News

Memories of the Championship

As Lincoln City prepare for a return to the Championship, the 1884 Collective, which is chaired by our Trust, want to hear from fans about the last time the club played in the second tier of English football between 1952-1961. It’s a chance to share your abiding memories of this period in the club’s history, the players, the key moments and what it was like to be a fan during those times.

We would like to record some of these and put together film material to share with fans as part of the build-up to the new season. If you are interested in being part of this, please email media@redimpstrust.co.uk by Thursday 9^th July to register your interest, and confirmation that you would be available to come to the ground on 27^th and/or 30^th July* where the filming will take place. There will also be a chance to see the League 1 trophy during the visit.

*filming date will be decided by majority of interviewee’s availability

1884 Collective

Kit Launch

Last season, there were many reasons for fans to visit the Red Imps Community Trust Pod in the University of Lincoln Fan Village, before matches at the LNER Stadium. One particularly popular initiative was the offer for sale of recycled Imps and others shirts (and other sports gear) kindly donated by fans. Donations received went towards good causes and RICT running costs. This will continue in 2026-27.

If you wish to donate in the close season, your shirts and so on will be very gratefully received. They can be dropped off in reception at Greetwell Place Managed Workspace, 2, Lime Kiln Way, off Greetwell Road, Lincoln, LN2 4US and should be labelled ‘Rob Bradley’, so that they will be passed on to our Trust’s Chair, who is based there

2026/27 Team

At the recent Red Imps Community Trust Annual General Meeting, your Elected Supporter-Director Phil Scrafton was re-elected for a further two years. Serving now a second term, Phil has been outstanding  in taking Trust members’ views into the Lincoln City boardroom. Biff Bean, Julian Buttery, Emma Crellin and Claire Hunlsey were also keen to carry on their work with our Trust and were successfully elected again. Please click here to see draft Minutes of the AGM.

They join the Trust Board Members who were elected for two-year terms at the 2025 AGM: Chris Baldam, Rob Bradley, Kirsty Hackney, Mandi Slater and Steve Tointon.

At a Trust Board Meeting immediately after the AGM, Rob and Mandi were re-elected as Trust Chair and Vice-Chair respectively. As permitted by the Trust’s constitution, four external directors (selected by virtue of their specialist skills and experience, considered to be of benefit to the Trust) were also co-opted, namely Tom Baker (representing Lincoln City Foundation Youth Board), Jonathan Battersby (representing Lincoln City FC’s Fan Advisory Board), Gavin Gordon (representing Lincoln City FC’s Former Players’ Association) and Lincoln City Foundation. Also appointed were the volunteers providing administrative support, as Secretary, Membership Secretary, Social Media Co-Secretaries and Minutes Recorder.

Photos and biographical details of the 2026/27 Trust Board Members can be viewed here. The organisational structure is shown in the flowchart below. Two vacancies remain for Trust Board Members and we are always on the lookout for any other volunteers, guests or consultants who can help us in any way. We’ve got ambitious plans for the future, but greater input will enable us to achieve even more. Whether you’re looking to develop as a leader or simply want to take on a new challenge, this is your chance. You could help to set the agenda for the issues that we’ll be prioritising in the years to come and make sure the views from all parts of the fanbase are heard. If you might be able to help, please email media@redimpstrust.co.uk.

2025 – Rob’s Reflections

Report by Rob Bradley (Trust Chair and Fan-Engagement Team Co-Leader)

On behalf of our Red Imps Community Trust board, I must start this report by recognising the contributions a great many individuals and organisations have made in ensuring our Trust is a hard-working, effective, and vibrant fans’ body here at Lincoln City FC.

Many thanks go to Tension Twisted Realities, our continuing main sponsor, and to our commercial partners in 2025. We thank everyone at the football club including then chairman Clive Nates, his board of directors and all the staff on and off the field of play. A special mention for David Lowes, club director with Fan Engagement responsibilities, who we liaise with on a regular basis.

We continue to enjoy a good working relationship with other allied organisations including the Former Players Association and the Fan Advisory Board.

As chair I am constantly amazed at the commitment and skills displayed by members of our Trust board and associated volunteers. Some of the achievements they brought about in 2025 are detailed below following this general ‘thank you’. Our Elected Supporter Directors – Phil Scrafton representing our broad membership and Mandi Slater representing our John O’Gaunts members – deserve a special mention. Their roles are not easy but they carry our members’ views into the boardroom and bring back club views in return with great skill and patience. As part of engaging with younger members more we now have a Youth Board representative in Tom Baker who has been made very welcome. 

