The Eight Former Imps Still Training With PFA Pre-Season Team

We might be a month into the season, but no fewer than eight former Imps are still free agents and training with the PFA pre-season team.

A current Imp had a spell with the PFA team this summer, Adam Reach keeping himself fit before bagging a move to the Bank. Now, eight former Imps will hope to impress enough to perhaps fill a gap that an EFL club has left open following the transfer window closing.

It won’t be us – we’ve got a good squad now, 29 in the main squad, 26 not counting Oisin Gallagher, Bola Okewoye and Charlie Parks, all likely to head out on loan when fit. 26 is still a good number, and we certainly won’t be looking for free agents.

Some clubs might, and here are the eight former Lincoln City players they could still snap up.

Hakeeb Adelakun

Haks is still without a club, which seems mad. I know he was a flop for us, but since leaving the Bank, it is fair to say he’s been a success. He joined Doncaster from us and bagged nine goals, plus five assists in the space of four months.

He then turned down a deal with Doncaster, joined the PFA team, and eventually signed for Salford City. Across all competitions for Salford, he scored 13 times, adding four assists. That makes him a really good pickup for a League Two club, but oddly, he is still without.

Jaden Brown

Jaden has had issues since leaving the Imps for St Mirren. He played eight times on loan, then 11 after moving permanently, including three games in Europe.

However, in November 2024, his contract with The Buddies was terminated by mutual consent two weeks after appearing in court charged with driving offences and attempting to pervert the course of justice.

He has been without a club since, but at 26, still has plenty of his career ahead of him if he can find a team.

James Brown

Defender James Brown has joined Raith Rovers on loan until the end of the season.

Good luck, James!👊 pic.twitter.com/QewVXtu0sm

— St. Johnstone FC (@StJohnstone) February 9, 2024

Claim to fame – I once saw James Brown. he was at the end-of-season awards dinner in 2019 at the Showground, so i know what he looked like.

He signed on loan from Millwall and, if memory serves, didn’t make a matchday squad. He hasn’t done badly since, spending time with St Johnstone and Raith Rovers, as well as turning out for Malta. Most recently, he was with Marine, and it is assumed he is the James Brown on the PFA list.

Mustapha Carayol

This feels like blast from the past. He was a member of the 2010/11 squad that suffered relegation from the Football League, an event that feels like a lifetime ago. Since then, the Gambian international has appeared for no fewer than 13 clubs, namely Bristol Rovers, Middlesbrough, Brighton & Hove Albion, Huddersfield Town, Leeds United, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich Town, Apollon Limassol, Adana Demirspor, Gillingham, Burton Albion, Exeter City, and most recently, Wealdstone.

Still only 36 (how??), he is now on the lookout for the 19th club of his career.

Tyreece John-Jules

I liked the idea of Tyreece John-Jules when he signed for City, but a combination of injuries and Covid restricted him to just seven appearances. Regretably for him, one of those was away at Southend, which was a low point of the 2019/20 season, and a game which many City fans never truly forgave Michael Appleton for.

Since then, six clubs have also liked the idea of him: Doncaster Rovers, Blackpool, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town, Derby County, and Crawley Town. He’s made 96 appearances in those spells, scoring ten times. I can’t help but feel those injuries that ruined his time with us and Sheffield Wednesday have curtailed a promising career.

Callum Morton

Callum Morton smashed it at Northampton before his Imps move, but has since struggled to get going.

He never settled in our 2020/21 side, suffering an early injury and then looking a little to lightweight for League One. Now 25, he’s a free agent after permanent spells with Fleetwood and Salford, as well as loans with Fleetwood, Peterborough, Forest Green and Northampton Town.

In fairness, 30 career goals from 159 appearances isn’t terrible, and he could surely do a job for someone at National League level or higher.

Mide Shodipo

I’d sign him for my EFL club if it wasn’t Lincoln, purely for the song. I really liked Mide; he had drive and a decent return for us, five goal involvements in 26 League One matches. Okay, he didn’t set the world alight, but he was a decent squad member at the time.

After two years in Portugal (26 outings, three goals), he was primarily deployed as an impact sub, and now he’s back looking for a club. Would you sign him over Haks if you were a League Two outfit? Probably not, but any National League side would be laughing if they captured him.

Jack Vale

Jack Vale is a lucky boy, because when I think of utterly terrible loans, only Luke Plange sticks in my mind. Jack suffered during his time with us – he arrived injured and then went through a change of manager.

Still, it’s important to remember that in 500 League One minutes for the Imps, as a striker, he had just two shots. Okay, he did get a goal and an assist, but he just wasn’t a fit for us.

Since his time with us he’s played just 22 matches, all but one for Motherwell, scoring four times. All of those goals, three for Motherwell and one for Blackburn, have come in the final five minutes of matches, and he’s been sent off twice. League Two quality? Maybe.