Rob’s Column – Red Imps Community Trust

Rob’s Column January 2026

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.

Rob’s Column – December Final for 2025

courtesy of Lincolnshire Echo

In the close season earlier this year some guys were peeling back pitchside advertising hoardings in the stadium ready to fit new ones. Removing the boarding encouraging you to use the services of an estate agent, a much older sign urging us to visit a local lap dancing club was revealed. I gather that deal with the club was done in the early 2000s when I was on the board, but I have, of course, no knowledge of either this commercial arrangement or the activities undertaken in that establishment. Honest.
The club has grown significantly in recent years and the commercial side has had to grow too. While sponsorship and other contracts with individuals and small businesses are important, the staff need to attract big operators into the Lincoln City fold. The financial pressures of being in League One and wanting to go even higher makes this a necessity. You will see inside and outside the stadium evidence of the calibre of companies that now back the Imps.
This ‘step-up’ impacts on us supporters too. With average gates now three times what they’ve been for decades, you aren’t going to get the same relationship with staff, stewards, catering provision and so on that you had in bleaker times. We’re no less important as fans of course and we’re still well looked after but we need to play our part too. Arriving at the ground five minutes before kick-off and the seeing the ref start the game, or expecting to get a pint without waiting a few minutes aren’t realistic needs now.
This trend may well continue. If it does we should embrace it, because it’s progress. It’s little Lincoln City but without the ‘little’ any more. I’ve heard a few people say the club is more ‘corporate’ now. They mean they’ve been supporters for a long time and now there’s lots of newer fans around them and income of all types is brought in using very sophisticated methods.
Directors in the boardroom aren’t the successful local builders or car showroom owners so much but entrepreneurs from foreign climes too. It’s the way the industry is going and here in Lincolnshire we’re lucky we’re part of the football revolution, and not left behind.
If that means my hot dog takes a bit more getting, then I can flipping well live with that.

Rob’s Column December 2025

Courtesy of Lincolnshire Echo

A pub quiz question for you. What connects Sir Peter Ustinov, William Shakespeare, and Ted Lasso? Answer – they’ve either been credited with or famously used the expression “It’s the hope that kills you.’
At two nil up early on at Blackpool last Saturday we hoped the Imps would keep the home side at bay and come away with an excellent three-point haul. It seems a number of fans were more than disappointed that the home side came back and equalised late on. That’s where the hope thing gets complicated, because before the game I’m sure lots of us were hoping we’d get a result, ie not lose. Any draw on the road is good stuff.
It reminds me of a famous Lincoln City manager of the past who, after we’d won a midweek away game and then only drawn at Sincil Bank the next Saturday, said ‘You’d have settled for four points from the two games.’ He was right – stepping back from being disappointed at not winning our home fixture you’d have hoped for being unbeaten and picking up valuable points that week.
In my time at Lincoln United we were in the Northern Premier League and staying at that level was very difficult. For three seasons I witnessed our battles against bigger clubs with resources we could only wish for. The last of those seasons was especially difficult and we were in a very lowly position but even then safe from the drop before Covid kicked in and we all stayed at home. Looking at all the clubs above us in the division we could have been in very bad humour but – bottom line – as the season had got underway we hoped we’d stay at that level. And we did.
When hope becomes expectation is when it gets tricky. There will be supporters who, last weekend, expected us to win when we built a two goal advantage. Football isn’t like that of course. Sitting third in League One will encourage some that we should stay around there, even though we’re far from half the way through season 25-26. Anything can happen.
In August I hoped we’d get 50 points in the season and stay in the third tier. We’re only 15 points off that in mid December. I also hoped we’d challenge in the top ten at some stage and we are doing. I hoped we’d be good at home to entertain our brilliant fans. We have been. None of those were automatically expected though, and it makes for following your team realistically satisfying.

Rob’s Column – if City were to sign Grealish….

