Bob Dorrian has chosen to stand down as chairman of Lincoln City, taking up the role of associate director.
The news hasn’t come as a great surprise after he hinted at such towards the end of the season, but it brings to a close one of the most turbulent and successful periods of Lincoln City’s history. Once labelled ‘chicken Bob’ by the more salacious websites and fans, Mr Dorrian has since proved himself to be the saviour of the football club, a man who took the wheel of a battered and sinking ship, sailed her through choppy waters filled with rocks and come out on the other side laden with silverware and a crew capable of carrying us onwards.
In short, Bob Dorrian is a hero.
He took control of the reigns at Sincil Bank in 2010 from his predecessor Steff Wright. That administration hadn’t served the club as well as we’d hoped, Goal 2010 never materialised and a club consistently in the play offs had found itself battling relegation with Chris Sutton in charge. Steff got out whilst the rain clouds formed, leaving Bob to start patching up the holes in the roof and handing out umbrellas.
Were it not for Bob, the club would have folded. He put in £500,000 of his own money to keep us moving forward and set up the controversial holdings company, controversial at the time because many saw it as a conspiracy to bleed the club dry. He appointed Steve Tilson, a man not one of us thought was a poor appointment. When he failed and we turned to David Holdsworth, we actually turned to a man who saved the club money. I believe Holdsworth was a good appointment by the board, he served his remit and left once the job of plugging a few gaps had been done.
More recently, the holding company helped attract Clive Nates to the board and from there, the club has kicked on significantly. With Bob at the top of the tree we’ve come out of the six years we spent in the non-league a much more solid club, progressing every day and taking huge strides towards maybe, just maybe, becoming a third-tier club before 2020. Having sat in a board room in November 2011 knowing the club wouldn’t be able to pay wages after Christmas, his tenure has seen us arrive at building a new £1.3m training complex. That’s the sign of a good spell as chairman.
Bob has now considered that now is the right time for someone else to steer the club forward to even greater progression and there is every reason to be optimistic about the club’s future. The club’s official statement includes the following:
“The board, on behalf of everyone at Lincoln City Football Club, would like to put on record their thanks to Bob for all his dedication, hard work and financial support during his time as Chairman.”
Well Bob, the fans want to do the same and trust me if you’re ever in the same boozer I am, you won’t need to ever buy another drink. You saved our club, you faced demonstrations, EGMs and all manner of abuse and stood firm and steadfast. Whilst all around you fell apart, you clung to the last remnants of the club and, together with a group of other hardy souls, began to rebuild. They should name a stand after you at the new ground, or maybe call the new bar ‘Dorrian’s Last Chance Saloon’, because I swear you drank in their enough times post 2011.
The board have already elected a successor to Bob and I would speculate it is one of three people. Clive would be an obvious choice, but I’m not sure being based in South Africa he’d accept the role. Maybe Greg Levine, he’s closely aligned to Clive and has the skills to carry us forward from his extensive and varied business life. The other shot, a long shot perhaps, might be Roger Bates. What a story that would be, from fanzine editor to club chairman inside three decades.
Whoever it is, they have huge shoes to fill.
Thank you Bob Dorrian.
Clive is chairman
Absolutely spot on Gary. Stuck to a very difficult task against all sorts of criticism at times, probably expected his £500k loan to be a gift, but believed in himself to get it right. As a supporter man and boy he must be hugely proud of what he’s done, but he just quietly gets on with it. Hats off to the man!
I would certainly like to put on record my thanks to Bob for his time at the helm of our beloved Imps. Often times, especially in the more turbulent days, he seemed to strike a forlorn figure of someone with the weight of the responsibility of just trying to do the right thing, while those unencumbered by such pressure made unreasonable complaints and held unreasonable expectations. We’ve seen many clubs end up in far worse positions than ours, often having started with far fewer problems. I feel Bob well deserves to enjoy whatever glory is to come to the club in the next few years, and if he chooses to do so from the sidelines then so be it. I’m sure there is far more eloquent written sentiment then I can express (sections of Kipling’s If keep cropping into my mind), but I mostly hope that whoever replaces Bob continues to guide the club with the same honesty, integrity and passion that Bob has shown us. Long before the Cowley brothers made it popular to be proud of the Imps, there was Bob trying to do the best for the club he loves, a lesson to all about sticking to what is right when times are tough.
Thank you Bob.
Try the Strugglers
Long may ‘Uncle’ Bob be remembered. if it was not for him and a few other members we would have sunk without a trace, floundering somewhere the bottom of the Conference North. Many thanks Bob for all your time & effort, may the good times continue to roll.
A fan , A financial supporter , a chairman and now an associate director . We thank you Bob in all of those roles without you I dread to think where we would be now.
Enjoy your time and your football .