Red Imps Community Trust board members were hugely impressed by the very effective display recognising the Valley Parade 56 organised by the excellent 617 supporters prior to the Bradford City fixture.
This was matched by the sentiments we all heard by fellow supporters who were equally impressed. A moving tribute appreciated by fans of both clubs. Well done the 617!
Photo courtesy of Graham Burrell (C)
Representatives of the Lincoln City Former Players Association and the Red Imps Community Trust last night (27 January) presented members of the Bradford City Supporters Trust with a cheque to go to the Bradford Burns Unit for £2,000.
photograph courtesy Graham Burrell (C)
Flying defender Adam Reach was awarded his Red Imps Community Trust player of the month award for December before the Bradford City game.
Trust Fan of the Year JJ is seen here giving Adam his award.
Photograph courtesy Graham Burrell (C)
Thanks to Donald Nannestad
The FPA host for tomorrow night’s game against Bradford City is Matt Carmichael. The guests are Jake Sheridan, Tony Cunningham, Andy Hutchinson, Chris Moyses and Pete Smith. Details here:
Matt Carmichael
Matt Carmichael was signed by Colin Murphy in August 1989. At the time he was planning to join the Met Police after having previously served in the British Army, but Colin offered him a professional contract and his career changed track. He was initially used as a striker and scored on his debut against Scunthorpe United but later converted to centre back. He was voted the supporters player of the season in 1991-92 and made over 150 first team appearances before moving on to Scunthorpe in July 1993. Matt later played for Preston, Mansfield, Doncaster and Darlington. Matt is vice chairman of the Former Players Association.
Debut vs Scunthorpe, home 19 August 1989
Lincoln City Record
Football League: 113 appearances plus 20 as substitute, 18 goals
FA Cup: 4 appearances plus 1 as substitute
Football League Cup: 9 appearances plus 1 as substitute, 1 goal
Other: 7 appearances plus 1 as substitute, 2 goals
Jake Sheridan
Jake Sheridan was a midfield player joined the Imps in November 2011, initially on loan before his move was made permanent. He made his first team debut in a 3-0 win over Ebbsfleet United and continued to appear regularly the end of 2013-14 when he moved on to sign for Alfreton Town.
Debut vs Ebbsfleet United, home 26 November 2011
Lincoln City Record
National League: 62 appearances plus 28 as substitute, 2 goals
FA Cup: 5 appearances plus 3 as substitute, 1 goal
FA Trophy: 2 appearances plus 4 as substitute, 1 goal
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
Andy Hutchinson
Andy Hutchinson was a local born striker who was a trainee with City and broke into the first team at the end of the 2008-09 season. He was a teenager when he made his senior debut as a substitute against Luton and made his first start in the following game at Bradford City. He scored City’s only goal in a 2-1 defeat making a piece of history as he was just 17 years and 34 days old making him the youngest player to score for City in a Football League game. Andy made further first team appearances over the following two seasons before moving on and playing for Lincoln United.
Debut vs Luton Town, home 11 April 2009
Lincoln City Record:
Football League: 3 appearances plus 16 as substitute, 1 goal
Football League Cup: 1 appearance as a substitute
Other: 2 appearances
Chris Moyses
Chris Moyses was a full-back who made his first senior appearances for City as a 16 year old when he played in three Football League Trophy games in August 1982. Chris, who was born and bred in Lincoln, initially joined the Imps under the Youth Opportunities Programme and progressed to becoming an apprentice and then signed as a professional. He made his Football League debut at Millwall in May 1984 and featured in the following three games only to be released at the end of that season. Chris went on to play for Halifax and was later at clubs including Grantham, Spalding, King’s Lynn and Bourne. He returned to the Imps in May 2011 when he became involved in the youth team. In November 2014 Chris became caretaker manager and the following month took over as manager. He began the rebuilding of the team before leaving his role in May 2016 having signed many of the players who earned promotion back to the Football League the following season.
Debut vs Scunthorpe United (Football League Trophy) , away 14 August 1982
Lincoln City Record
Football League: 2 appearances plus 2 as substitute
Football League Trophy: 3 appearances
Pete Smith
Pete Smith first played for the Imps reserve team as a trialist towards the end of the 1971-72 season at a time when City regularly used local players in their North Midlands League games. Pete was playing for Ruston Bucyrus in the Lincs League and for Swiss Cottage in the Sunday League and he went on to sign professional forms for City in the summer of 1972. He appeared for both the reserves and the A team but was unable to break into the first team. He later played for Corby Town and Lincoln United.
with thanks to the Lincolnshire Echo
A question for you. Who, in the Premier League, has sacked their manager shortly after that individual led his team to not one but two trophy wins the season before. It’s happened five times.