Courtesy of the Lincolnshire Echo

If Lincoln City were to sign Jack Grealish on loan tomorrow with Everton still paying his wages, it’d be reasonable to assume most Imps fans would be in favour. Even so, there’d be a small minority not so sure. He’d be targeted by opposing defenders or our players wouldn’t be on his wavelength, they might say. Conversely, if we offered several hundred thousand for a Staveley Miners Welfare FC thirty-nine year old centre half with dodgy knees, there’d be a huge majority scratching their heads but a minority very pleased, even if most of that minority was the lad’s family.
I cite these unlikely situations to show that the club regularly set strategies and make decisions that can please nearly all of us but it’s rarely absolutely everyone who’s on board.
When the idea to cease production of a matchday programme was mooted our Trust, with two reps in the boardroom, agreed that on balance that was sensible. Clubs up and down the country are doing the same.
A number of supporters were unhappy though. A programme was, as it had been for many years, both a source of information and a keepsake of the match they attended.
Our Trust facilitated meetings with fans about it all. Surveys were carried out. Further discussion ensued with club staff. When it was clear the decision could not be reversed the challenge was put – ‘if you’re that miffed why not produce one yourselves?’
So it was that ‘Impress’ – a new ‘progzine’ with the strapline ‘By the fans for the fans’ – was launched prior to the Stevenage fixture. Co-editors Melanie Tointon and Phil Bradley developed it and sought contributions. Nervousness about its prospects soon abated when it sold out in about an hour and a half.
The next challenge is to keep it going and make it a sustainable project. But whilst the club made a decision that many supported it shows that a keen minority can achieve a lot if they have the will to do so.
Whether or not ‘Impress’ proves to be impressive in content and longevity, you have to admire the determination of fans to get it up and running. People power, especially in football, can make an impression, and you’ve got to admire that.

Rob’s Column September 2025

Thanks to the Lincolnshire Echo

Life at a football club is rarely a bed of roses. This might mean difficulties occur that are wholly internal but they might mean that others are affected too. This can include outside organisations and businesses or volunteer bodies attached to the club of which our Trust is of course one.
Over the last few weeks there have been some negative issues that directly affect us or that people have brought to us, all of which we need to take up with club officials.
I think it’s just a matter of coincidence that these things have cropped up together when usually we don’t have a lot to query and we all work together quite happily.
It’s not our function to wash our dirty linen in public so I’m not going to be specific. However, in case some fans think the people who run our Trust, me included, have bought every pair of rose-tinted glasses our local optician stocks, then I think it’s good to point out that policies or actions we don’t agree with are questioned. It’s our job in fact, as an active supporters’ organisation, to do so. I’m raising such things in this column to show publicly it’s what we do.
Lincoln City FC is a multi-discipline organisation. Playing football is just one of many activities. It’s almost like there’s a large number of businesses rolled into one, so there’s bound to be some slip-ups, and we support the club by giving feedback so that they can be rectified.
In my experience of running a business and having involvement in other sporting bodies there will always be genuine mistakes made – which is OK – or failure to do stuff when asked to do so – which is not OK. We learn from them though, respect each other’s views, and work better in the long run.
Our Trust currently, in my view, sets good strategies and carries out good work. When our standards fall there’s no animosity – we make good and move on. I think that applies to other fans’ organisations at the LNER too like the Red Imps Away Travel Association and the Fan Advisory Board who both do great things.
All in all there’s brilliant people at Lincoln City whether employed or working voluntarily. And when things go wrong we’re adult enough to talk about it and sort it out, and that’s how it should be.

