Rovers make the trip to Lincoln for their 3rd match of the season.  It’s a road journey of just over 3 hours (163 miles).  Train travel is long (can be over 5 hours) and difficult to get back on the same day.

There are new away coach travel arrangements this season.  Supporters Club members now get substantial discounts on all away travel.  Coach and away tickets can be bought online through the club’s website fgr tickets.  You can find out all about the new travel arrangements at away travel guide.  Coaches will leave The New Lawn at 08.30, Sainsburys at 08.45 and Stonehouse at 09.00.  Prices are Adult SC member £24, Other Adult £32, Aged 16 or under £15

The postcode for sat navs for the Sincil Bank Stadium is LN5 8LD.  There apparently isn’t any available parking for away fans at the stadium itself, but the nearby South Common car park (LN5 8EN) costs £4 and there is street parking around the ground.  It’s a 15 minute walk from the station if you are coming by train.

Away fans visiting Lincoln are seated in the one half of the Stacey West Stand or, if relatively few away fans are expected, in the small Family Stand in the south-east corner of the stadium.  The ground has a capacity of just over 10,000.

Ticket prices are £24 for adults but there are concessions for u-18’s (£10) & over 65’s (£19).

Lincoln have spent most of the last 60 years in the 4th tier of the EFL.  During that time they have had 4 relatively brief spells in the 3rd tier and a couple of drops to the 5th tier.  Two promotions under then boss Danny Cowley put the Imps back in the 3rd tier in 2019 before Cowley left for Huddersfield (he’s now managing Portsmouth).

Last season Lincoln finished 17th in League 1.  They were comfortably clear of relegation but more than 30 points adrift of the play-off places.  Offensively, they didn’t really fire, and their home form was lack-lustre.  They managed 14 wins, 10 draws and 22 losses during last season.

This season they began with a 1-1 home draw against Exeter.  Captain Tom Hopper’s (number 9) 49th minute strike cancelling out Nombe’s 14th minute opener for Exeter.  Their second outing saw Lincoln draw 0-0 at Portsmouth.

Top scorer last season Anthony Scully (number 11) netted 11 times but was hampered by injury in the latter half of the season.  The highly-rated 23 year old Irishman will be hoping to start the season fresh.  For those with long memories, Scully’s father is Tony Scully, who played top flight football in the 1990’s for QPR, Crystal Palace & Man City.

Former Newport and Manchester Utd defender, Regan Poole (number 2), was named Player’s Player and Player of the Season for Lincoln last season.  The right-sided defender has clearly made his mark in the one and a half seasons he has been at the club.

The recent record between the sides does not make for good reading.  In their 4 League 2 encounters, Rovers have been beaten  by Lincoln 4 times.  The most recent meeting between the sides was in the FA Cup in November 2020.  Lincoln won 6-2 at Sincil Bank.

Anthony Scully top scored for the Imps last season

Regan Poole, Lincoln’s Player of the Season

The Cowley brothers were in charge until 2019, then then club were managed by Michael Appleton.  Appleton moved to take charge of Blackpool in April this year, so the new manager,  Mark Kennedy, is only just getting going.  Kennedy was in charge of Macclesfield for a brief spell before leaving the club when they were relegated to the National League following a points deduction for financial issues.  He has spent time with academy players at Man City, Wolves and Ipswich before joining Lincoln.

Imps manager Mark Kennedy

Lincoln became one of the founding members of the 2nd tier of english football in 1892.  Since that time, there has been something of a steady decline going on.  They went between the 2nd and 3rd tiers pre and post war before settling to spend most of their recent history in the 4th tier.  There have been rises to the 3rd tier and drops to the 5th tier, but, most of the time they have been in the 4th.  A couple of seasons have seen them coming close to promotion back to the 2nd tier but it hasn’t happened for them.

Lincoln’s most famous manager is probably former England boss Graham Taylor.  Although Taylor is most closely associated with Watford, he was in charge of Lincoln between 1972 and 1977 and earned them a promotion from the 4th to 3rd tier.

The club are nicknamed the Imps after a 14th-century legend, where two mischievous creatures called imps were sent by Satan to do evil work on Earth. After causing mayhem in Northern England, the two imps headed to Lincoln Cathedral, where they smashed tables and chairs and tripped up the Bishop.  You can see the imps at the magnificent cathedral, which is pretty close to the ground, albeit up one of Lincolshire’s few hills.  For over 200 years between 1311 and 1549, Lincoln Cathedral was the tallest building in the world at 524 feet (before its spire collapsed!).

Lincoln cathedral’s imps

The Lincoln mascot represents an imp, apparently.  He’s called Poacher.

Graham Taylor in his Lincoln days and his England days