Thanks to Donald Nannestad

Our host for tomorrow’s game is Gavin Gordon and former player guests are Tony Cunningham, Phil Neale and Andy Mand. Our AGM is before the game and so it is possible we may have additional former players attending.
As well as our FPA members we have a special guest, the former Tottenham and Chelsea midfielder Micky Hazard who is an ambassador for the Legend on the Bench organisation which works to combat mental health issues and prevent suicides.

Tony Cunningham

Tony Cunningham was a powerful striker who was brought to Lincoln by Colin Murphy from non-league club Stourbridge in May 1979. He made an instant impact on his debut in a League Cup tie against Barnsley when he was up against the former England defender Norman Hunter. Tony had too much pace and power for the ex England man and marked his first City game with a goal. Tony remained a regular first team player during his three full seasons at Sincil Bank and finished as leading scorer with 15 league and cup goals in 1981-82 when the Imps narrowly missed out on promotion to second tier football. He was sold to Barnsley in September 1982 and and made 40 League appearances for the Reds scoring 11 goals before joining Sheffield Wednesday in November 1983. Tony later played for clubs including Manchester City and Newcastle United making a total of almost 500 senior appearances before ending his career with Wycombe Wanderers. One of his sons Karl later also played for the Imps.

Debut vs Barnsley, home (Football League Cup) 11 August 1979

Lincoln City Record:

Football League: 111 appearances plus 12 as substitute, 32 goals

FA Cup: 5 appearances plus 1 as substitute

Football League Cup: 13 appearances, 8 goals

Other Games: 6 appearances, 2 goals

Phil Neale

Phil Neale was a member of the Imps hugely successful 1975-76 team and went on to make over 350 first team appearances during his 11 seasons with the Imps. Phil was first signed as an amateur while he was studying at Leeds University making his first team debut in January 1975. He signed professional forms for City later the same year and from then onwards he was a regularly in the first team defence before leaving Sincil Bank in May 1985. Phil combined his football with a career as a cricketer. He briefly played for Lincolnshire in the Minor Counties Championship before joining Worcestershire. He made over 350 first class appearances scoring over 17,000 runs for Worcestershire and twice captained the team to the County Championship. He was team manager of Northamptonshire and then Warwickshire before being the England team operations manager for 21 years until his retirement. He was awarded the OBE in 2006 for services to cricket.

Debut vs Swindon Town, away (FA Cup), 4 January 1975 as substitute

Lincoln City Record:

Football League: 327 appearances plus 8 as substitute, 22 goals

FA Cup: 16 appearances plus 2 as substitute

Football League Cup: 11 appearances plus 1 as substitute

Other Games: 4 appearances

Trevor Swinburne 

Trevor Swinburne began his long goalkeeping career as an apprentice with Sunderland in the late 1960s and finished it with the Imps 20 years later. During his time at Sunderland he was understudy to Jim Montgomery and made several first team appearances before moving on to Carlisle United in the summer of 1977. Trevor made over 250 first team appearances for Carlisle during his six years with the club and was an ever-present in their team which won promotion to the old Second Division in 1981-82. He then played for Brentford and Leeds United before signing for City in February 1986 as a replacement for Stuart Naylor. Trevor made regular appearances for the Imps until retiring in the summer of 1987. He was the first chairman of the Lincoln City Former Players Association when it was formed in 2017 and was a key figure in developing the organisation.

Debut vs Blackpool, away 25 February 1986

Lincoln City Record

Football League: 34 appearances

Football League Cup: 3 appearances 

Football League Trophy: 3 appearances

Andy Mand

Andy Mand was a winger who played for City’s reserve team for three seasons in the North Midlands League in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He later played for Louth United in the Lincolnshire League as well as for the highly successful Lincoln Sunday League team Adelaide Park. Andy played for the Lincolnshire representative team and for the Lincoln Sunday League representative team.

Micky Hazard

Micky Hazard the former Tottenham and Chelsea midfielder is a special guest at today’s game. He started out with Spurs making his first team debut as a 20 year old.  At Tottenham he won the FA Cup in 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1984 before being sold to Chelsea.  He was later at Swindon, helping the club win promotion to the Premier League before finishing his playing career back at Tottenham.He is an ambassador for the Legend-on-the Bench organisation which installs suicide prevention benches across the country. The latest bench is being installed at Ashby Avenue before the Wycombe game. The vision of Legend-on-the-Bench is to combat mental health issues and prevent suicides by providing accessible resources and support to individuals in need. We believe that there should be no stigma attached to mental health challenges, and we aim to create a safe environment where people can research and obtain vital contact information for themselves or someone they care about. To achieve this, the campaign are installing benches in public parks across the UK, each featuring a QR code that can be easily scanned with a smartphone. This QR code will direct users to a comprehensive reference list of professional support groups, complete with contact numbers, website links, and email addresses. The goal is to ensure that help is just a scan away, fostering a community of support and understanding for those facing mental health struggles.