Robs Column Reprise from August

Courtesy of the Lincolnshire Echo

There’s an interesting interview with Mark Devlin, Orient CEO, on the latest Business of Sport podcast. It’s interesting in itself, but also because the challenges facing his club are strikingly similar to those at Lincoln City.
I make no excuses in revealing what these challenges mostly comprise. The financial circumstances at League One level are all-consuming for those owners, board members, and senior staff who have the responsibility of overseeing that aspect of their business.
Orient are not unlike the Imps as a club. Their ground holds around 9,000 fans – not huge therefore – and, after Barry Hearn departed and a very bad time ensued, they have had an exciting rise from non-league to League One. Their current joint owners are responsible people who recognise sustainability, however, difficult, has to be the aim.
They lost £4m last year amongst average losses of £5 to 6m in our division. The mean losses in the Championship were £15m to £20m per club but most Orient supporters, and indeed the owners, want the upward trajectory to continue. They’d love to rise still further and enjoy life in the second tier. As would we of course.
There’s a trend now that sees promoted clubs looking likely to be the ones relegated next time round. That’s applicable to the Premier League and the Championship too, such is the massive step up in what it all costs.
That then sums up what we’re up against. Losing money in League One, owners covering it, getting promoted, losing way more, and owners covering that, is not how sustainability works by any stretch of the financial imagination.
Mr Devlin says Orient have really good owners but they need new investors alongside them, or completely replacing them, if their ambitions and their fans’ wishes might come true. We’ll no doubt hear from the admirable people at the LNER that that’s what’s needed at our club too over the next few years, despite the hugely generous measures they’ve personally overseen.
The only alternative of course is to enjoy those young players who emerge on the scene and not be too dismayed when they get sold. That’s what’s happened here recently, and, if that helps relieve the massive dilemma I describe above if only a bit, then very well done to the people who made that happen.

Rob’s Echo Column Mid June

With thanks to the Lincolnshire Echo

Your Trust – I say ‘your’ because most of our fans are members – has done a bit of soul-searching in the last couple of weeks. We like to think we’re on the ball and we do some good things but we can never stand still.
One area we think can be improved is assessing what younger fans think about their club and, indeed, this fans organisation that they are an important part of. We’ll soon be announcing a young supporters representative will be joining our board. What he – it’s a ‘he’ but I can’t identify him yet – brings to the table will, if necessary, be taken into the heart of the club and get the attention it deserves. The last few years at the LNER have been successful and this has attracted a lot of youthful fans to our games. Knowing what they think is pretty vital therefore. We’ll help those messages get heard.
Aiding this young fella will be a new dedicated Trust volunteer who is keen to assist, and you will maybe notice a significant Trust presence in the ground at matchdays in 25-26. We have a busy role in the Fan Village but not all our fans go in there so we’ll be promoting the Trust and completing surveys in the stands and circulation areas on a regular basis.
We’ve looked at our comms and our team do a great job. Our posts and content will continue to do the basics and more but there’ll be more of a creative element too this coming season. Feature video clips will be put out and, a hidden gem in our heritage work – our online museum – will be promoted much more. Judging by the collectors and other Imps history buffs who we see at our pre-match pod, there’s a real appetite for looking through Imps memorabilia. We have a good deal of it and it’ll soon be more readily accessed.
Our heritage remit has grown and grown. Our third landmark plaque, recognising our Imp nickname and its Cathedral-based origin, has been ordered from the manufacturer and we’ll have an opening ceremony in the next few weeks.
On top of that we’re hard at work setting up a Lincoln City exhibition in an amazing location here in this amazing city. It’ll be open during the summer school holidays so watch out for news of that.
I’ll now stop dropping all these not-so-subtle hints and never fear you’ll get much fuller details as soon as we’re ready. The bottom line is that we’re honoured to have so many brilliant members and we’ll continue to work hard on their behalf.

Rob’s Column March 2025

Some of us might remember Monty Python’s Flying Circus’s eccentric Mr Gumby in short trousers and a tank top with a knotted handkerchief on his head, seeking help from his doctor. ‘My brain hurts!’ he exclaims. If you’re not old enough then Google him, because he’s pretty funny. Ever since that classic episode was aired this phrase has been in humorous use to declare that a particular experience is getting all too much.
You’d forgive Imps fans if they used the same catchphrase. Around 1400 supporters populated the away end at Field Mill last midweek and saw the team triumph 3-0 over Mansfield Town. The team battled away admirably, Sam Clucas scored direct from a corner, and it was magnificent. Then four days later and back on home soil, with expectations high again that we might get a run going, we succumbed to lowly Burton Albion. We played poorly and when a disappointing goalless draw looked likely, we conceded a sucker punch late goal and didn’t even get that.
After a good start to the season we seem to keep following good stuff with poor stuff, and fans can’t understand it. We were delighted to see rivals Peterborough United get hammered 5-1 and then soon after Blackpool come calling and go back to Lancashire with all three points. After beating Reading well we present ex-Imp Gareth Ainsworth and his struggling Shrewsbury Town team with a welcome win in a frankly toothless display.
Different starting elevens each game, mystifyingly substitutions, and players going out on loan who might have done a good job for us, have all occupied some supporters’ thoughts in the last few weeks. Whether I agree these concerns – I don’t entirely for the record – they get voiced to Trust colleagues and I in the pre-match Fan Village and in the ground.
The bottom line is that we all care. We want the staff and players to do well, and we know they have the qualities to do so. We’re not relegation fodder, and the highs and lows mean that we’re capable of those highs – we just need more of them.
Hopefully we won’t use Mr Gumby’s words too often as the season reaches its denouement, we get the blend right, and we get some luck. A run of wins and draws would do us the world of good and here’s hoping that’s what we see.

