29 September 1951 – Sincil Bank, Division Three (North)
In the long, proud history of our football club, no league game has produced more goals, more awe, or more disbelief than the final Saturday in September 1951. An 11–1 demolition of Crewe Alexandra became, and remains, the club’s record league victory—an afternoon when everything clicked, one man reigned supreme, and Sincil Bank bore witness to pure footballing devastation.
By 3:15pm, the crowd’s patience was wearing thin. “Come on, this isn’t a game of cricket!” shouted one frustrated spectator, watching two teams sleepwalk through the opening quarter-hour. The Imps looked sluggish. Crewe, despite their ongoing chaos off the pitch—including the departure of manager Arthur Turner earlier in the week—actually looked the more composed.
But then came the ignition.
On 19 minutes, Andy Graver opened the scoring—and the floodgates. That first goal shattered Crewe’s fragile structure and sparked a relentless red-and-white onslaught that became one of the most lopsided victories in Imps’ history.
The headlines, rightly, belonged to Andy Graver. Six goals in one afternoon—two with his head, two with his left, two with his right—each taken with the calm ruthlessness of a centre-forward at the peak of his powers. Remarkably, he’d needed treatment for a heavy cold before the match. By full-time, he’d become the Football League’s top scorer and earned himself the match ball, handed to him by manager Bill Anderson as goalkeeper Jimmy Jones looked on.
Graver’s variety of finishing was a masterclass. Close-range headers. Crisp drives. Clinical placement. It wasn’t just that he scored—it was how he scored.
Yet this wasn’t a one-man show. Ten of City’s outfield players made direct goal contributions, and the cohesion between the front five was staggering. George Johnson, making his home debut in the Northern Section, grabbed one himself and delivered a string of threatening crosses. Harry Troops also got in on the act with a rifled second-half strike, and Jesse Whittle produced one of the goals of the game with a thunderous shot from the edge of the box.
Johnny Garvie, despite failing to find the net, was central to the rhythm of the attack—his passing and movement unlocking the Crewe defence time and again. When Garvie was fouled in the area in the first half, Horace Green stepped up and converted the penalty to make it four. Even Jim Grummett Sr, the hard-working half-back, capped his display with a rare goal of his own.
Crewe had arrived at Sincil Bank having conceded just 11 goals in their first nine games. By full-time, they’d doubled that tally. Their young goalkeeper Murray—just 19 and making his debut—was left helpless, poorly protected and visibly overwhelmed.
To their credit, the visitors had threatened early on and even pulled one back through Mitcheson. But by then the game was long since lost, and the goal felt more like a blemish on City’s masterpiece than any sign of resistance.
At the time, the match set a new club record, surpassing the 9–1 wins over Accrington (1950) and Halifax (1932). It remains Lincoln City’s biggest Football League win over 70 years later.
For context, this was not a Crewe side of part-timers or makeshift selections. They fielded experienced players like Don Travis and Tommy Lees—men expected to anchor the side, not capitulate. But they came up against a Lincoln side in full flight. Bill Anderson’s team that day were fearless, fluid, and utterly ruthless.
That 1951–52 season would ultimately end in promotion to Division Two—the last time Lincoln reached those heights in the modern era. This victory set the tone for that promotion.
Over to you, Michael!
You must be logged in to post a comment.