Ben Hutchinson
Don’t care. He almost made me change my name by deed poll and he called us the worst fans in the world.
Ashley Grimes
Player of the Year, leading scorer and still he was booed after getting sent off against us for Southport in the National League. Grimes was one of the few bright sparks in a season of horror, but for a short while, he looked like our saviour. He scored 17 goals in his first four months at the club, the first of which came ten years ago in the Morecambe win. Without those goals, we would have been relegated by Easter, and the partnership he formed with Delroy Facey looked set to push us to a respectable mid-table finish. His last goal was in our 2-1 defeat at Stevenage that also proved to be the last time staying in the league looked likely.
He was last heard of playing for Edinburgh City three years ago although, at 33, I’m sure there is a non-league club somewhere benefitting from his ability.
Subs
Joe Anderson
Anderson joined on loan in 2009/10 and looked half-decent, before being released by Fulham and signing permanently in the summer. His 2010/11 was injury-hit, and he found himself sidelined by Steve Tilson too, only appearing for one minute of the Morecambe win. After he fell out of the league with us, he never got back in, appearing for Bromley against us in 2016/17. he was last seen playing for Welling Utd last season, where he was released after the manager told the squad he didn’t want players who wouldn’t go the extra mile. Nice.
Josh O’Keefe
O’Keefe played 40 games that season, and despite showing promised and netting a few goals he will always be remembered as a part of the worst Imps squad in living memory. The former Blackburn trainee was signing by Chris Sutton and there was no doubting he had some ability, perhaps more suited to non-league than league football though. He did well for Hereford in 2012/13, bagging 13 times from 36 outings. he retired this summer after a spell with Chorley to focus on becoming a physio.
Delroy Facey
Facey was a 71st-minute sub against Morecambe, but he went on to almost be a pivotal part in us staying up. He formed a strong partnership with Ashley Grimes and between the two of them they looked to have fired us to league safety. Unfortunately, Facey got injured in the 1-1 draw with Macclesfield and Grimes didn’t score again as we went down. Facey was released at the end of the season, joined Hereford and was relegated for the second season in a row. Perhaps best known for his part in the conspiracy to commit bribery scandal in which he was jailed.
Steve Tilson
The second manager to join us after managing a team who beat us in the play-offs, Tilson looked like an inspired capture. Sadly, that wasn’t the case and after taking us down he only lasted a couple of months before being dismissed. In July 2012 he joined Canvey Island as manager, but was sacked after a year, and most recently has managed Basildon Ladies, as well as constantly talking about Southend United in their local media.
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