Rob’s Column – November Notes

I’m cheesed off. I probably shouldn’t write this column until I’ve calmed down. Then again why should I waste an opportunity to speak out about something.
The Imps gained a valuable point at Exeter last weekend and could – not should – have come away with all three. We had a makeshift back line after the break but were still the better side against opponents who would have gone above us if the’d nicked it. Any point in an away fixture in League One, in my view, is a good one. That result kept us in the play-off places.
But no, that’s not good enough for some fans. ‘That’s an hour and a half of my life I won’t get back’ one posted. There were others in a similar vein. Poor game, missed chances, should do better…blah blah blah.
I’m not sure what supporters expect and, in saying that, I’m fully aware the ones offering criticism are a tiny but entitled minority. ‘I’m entitled (sic) to my opinion’ is the cry.
It is so hard to win games and hold a high position in the table at the level we’re competing at. It’s hard for the chairman, the directors, the staff, the coaches, and of course the playing staff. One of them, Paudie O’Connor, gets battered every week winning headers and leading by example. He’s not the most robust looking guy when you look at him but he plays like he’s a man mountain. Very few strikers get the better of him. He’ll have travelled back from Devon – very uncomfortably no doubt – pleased we got something from the game and quite right too.
Our Trust has thousands of members and we’re out there every week talking to supporters about the club. Thankfully just about all of them realise the challenges there are plying your business up in the third tier of English football. It’s such a shame one or two publicly dismiss the work that’s put in because a game isn’t a classic and we haven’t won easily.
In football as in life you don’t always get what you want. It’s no bad thing to remember that when the final whistle blows.

with thanks to the Lincolnshire Echo

Rob’s Column – November 2

with thanks to the Lincolnshire Echo

Without being complacent our Trust, like the club, seems to be enjoying a reasonably successful time at the moment. Our position in the club is solid with us now holding the important Fans’ Share, our membership amounting to around 6000, and with two of our board sitting on the club board of directors.
In terms of the latter, Phil Scrafton is now fully registered as a club director and has impressed in the way he’s approaching this important role.
We looked to ‘future plan’ as the Fan Led Review moved towards the more formal Football Governance Bill, and as a result we’ve got some new people on board keeping us old Trust stalwarts on our toes.
Emma Crellin is a well-known Imps fan and has had a successful career in marketing. She’s now our joint Fan Engagement Lead where we look to serve our members well, at the same time as enhance the club’s award-winning work in making our supporters genuinely feel part of the club they so avidly follow.
It must be an interesting time in the Crellin household. Emma’s husband is a keen Carlisle United fan and their fortunes are in stark contrast to those at the LNER stadium. Next to bottom in League Two their Trust chair recently put out a statement refuting claims made against him and his colleagues. He says they’ve been accused of being a closed shop, they don’t communicate, they’re too close to the club, they make bad decisions, and are in it for the perks. Phew.
From what I can see Carlisle United Supporters Trust do stuff pretty much exactly like we do – honorably, openly, and properly. It just goes to show that anger over bad footballing times can cloud the judgement of those who lash out.
So future planning is important. The good times are great but we have to be ready for if and where they’re not. It’s what the club does, and it’s what your Trust does too. If you want to know a bit more on this or any other Trust matter, then seek us out in the Fan Village. This column tries to keep you up to speed but you can’t beat a face to face natter to get our messages out.

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