game in eight days, and perhaps that was the cause of young David Gilbert being rested to the subs’ bench with Phil Neale now fit enough to take his place; an enforced change saw David Beavon come in at left-back for Wayne Turner who had suffered a foot injury in training. In contrast to City’s recent crowded schedule Reading had not played since the Friday of the previous week. They took an early lead from a corner, but City replied immediately with Steve Cammack’s sixth goal of the season and looked in good form until the last half an hour of the match. Then Reading winger Gary Donnellan raced away to be brought down by Phil Turner for a penalty, which was put away by future England midfielder Neil Webb. Minutes later, the Imps were 3-1 down, and Reading, who included another future England player in striker Kerry Dixon, could have gone even further ahead but for brilliant saves by David Felgate. With four minutes to go George Shipley scored from the spot, but it was too late to do anything other than make the scoreline look more respectable.

Ironically, due to no longer being involved in the FA Cup, the Imps were then presented with a fortnight off before a scheduled trip to Exeter. As things turned out, though, the lay-off became a lot longer as the weather took a hand. The winter of 1981/82 was to be the severest for almost 20 years and started with snow in the Lincoln area, confining the team to facilities at the Yarborough Leisure Centre and to the club’s gymnasium. It was reported that conditions were much better down in the West Country, with Exeter able to stage a youth team match on the Tuesday although there had been a light fall of snow on the following day. But the only good thing to come out of City’s attempt to reach Exeter was that they got no further than Melton Mowbray. Travelling on the Friday, with reports that the pitch was being marked out and the match expected to be played, the plan had been to set off as early as 10 am. However, after first being delayed due to frozen diesel, the team coach arrived at Sincil Bank only to get stuck in snow drifts. Eventually, the team set off at 11.20 am, with the Football League informing City it was their duty to get there if the match was to be played. A slow crawl due to the conditions saw the coach flagged down at Bingham roundabout with a message to phone Sincil Bank (no mobiles in those days!). Information was that a pitch inspection was being carried out at 1 pm, so it was decided to carry on a little further and stop for a meal. It was then the notification came through that the match had been called off. Colin Murphy was said to be seething about the albeit short wasted journey and the lack of co-operation from Exeter, “It seems to me that we as administrators have to be a bit more efficient to avoid wasting time and money.”

A home fixture was scheduled for Boxing Day with Burnley the attractive opposition, but a snow-covered pitch meant it didn’t happen, nor did the game due to be played at Huddersfield two days later. The following Thursday, a break came from indoor training with a friendly match against Hull City played on the ground of Market Rasen Town, the game resulting in a 1-1 draw.