2nd – John Reames

Like Votes – 194

Dislike Votes – 216

Split – 47% / 53%

Games Managed – 87

Win Percentage – 34.48%

I think this entry is very much about John Reames the manager, not John Reames the man. The job he did as chairman in steering us through the choppy waters post-Bradford Fire, through relegation out of the Football League and then ITV Digital collapse is not in question, and whilst he wasn’t always popular at the time, hindsight has allowed supporters to understand exactly what a great job he did through some turbulent times in both Lincoln City’s history and football in general.

The divisive element is surely over his decision to take over as manager. A chairman as manager seems absurd, but he wasn’t the first (Michael Knighton and Ron Noades came first), and he didn’t do a bad job at times – he won manager of the month in early 1999 and almost kept us in the division. He worked on a shoestring, often open in the press about the club’s struggles.

His decision to take over as manager apparently remains as divisive 25 years later as it did back in the day. Still, hats off to him for keeping our club afloat and playing a big part in saving us with his actions when he left.