I’ve been doing a series of articles on former Imps who played in Europe.
During my research, it became apparent a number of former Imps had missed out on Europe because of the ban English clubs were subjected to. After the tragic scenes at Heysel, English clubs were banned from European competitions, and that robbed a handful of former and future Imps a chance to shine on the big stage.
Here are the 14 players affected, and others already on the lists who missed out on further appearances.
Glenn Cockerill (1985/86 UEFA Cup, Southampton)
The European ban robbed a golden generation of Imps their chance to shine in Europe, and Cockerill was the first to suffer. He was well known at City having twice played for us in the 80s, before a move to Sheffield United.
He was a combative midfielder best known for his time at Southampton, where he made over 250 appearances between 1984 and 1993. In the 1985–86 season, Southampton qualified for the UEFA Cup, but Cockerill was denied the opportunity to appear on the European stage due to the ongoing ban on English clubs.
Wayne Biggins (1985/86 UEFA Cup, 1987/88 UEFA Cup, Norwich City)
Biggins is defintely one that got away, having come through the Imps ranks but not getting a pro deal. He played in the top flight in England and Scotland, appearing for Celtic.
It’s his spell playing in the old First Division for Norwich which gets him on this list. He played for the Canaries in two spells that coincided with them qualifying for Europe. He missed out on UEFA Cup action both in 1985–86 and again in 1987–88 as Norwich’s chances of continental football were blocked by the post-Heysel European ban.
Gary Strodder (1986/87 UEFA Cup, West Ham)
A solid defender, Gary Strodder began his career at City, and featured in my recent piece on the top youth prospects to come through here. He was eventually sold for six figures before we dropped out of the Football League, heading to West Ham.
He was part of their squad during their strong 1986/87 campaign, during which they would have been playing in Europe. They secured UEFA Cup qualification for that season, finishing third in 1986, but Strodder had no chance to feature in Europe due to the suspension of English clubs at the time.