1997

Beck loved a trialist, and there were more on the menu a year ago today. One was Dai Thomas, who had impressed at Swansea the season before – he eventually joined Watford and was jailed for his part in a pitch invasion at a Cardiff v Leeds match in 2002, two years after leaving the Bluebirds.

John Gannon was a veteran, but he didn’t sign for City and only played six more games before retiring, whilst Boland was a fresh face, but who also failed to sign for the Imps. He bounced back playing in the Football League for Oxford, Chester, Peterborough, Wrexham and Cambridge after the turn of the century.