Finally I must express our gratitude to our 6,000 plus members for being part of the Red Imps Community Trust, including for their involvement and feedback, and how, as the most important people at a football club, they create the goodwill and atmosphere at matches home and away and in general in this fair city and county beyond. As ever we try and communicate with every single one of our members via direct e mails, and effective social media and website outputs. I mustn’t forget too how we interact face-to-face all the time, with Trust personnel spreading the RICT word and guiding and advising at every opportunity.    

In my report a year ago I described the changes we made to our governance including the establishment of ‘teams’ with appropriate leadership that fulfill the themes of our strap line ‘Supporting Our Fans, Our Club, Our Community’, and in particular assisted in meeting as professionally as possible the aims and actions in our RICT Strategy Document of 2023.  Very much in summary this established Fan Engagement (led by myself and Emma Crellin), Club Engagement (Phil Scrafton and Mandi Slater), Community Engagement (Biff Bean), and External Liaison (Julian Buttery) pillars in our governance. A year later I think we can say the leadership and team work associated with each of these has been very successful.

Our governance in general is robust and modern. Our rules, policies, and role descriptions ensure that we are accountable, open, democratic. The processes described in this annual report confirm the latter, with officers retiring by rotation and their positions filled in an appropriate way. Our monthly meetings are professional and efficient with pre-read reports being submitted in advance where ever possible. We are all busy people and can only spare so much time. The way we run our Trust reflects this. Another important element of our governance is collaboration with other organisations. To this end we have representatives positioned within the Former Players Association and the Fan Advisory Board. We chair the Four Party Group comprising Lincoln City FC, Lincoln City Foundation, and the FPA and us – a collaborative body sharing information about each ones’ activities.

I will now describe some activities that have been carried out in 2025 within each of the areas outlined earlier. Whilst not covering all that we do they might give a taste of our aims to support our fans, club, and community as well as we can. 

Our main fan engagement impact is often assumed to be our work at our Fan Village base. We do much more but this is definitely a very busy visible element of what we do. From early on we are there on a matchday offering competitions, collectible items, freebie items for young fans, and much more. We sell the club team sheet, and invite guests to join us like Imptoons and their fundraising items, and good causes and charities to promote what they do. We have seen street entertainers join us for the fans’ enjoyment, and, last but not least, we are delighted to hear supporters’ views positive or negative and help where we can. The club have been pleased to have been recognised nationally in how good their fan engagement is, especially in terms of matchday provision. I like to think our Trust have played a part in this being recognised.   

Trust communications are very important in fan engagement but of course in all other areas. Ours are very good and our team expanded in 2025 with Tony and Tamyra Beeston joining in. Our social media and website comms are very good and project us well. Our decision to focus on what our young members and younger supporters generally want from their experiences when the club plays at home has been aided by our comms and activities at our Fan Village pod. After establishing some significant conclusions we now look to enter phase 2 in 26-27 and provide measures to increase the value of being a young Imp.  

Since a match programme ceased to be available, we have headed up a Programme Group and as an outcome, a number of fans have produced an alternative publication. Called ‘IMPress’ it has been very successful and we are pleased to be the base to sell it, and well as contribute to its content now and again. 

Another fan engagement activity I will describe centres on club heritage. We have had an online museum for some time, which features hundreds of exhibits. We have a programme archive, and offer heritage items for collectors every home game.

In 2025 we put together a Lincoln City exhibition in the Chapter House at Lincoln Cathedral. This was no small project but held over all of August I think we can say it was a resounding success. There were story boards and many exhibits on show, match video coverage, and an interactive competition available for visitors. To see our club promoted in such an iconic setting was very rewarding. As the event drew to a close, we were able to unveil our third iconic Lincoln City plaque at the Cathedral visitor centre. It recognises the link between the famous stone Imp in the Angel Choir and our club’s nickname. 

Club engagement is led by Phil and Mandi as described earlier but many of us have regular dialogues with club staff on shared matters. We like to think we have a respectful and efficient working relationship with everyone at Lincoln City so that outcomes are to the benefit of our members. Our elected representatives are not just messengers though – they contribute to club strategies and decision-making. This makes their roles very satisfying when we promote how the Trust and football club make it available for any fan to gain a seat in the boardroom if they wish to put themselves forward – something unavailable at many clubs up and down the country. 

The Red Imps Community Trust, as always, wishes to make a positive impact in the local community. Lincoln City Foundation is now our permanent charity partner, albeit we select another good cause each year alongside them. Our support of the Foundation has manifested itself in us making a number of donations to them following fundraising activities. Focused mainly on their Poacher’s Den we have been able to buy a range of games, equipment, and so on as well as an external ‘feather’ sign to show better where it’s located.

