Everybody loves an opening day win.
There’s the air of expectation around every club on the opening day. Whether you’re Shrewsbury or Stevenage, Birmingham or Burton, when that whistle blows at 3pm 5.30pm a world of hope awaits. For some, like Port Vale fans last season, it’s pretty much washed away 90 minutes later.
All the prep in the world can be ruined because of one disaster, whereas a new season can be ushered in on a wave of optimism. We’ve only lost one opening-day fixture since 2010/11, that being the thumping we got at Bolton last season. We’ve won a few, but does an opening day win actually mean anything?
Possibly not.
In order to flesh out my point, I picked five opening day victories from my time as an Imps fan for you to enjoy. Some where huge occasions, others we got through by the skin of our teeth. Tomorrow, when we kick off against Burton, just remember that a win or a defeat doesn’t mean anything at all. -there are 45 more games to go before we need to panic!
2019/20 Accrington Stanley 2-0
Ah, August 2019. It was a time of innocence about to be lost, a fanbase still absolutely convinced Danny and Nicky Cowley would be with us for life, taking us through the divisions like a hot knife through butter. It was a bit like a League Two Charity Shield – 2018 champions against 2019 champions.
We won 2-0, O’Connor’s first half header setting us up, Akinde’s penalty making it 2-0. It was a super performance, full of passing football and excitement. It felt like the world was at our feet, at least for another 35 days, until Danny and Nicky left.
2018/19 Northampton Town 1-0
Our title-winning season got underway on a blistering hot day, sitting in a half-completed stadium on an industrial estate. We beat Northampton 1-0 in Luke Waterfall’s final game as an Imp, but the result should have been so very different. Josh Vickers pulled off a number of wonderful saves, while Matt Green snatched a winner against the run of play.
It was a win, but an attritional one, something we dug deep to pull out of the bag. More so than Accrington a year later, it typified Danny and Nicky’s side, resolute, combative, and demonstrating a solid refuse-to-lose attitude.
2016/17 – Woking 3-1
The opening day of our previous five non-league campaigns had brought four draws, against Southport, Kidderminster, Woking and Cheltenham. We hadn’t won at Woking during our stay in the National League, losing 3-1 in 2015/15 and 2015/16. Drawing them away on the opening day looked to be a huge curse.
Adam Marriott gave us the lead, and despite them levelling, we pressed on for the win. A brace for the big man Rheady, his second a penalty, secured our only competitive win at Woking to date. Taylor Miles came on, got booked and went off injured in seven minutes, beginning and ending his Imps career. Eight months later, we were promoted to the Football League.
1999/00 – Rotherham United 2-1
1998/99 was tough. Relegation from the third tier was my first taste of relegation since 1987. However, it gave me delusions of grandeur – I thought we’d be the big guns, smashing our way through the Division Three minnows and heading back to the big time. If you can call Walsall away ‘big time’.
Rotherham were promotion favourites, and City lost Tony Battersby and Echo Player of the Season Stuart Bimson before kick off. Grant Brown was injured during the game, before Terry Fleming’s penalty. Lee Philpott smashed home a Gavin Gordon flick on two minutes later, and even a late Paul Warne goal couldn’t save the Millers from defeat.
Eight months later and into a new century, City were marooned in midtable while Rotherham got promoted.
1986/87 – Colchester United 3-1
Relegation in 1986 brought the same delusions of grandeur as did the arrival of England Under 21 striker Gary Lund, swapped with Grimsby Town for Phil Turner. Lund was involved in all three goals we bagged on the opening day, creating one for Ian McInnes, scoring another, and forcing a save that led to Richard Cooper’s volleying home a third from 25-yards. Colchester pulled one back, but a 3-1 win only cemented our promotion aspirations.
“You can’t beat a good start, and three points in the bag can only be good news,” wrote Shuan Custis in the Echo. Finally, perhaps, after a year or two of losing our way, the Imps were on a collision course with some success.
A year later, we’d be kicking off against Barnet as the first team relegated automatically out of the Football League.
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