The answer is Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea, Chelsea, and finally…Chelsea. The most recent of course is Enzo Maresca whose squad won the Conference League and Club World Cup in 2025.
How a club board and senior staff manages their manager can be one of the most visible measures of how that club is being run.
Another high profile departure has been the exit of Ruben Amorim from Old Trafford. It clearly followed a very public falling-out, and a manager who Sir Jim Ratcliffe said would get three years to do his job was gone. After paying many millions to prise him from his last club they are now paying many millions more in settlement monies to get rid of him. This is the club that laid off numerous lowly paid behind-the-scenes staff as a cost-cutting measure.
Management of a company can be pro-active (good) or reactive (not so good). The above events are clearly reactive and smell of bad preparation or, more likely, panic and tempers lost.
A strong club structure and robust strategies (that are stuck to) help in recruitment in the first place and how things go when new people are in post. Working together respectfully and keeping things private when they need to be are pretty important too.
Lincoln City FC have a staff system and set of ideals that are adhered to. And the board have the knack of working well with the people who are hired to make the stuff on the pitch happen. None of this is easy but it’s what the Imps do well.
So if asked I’ll quite happily say that the smallish League One club based in the heart of our city are run better than a lot of much bigger high-profile outfits that we have to read about all the time. As Trust rep on the club board for a while I’ve seen this first hand.
Wherever we are in the football pyramid – and we’re pretty highly placed at the moment of course – that’s something to be very proud of.
I would like to thank the 11 local businesses and the Local Charity Hartsholme Community
Trust, who have signed up to our RICT Community Team for 2026. All our local businesses
are supporters of the mighty Imps, and every penny donated will go towards helping good
causes. We will keep you updated throughout the year on who we support. In the past, we
have helped many organisations, including those that deal with suicide prevention and
dementia.
Please take a close look at our sponsors, and if you can use their services, don’t hesitate to
contact them on the details provided.
If you are interested in becoming a Team member, contact me at biffbean@yahoo.co.uk
Biff Bean Community Engagement Lead
Thanks to Donald Nannestad
The FPA host for tomorrow’s game against Burton Albion is Matt Carmichael. The former players who are guests are Matt Rhead, Jack Muldoon, Terry Hawkridge, Jake Sheridan and Chris Moyses. Details are here:
Matt Carmichael
Matt Carmichael was signed by Colin Murphy in August 1989. At the time he was planning to join the Met Police after having previously served in the British Army, but Colin offered him a professional contract and his career changed track. He was initially used as a striker and scored on his debut against Scunthorpe United but later converted to centre back. He was voted the supporters player of the season in 1991-92 and made over 150 first team appearances before moving on to Scunthorpe in July 1993. Matt later played for Preston, Mansfield, Doncaster and Darlington. Matt is vice chairman of the Former Players Association.
Debut vs Scunthorpe, home 19 August 1989
Lincoln City Record
Football League: 113 appearances plus 20 as substitute, 18 goals
FA Cup: 4 appearances plus 1 as substitute
Football League Cup: 9 appearances plus 1 as substitute, 1 goal
Other: 7 appearances plus 1 as substitute, 2 goals
Matt Rhead
Matt Rhead signed for the Imps in May 2015 from Mansfield Town and was one of the key figures in City’s climb from the National league through to League One. Matt was leading scorer in his first season with 23 goals (including a hat-trick at Whyteleafe in an FA Cup tie). He finished as leading scorer again in 2016-17 when City won promotion back to the Football League and also featured in every game of the Imps FA Cup run with took them through to the quarter-finals. Matt played a key role in City’s Football League Trophy win at Wembley the following season and and featured regularly in the 2018-19 team which won the League Two title. He moved on to play for Billericay Town and has since been at Boreham Wood and Alfreton before joining Kidsgrove Athletic.
