You may recall a day or two ago that I mentioned how I feel my support of the Imps was always fated.
I mean aside from my Dad and Grandad supporting the team. That makes me a fan, but it always felt like there were coincidences that those who believe in fate could interpret. Imps v Plymouth, November 1978, was the first game I was alive for, and the referee was called Hutchinson, and was from the small village that my wife lived in when I met her.
Then there was Dad’s passing. Remember he was a Chelsea fan as a kid, and he never saw City and the Blues play. I was also a Luton fan growing up, something he insisted on (big club, not specifically Luton) to help me to avoid getting bullied. Our last two home games before Dad passed? Luton at the Bank, then Chelsea in the cup. Seriously, that must be a sign from the universe, right?
If that doesn’t convince you (or me), then how about this? Lincoln City’s most prolific goalscorer post-war is the son of the second most prolific, and they’re both called Hutchinson. That seals the deal!
To finish off this series, which I have very much enjoyed, I present to you the most prolific Lincoln City striker since 1945. The criteria were that the player must have played 20+ league games for the Imps and 25+ games in total.
Barry Hutchinson (0.75 goals per game)
Barry Hutchinson scored 18 league goals in just 24 appearances for Lincoln City, a return of 0.75 goals per game. That figure stands alone at the top of Lincoln City’s all-time list for prolific efficiency.
Hutchinson’s Lincoln story is inseparable from football heritage. Born in Sheffield in January 1936, he was the son of Jimmy Hutchinson, himself a Lincoln City title winner and one of the club’s most reliable post war scorers. Barry was just 12 years old when his father was scoring 32 league goals during the 1947–48 Third Division North championship season, an achievement that would later gain a remarkable echo.
After beginning his career with Bolton Wanderers, Hutchinson made his Football League debut with Chesterfield in 1955. Over the next five seasons he was used largely as a midfielder, scoring 16 goals in 154 league appearances. His career changed direction following a move to Derby County in 1960 for a fee of £2,000 plus two players. Converted into a forward, he flourished. Across four seasons with Derby he scored 51 league goals in 107 games, helping keep the club in the Second Division during the 1963–64 campaign.
A move to Weymouth followed in 1964, where Hutchinson produced one of the most striking goal records of his career. He scored 46 goals in 56 matches for the Terras, helping them win the Southern League title at a time when the competition sat just below the Football League pyramid.
That form prompted City player coach Roy Chapman to bring him to Sincil Bank in the summer of 1965 for a fee of £2,000. What followed was one of the most concentrated scoring bursts in Lincoln City history. Mostly partnering Chapman up front, Hutchinson scored 18 league goals in 24 games, along with two more in cup competition. For a seven match stretch he was the club’s only scorer, underlining how heavily City relied on his finishing.
One match often cited from that spell came against Aldershot, played in snowy conditions. After goalkeeper Peter Wakeham saved a penalty to prevent City going two goals behind, Hutchinson scored twice to secure the win. Moments like that became defining features of his short Lincoln stay.
Despite his goals, City struggled near the bottom of the table, and two games after his final goal Hutchinson was sold to Darlington for £5,000 plus midfielder Ken Allison. His departure effectively ended any realistic hope of avoiding another reelection battle. Yet even in only 27 total appearances, Hutchinson finished the season as City’s top scorer, matching his father’s achievement nearly two decades earlier.
That statistical reality is why he ranks first. Not longevity, not trophies, but pure efficiency. Eighteen goals in 24 league games remains the most prolific rate any Lincoln City forward has ever achieved.