City have been on a remarkable run at Valley Parade, winning all four of our previous visits.
Two of those, in the EFL Trophy and EFL Cup, have come since our return to the EFL in 2017. The other two came in the dour seasons prior to the drop, 2009/10 and 2010/11. The latter saw us win 2-1 with gaols from Delroy Facey and Gavin McCallum, while the first win of the run came under Peter Jackson. Just.
Jacko bagged a 2-0 win at Valley Parade in August 2009, his final win as Imps boss. Rene Howe and Chris Fagan scored for us, but defeats against Burton (2-0), Dagenham (3-0), and finally Darlington in the JPT (1-0) saw him get the boot and Chris Sutton arrive.
On the eve of our first league match at the ground since 2011, I thought it might be interesting to look back at the squad from that Tuesday night as ask either ‘where are they now’ or, in some cases, ‘whatever happened to….’
Let’s start with the keeper, shall we?
Rob Burch
Burch was a solid keeper for City, perhaps unlucky as some fans saw him as the reason popular stopper Alan Marriott didn’t get the testimonial he deserved.
After leaving Lincoln City at the end of the 09/10 season, Burch joined Notts County on a free transfer and spent two seasons there before being released. His time at Meadow Lane was injury-hit, and he dropped out of football after.
He later moved into coaching, initially working within Tottenham Hotspur’s academy setup. Burch went on to serve as first-team goalkeeping coach under Ange Postecoglou at Spurs before departing the club in 2024.
This season, he was appointed to the same role at Nottingham Forest, continuing his coaching career in the Premier League
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