Debut vs Cheltenham Town, home 8 August 2015
Lincoln City Record
Football League: 47 appearances plus 28 as substitute, 9 goals
FA Cup: 13 appearances plus 3 as substitute, 4 goals
Football League Cup: 2 appearances plus 1 as substitute
Football League Trophy: 8 appearances plus 1 as substitute, 2 goals
National League: 81 appearances plus 5 as substitute, 34 goals
FA Trophy 2 appearances plus 3 as substitute
Jack Muldoon
Jack Muldoon signed for the Imps in the summer of 2015 after being released by Rochdale and quickly established himself in City’s starting line-up. He featured regularly in City 2016-17 team which won the National League but at the end of the season moved on to play for AFC Fylde. He joined Harrogate Town for the 2018-19 season and has since made over 300 appearances for the Yorkshire club. He was leading scorer in his first three seasons at Harrogate including in 2019-20 when the club won promotion to the Football League.
Debut vs Cheltenham Town, home 8 August 2015
Lincoln City Record
National League: 55 appearances plus 16 as substitute, 12 goals
FA Cup: 6 appearances plus 6 as substitute
FA Trophy: 4 appearances plus 1 as substitute, 1 goalTerry Hawkridge
Terry Hawkridge was signed from Scunthorpe United shortly after the start of the 2015-16 season and was a key player during City’s final two seasons in the National League. Terry played as a wide left-sided player and although he only scored four goals for City in the National League these included both goals against Macclesfield in the game in which the Imps clinched the championship and promotion back to the Football League. He left Sincil Bank in the summer of 2017 to sign for Notts County and his clubs since then include Boston United and Worksop Town.
Debut vs Wrexham, home 5 September 2015 (National League)
Lincoln City Record
National League: 58 appearances plus 12 as substitute, 4 goals
FA Cup: 11 appearances plus 1 as substitute, 1 goal
FA Trophy: 5 appearances plus 1 as substitute, 2 goals
Jake Sheridan
Jake Sheridan was midfield player joined the Imps in November 2011, initially on loan before his move was made permanent. He made his first team debut in a 3-0 win over Ebbsfleet United and continued to appear regularly the end of 2013-14 when he moved on to sign for Alfreton Town.
Debut vs Ebbsfleet United, home 26 November 2011
Lincoln City Record
National League: 62 appearances plus 28 as substitute, 2 goals
FA Cup: 5 appearances plus 3 as substitute, 1 goal
FA Trophy: 2 appearances plus 4 as substitute, 1 goal
Chris Moyses
Chris Moyses was a full-back who made his first senior appearances for City as a 16 year old when he played in three Football League Trophy games in August 1982. Chris, who was born and bred in Lincoln, initially joined the Imps under the Youth Opportunities Programme and progressed to becoming an apprentice and then signed as a professional. He made his Football League debut at Millwall in May 1984 and featured in the following three games only to be released at the end of that season. Chris went on to play for Halifax and was later at clubs including Grantham, Spalding, King’s Lynn and Bourne. He returned to the Imps in May 2011 when he became involved in the youth team. In November 2014 Chris became caretaker manager and the following month took over as manager. He began the rebuilding of the team before leaving his role in May 2016 having signed many of the players who earned promotion back to the Football League the following season.
Debut vs Scunthorpe United (Football League Trophy) , away 14 August 1982
Lincoln City Record
Football League: 2 appearances plus 2 as substitute
Football League Trophy: 3 appearances
As Lincoln City fans we have taken great pride in the atmosphere created by fellow supporters this season. There is no doubt that the backing from our fellow Imps has had a huge positive impact on and off the pitch.
We want to be as clear as we can be that all are welcome in the Imps family and that there is never a place among our fanbase for any discriminatory actions. These FA charges relate to homophobic chanting – this is never acceptable. We believe that working with fans we can build a truly impressive atmosphere at the LNER Stadium without ever having to resort to such chants.
A second financial fine for the club this season takes money away from areas we would much rather see investment – whether on the team or facilities to improve our matchdays and drive the club forward. Another repeat of this kind of incident would also likely lead to a forced closure of part of the stadium – severely impacting not only other fans who had no part in this but also hindering the club financially at a time when there is so much to be positive about.
As we enter a key part of the season we want to give the players and staff the support the first half of the campaign deserves. Let’s play our part and make it a season to remember.
#ImpsAsOne
Fan Advisory Board, Lincoln City Banter, Red Imps Community Trust, Vital Lincoln City, 617 Squadron
“Fighting Fit Prehab” sessions are run by the Trust’s permanent charity partner. They are designed to build resilience of body and mind for people who have received a cancer diagnosis. Please click here for more details.