Our ‘Community Team’ promotes the businesses involved and raised good sums, and other good causes have felt our Community effect including Andy’s Man Club, the Legend on the Bench mental health support bench movement, and Christmas appeals. On the income side, RICT was selected as a Community Champion by Lincolnshire Co-operative, which aided our support of community activities accordingly. 

In terms of liaison with outside organisations, we now have a good working relationship with the Football Supporters Association. Julian sits on the Fan Advisory Board for us, and, as the Football Governance Bill emerged, we hosted Martyn Henderson, the then shadow Independent Regulator for Football Interim Chief Operating Officer, at one of our monthly meetings where he described progress and IRF aims and took part in our Q and A. It may be that our Trust plays a part consultatively in how the Regulator operates and promotes the involvement of supporters in their clubs in the future.

Other Trust activities in 2025 included a couple of our board and one of our members being part of the LCFC Mental Health First Responder team, the suggestion to LCFC to hold a ‘thank you’ event for the many volunteers who help the club (which we helped with when it was taken up), and the arrangements to set up a new Events, Sponsorship, and Fundraising strategy which will launch in season 26-27. Finally, I confirm as before that just like the board and staff at Lincoln City, our board members are temporary guardians of the Red Imps Community Trust, and we urge new people to come forward. I hope this report shows how rewarding involvement in the Trust, and in many way in Lincoln City as a result, can be.

NOTE: The report above forms part of the Trust Board Members’ Annual Report for the year ended 31st December 2025, which was presented at the Trust’s Annual General Meeting on 4th June 2026. Please click here to view draft Minutes of that Meeting.

Social Hub

Our permanent charity partner, Lincoln City Foundation, runs The Social Club, a free access space for members of the local community to do whatever they like. Please click here for further details.

Trust raised over £30K for Club in 2025

In 2025, Red Imps Community Trust raised £31,174.00 for Lincoln City Football Club, comprising donations of £27,124.00 and share purchases of £4,050.00. The Trust also donated a further £948.00 to Lincoln City Foundation.

At the end of the year, the amount lent by the Trust to the Club under the Stacey West Investment Bond Scheme was £383,101.00.The number of shares in the Club held by the Trust had risen to 376,758, with the Trust also having a million shares in the Club’s holding company.

All the figures are shown in the Trust’s latest accounts, which can be viewed here at Appendix B of the draft Minutes of the Trust’s Annual General Meeting held on 4th June 2026.

April Trust Board Notes available.

Please click here to view notes of the Trust Board Meeting held in April 2026.

May Trust Directors’ Meeting Notes available

Please click here to view notes of a meeting of the Trust’s Board of Directors held in May 2026.

May Trust Board Notes available

Please click here to view notes of the Trust Board Meeting held in May 2026.

Rob’s Column for June

With thanks to the Lincolnshire Echo

 Just when we thought the season to end all seasons was over and the well-deserved awards and other tributes cascading to individuals and the club itself had finally abated, up steps crowd-favourite Jack Moylan to score a hat -trick on his international debut. I didn’t think it was possible to suffer superlative fatigue. Astonishingly stuff.

 We have memories of campaign 2025-26 that will never fade, that’s for sure. But the football industry is a cruel one and failing to prepare for the future is not an option.

 Development at the ground is well underway including the massive projects at the south end of the stadium and the work needed elsewhere to be Championship-ready. Looking at the plans I suspect the scope of the former would usually need a building timescale far in excess of the time available, so there’ll be some pulling out of all the stops for certain.

 Promotions, relegations, and play-off successes are reaching their conclusions and in only five weeks time we’ll find out who we’re playing and when in the second tier of the English pyramid.

 Obviously it’s going to be fascinating how the squad will take shape albeit we’ve got an excellent one already. For many games in the final third of the season we played like a team from a division higher than our League One opponents. Despite that I’m sure there’ll be some additions anyway, to meet the challenge of taking on a lot of massive clubs with ambitious spending plans.
 Our Trust has to plan too and we’ve already discussed how we need to be a fans’ organisation that assimilates with a parent club that has reached a very high level. Our fan engagement, community work, and representation within the club generally and in the boardroom in particular needs to be dynamic and professional. 

 Our AGM takes place on Thursday 4th June at 7.30pm. Our website – www.redimpstrust.co.uk – has the links for you to join us via Zoom and to read our annual report for 2025 during which I think we did an impressive amount of work. All our current board are staying on but there’s room for new people with new ideas. We have a gang of volunteers in addition to those holding official roles, so maybe you can give some thought into joining in one way or another.

 Our strap line, as you may already know, is ‘Supporting Our Fans, Our Club, Our Community” and in simple terms that’s what we do. It enhances our enjoyment of being Lincoln City fans no end.

 As you plan for season 2026-27 and you think you could help, then let us know – you’ll be very welcome in what will be a momentous time ahead.