I love a good record. When we were on our ‘avoiding defeat away’ streak, I loved the fact this Lincoln were setting up something future fans would see as the bar for excellence.
I remember the fewest goals we conceded in a (46-game) season being 25 in 1980/81, and instantly knowing as a kid that was a benchmark by which future seasons could be judged. The 74 point haul in 1976 told me the Imps were not only Champions that year, but one of the best Fourth Division champions of all time.
I even like the quirky ones, such as if Jovon had scored last night, he’d be only the fifth player in our history to score in all four Football League competitions in a single season (the other four being Gary Lund, David Johnson, Tony Battersby and Anthony Scully). That didn’t happen but last night, we did beat a record, one that has stood since February 6th, 1985.
That was the day a Devon White brace gave the Imps a 4-0 win against Hartlepool in the Freight Rover Trophy, setting our record victory in the competition. We had two disallowed that night as well, so it could have been six. We’ve toiled for the next 39 years, trying to beat that number.
We only came close twice in the remaining 15 years of the century – beating Chesterfield 3-0 in 1990 (a brace from Carlo Sertori) and putting three past Hartlepool (them, again) in 1999. Curiously, Hartlepool also inflicted one of our heaviest defeats in the competition, 5-2, in 2007.
We came very close to the record in 2001, as high-flying Chesterfield were dismantled 4-1 at the Bank. Only an 85th-minute goal for the Spireites kept the score to 4-1, rather than 4-0, protecting our biggest win.
We grabbed another 3-0 in 2019 against Rotherham, but we were already eliminated from the competition for Ben Coker’s only outing in a Lincoln City shirt. However, in the 2020/21 season, when we made the semi-final, we finally matched the Hartlepool game.
Firstly, we were rampant away at Shrewsbury but won 4-1, rather than 4-0. If I recall correctly, they beat us a week later at the Bank, and at the time, it caused much anger. In the next round, we put four past our EFL Trophy friend Accrington Stanley without a reply. Finally, we had matched the Hartlepool win from 1985; Zack Elbouzedi, Robbie Gotts, Brennan Johnson and Jorge Grant all scored. A month later, we drew with them in the league, 2-2.
However, we still had not beaten our biggest win in the competition, and so the Hartlepool record stood until last night. JJ McKiernan’s goal, the sensational fifth that capped the night off, finally ensured we have a new record win in the EFL Trophy. One wonders how long it will stand for?
Of course, it’s nothing people will be shouting too loudly about, unlike our 13-0 FA Cup win in 1895 against Peterborough, which is our actual record win, rather than the 11-1 victory over Crewe in 1951, our record league win.
Incidentally, 5-0 is also our biggest League Cup victory, achieved against Hull City in August 1980 when they were Division Three and us Division Four. We matched that in the 2020/21 season away at Bradford City.
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