Ian Branfoot

Ian Branfoot was linked with the Imps post a couple of times, but in December 1977, he turned the job down. Before we could interview Bell and Gould, there was a motion to get Branfoot in as boss. He had been helping George Kerr during his first stint in charge, but he refused to accept the role of caretaker manager and pave the way to the job full-time, even when the club approached him.

Branfoot left the club not long after Bell arrived, and that was the end of his playing days. He took over at Reading, where he helped them from the Fourth Division to the Second Division, at one stage winning 13 consecutive matches. He later managed in the Premier League with Southampton, although he finished 18th in the first season, and was sacked the following January. He was again linked with the Imps in 1994, but instead had two years at Fulham, sitting in the away dugout at Sincil Bank, before leaving the management game altogether. He later had a spell at Sunderland as an academy director and at Leeds United as a scout.