It’s all about the merchandise

One thing our cup run has inspired is a glut of merchandise, from the abhorrent half and half scarf to some lovely artwork. The club shop have got on board with match specific scarves, and several fans have got batches of their own stickers as well. After a couple of FA Cup wins it appears all things Lincoln City suddenly become insanely popular.

As well as the half and half scarves, all the modern day Derek Trotter’s have been out with their trolley’s full of hooky merchandise. I’ve seen scarves, flags and phone covers aplenty in town. Thanks to the tie-in with Andreas Carter, City don’t have a strong presence in the City centre, but the club shop does now feature some special Imps v Arsenal scarves as well. I’ve got scarves and shirts coming out of my oversized kit back here at home though.

I like a nice piece of wall art. The study from which I work has various pieces on the wall, a print from the 2003 play-off final, a bespoke offering featuring the first ever DF and the original artwork for it, and a print from renowned stadium artist Paul Town. I decided this recent run of form demanded some further investment, and so I perused the various pieces of artwork celebrating our cup run.

There were plenty of offerings available, three or four artists have recreated something from our cup run. You can even choose your style, from bright and vibrant colours to more subdued but realistic images. Never before has the art-purchasing Imp had so much choice. Eventually I settled with an Art of Football print. Before I tell you why I’d like to clarify I don’t usually push any merchandise unless I’ve written it, but amongst everything that has been released recently, one particular piece of their work really grabbed my attention.

My own favourite moment of the cup run so far has to be Nathan Arnold’s winner against Ipswich. I know the late winner against Burnley signified so much more, but against Ipswich we didn’t know to believe. It was unchartered territory, a non-league side that had valiantly held a Championship side and earned themselves (thus far) their only BBC appearance. The nation watched as we battled and fought our way through 89 minutes.

The goal itself gets better every time you watch it. Power plays the ball out of defence, and Adam Marriott picks it up. He holds it up superbly and then threads a top-flight quality ball through to Nathan Arnold. Arnold finds stamina that he didn’t know he had to accelerate away and towards goal. Dean Gerkin advances, but Arnold rounds him, leaving him hopelessly looking on as the ball is slotted into the back of the net. Cue delirium, cue scenes unimaginable at Sincil Bank twelve months before. Cue a cup run that goes down in history as one of the greatest achievements by a club of our standing ever.

In the days after that winner I must have watched the goal a hundred times. The image of a focused and re-energised Arnold leaving the keeper stranded has become iconic for me, it is a reflection of everything we achieved. The higher ranked team were left stranded as we knocked them out, and that image is symbolic of our entire cup run. Therefore it was that image that I decided to put on my wall.

The Art of Football’s FA Cup collection had caught my eye a few weeks ago, before Burnley and Brighton. Someone on banter had bought one of their pieces, and it struck me as ideal for what I wanted. The Nathan Arnold moment has been captured superbly, it’s a clean and crisp image and will sit brilliantly next to my Paul Town print.

I contacted the guys at the Art of Football and between us we’ve thrashed out a bit of a giveaway for Imps fans too. They liked my comments about their work, and kindly offered to donate a print as a giveaway!

If your magic moment is Alan Power’s emphatic penalty to put us back into the game against Brighton, then they’ve got that too. If you want something on your wall showing Sean Raggett’s winning header against Burnley, then they have that as well.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning one of these great prints is to share this post, be it on Twitter or Facebook. Then hop along to the Art of Football’s Lincoln City collection and decide which one you’d like to own if you won.

I would offer a second prize of a half and half scarf, but something tells me Delboy wouldn’t be keen on donating anything as a prize unless I swapped him for a crisp £5 note. So there is one prize, and that is one of the iconic prints.

I’m going to run this promotion until Monday at 5pm, so you have three days to put your name in the hat for the draw. On Monday I’ll draw a winner, and the guys at the Art of Football will be in touch about how to claim your prize. Remember all you have to do is share this post! Easy, just ask Ed Bruntlett, the winner of a Burnley ticket last week.

So get sharing and always remembered this: a half and half scarf vendor (probably) funds terrorism, chemical testing on animals and mass genocide. I even heard it was a half and half scarf vendor that dumped those bird-flu infested baby chicks down near Spalding last week. Heartless individuals.

Always buy from reputable sources such as the club shop (official merchandise & my book), the Art of Football (prints and T-shirts), anything Helgy is selling (loco mugs, stickers etc) and Amazon (my book only, still available!!)

I haven’t received any payment for the gratuitous mentions of the Art of Football and Paul Town. This isn’t an advertising feature either, I just love that picture. I hope I win!!!