Number 20 on our list brings us into the modern era and to a name that still commands huge respect across English football. Few players have embodied Lincoln City’s spirit of fight and physicality quite like this one.
This series continues to spotlight the most prolific Lincoln City strikers since 1945, measured by goals per game in EFL competition, with a minimum of 25 appearances. Each player featured not only found the net regularly but also left a lasting mark on the club’s history.
From Tommy Northcott’s Second Division heroics, we fast-forward to the late 1970s and early 80s, when a young centre-forward emerged from Sincil Bank’s ranks to become the 1002nd England international.
#20 – Mick Harford (0.36)
Mick Harford’s story with Lincoln City began in the summer of 1977, when he arrived from Lambton Street Boys Club alongside fellow youngsters Mick Smith, Keith Laybourne and Alan Eden. He made his debut that December, coming off the bench in a 2-0 home defeat to Gillingham, and scored his first goal on New Year’s Eve as the Imps drew 2-2 at Chester. Initially deployed as a midfielder, it wasn’t long before his aerial power and natural aggression pushed him further up the pitch.
By the 1979/80 season, Harford had established himself as the focal point of Lincoln’s attack, finishing as the club’s top scorer with 16 goals in 35 games. His blend of strength, work rate, and ruthless finishing made him one of the most feared forwards in the lower leagues, and his development soon attracted attention from higher up the pyramid.
The following campaign began in explosive fashion. He scored a hat-trick against Hull City in the League Cup, then another in the return leg as Lincoln thrashed the Tigers 7-0 on aggregate. Scouts flocked to Sincil Bank, drawn by a striker who was both imposing and technically capable. His third hat-trick in Lincoln colours came that November in a 5-0 demolition of Torquay United. Just weeks later, after three prolific years and 46 goals in 127 appearances in all competitions, he moved to Newcastle United for a then club-record £180,000.
Harford’s career took him far beyond Lincoln. He represented Newcastle, Bristol City, Birmingham, Luton Town, Derby County, Chelsea, Sunderland, Coventry, and Wimbledon, amassing more than 580 league appearances and 186 goals. His peak came with Luton, where he lifted the League Cup in 1988 and earned two England caps, one of them at Wembley against Denmark.
While his greatest successes came elsewhere, Mick Harford’s journey began at Sincil Bank, where a raw teenager grew into a formidable centre-forward.
His 41 league goals in 115 games, a ratio of 0.36, underline his place among Lincoln City’s most prolific post-war strikers and cement his legacy as one of the club’s finest ‘homegrown’ talents.