For many, the striker is the most glamorous position on the pitch. Yet, forwards face massive pressure, tasked with converting chances into goals, shaping how a team builds its offense.
It takes a rare mix of composure, skill, and intelligence for someone to excel in this role. Below, we list what we believe to be the best four strikers to most shine in this squad spot while playing for Lincoln’s pride.
Andy Graver
In 2010, Andrew Martin Graver was bestowed the honor of Lincoln City’s biggest legend in a fan poll, deservedly so, as he scored one hundred and forty-three goals during his three spells with the club that totaled two hundred and seventy-four matches. In today’s world, one obsessed with sports betting, gamblers would get excellent prop odds for him scoring due to his high level of efficiency, as one could be sure he would bank a goal in at least every second match.
Born in Craghead, Co. Durham, in 1927, Graver first came to the Imps in 1950, where he started his initial five-season Lincoln stint. He made a comeback in 1955 and another in 1958, playing out his pro career at Sincil Bank before retiring in 1961, scoring thirty-five goals in his third and final spell at the club.
Johnny Campbell
Campbell is a name that many Lincoln City fans have heard, but few know much about, as he was from a time when footage was not a thing. He wore the Lincoln City shirt from 1933 to 1939, signing for the Imps for a fee of £1,250, a club record at the time, delivering upon expectations by putting the ball one hundred and four times behind the goalkeeper’s line in one hundred and eighty-four matches. Sadly, even with his fine performance in his first season at Lincoln, the club still got relegated to the Third Division North. Campbell was the team’s top scorer for four seasons in a row, and after calling it quits, he shifted gears and became a chemist/optician.
Gordon Hobson
Hobson’s path to club star is an interesting one; trailed as a plumber, Gordon began working in the field as he was playing for local clubs before getting offered a contract by Lincoln City shortly after his 20th birthday in 1977. The deal led to him spending the next eight years with the team, for which he notched seventy-three goals in two hundred and seventy-two games, debuting with a two-assist goal performance in April 1978. Hobson left the club in 1985 to go to Grimsby Town and came back in 1988, playing two more seasons at Lincoln. He netted one hundred and five goals in three hundred and seventy-two showings for the Imps.
John Ward
When Andy Graver was finishing up his first year at Sincil Bank, John Patrick Ward came into the world in Lincolnshire, a man who would take up the fifth place in the club’s all-time top-scoring standings. Ward scored ninety-nine goals in two hundred and forty-one appearances for the Imps from 1970 to 1982, and his career is unique in that he now gets better remembered as a manager than the quality forward he was, one who was a highly versatile player who could poach goals and score from long range.
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