CM: Lee Frecklington
A homegrown midfielder from the club’s Centre of Excellence, Lee Frecklington rose through the ranks to debut in the Football League Trophy in 2003–04 before a short work-experience spell with Lincoln United and a loan at Stamford sharpened him for senior football. Recalled midway through 2005–06, he scored his first league goal at Stockport in February and finished the run-in as a lively bench weapon.
The breakthrough came the following season: deployed in a driving, box-to-box role, Frecklington was ever-present in Lincoln’s promotion push and earned a place in the PFA League Two Team of the Year for 2006–07. By the end of his first spell, he’d logged 141 appearances and 23 goals across all competitions for the Imps, mixing late runs into the area with relentless off-the-ball work.
After leaving for Peterborough United in 2009 and then establishing himself as a promotion winner and captain at Rotherham United, Frecklington returned to Sincil Bank in January 2018. It was a triumphant homecoming for a player widely regarded as able to still hold his own in the Championship.
He announced himself immediately, equalising on his second debut in a 2–2 derby draw with Notts County, and helped the club to EFL Trophy glory a few months later. When we needed a penalty taker in the semi-final, a player who was going to take us to Wembley for the first time ever, it was always written in the stars that it would be Freck.
Named club captain in August 2018, he guided a reshaped side through a title-winning League Two campaign in 2018–19, adding experience and goals from midfield while setting standards in the dressing room. He would doubtless have gone through the 200 appearance mark, had he not been the victim of a horror tackle by Port Vale’s Scott Brown during our 602 win there in October 2018. It ruled him out for three weeks, but from there he was in and out of the side.
Injuries curtailed his minutes during 2019–20, as did Michael Appleton’s arrival. Appleton felt like he needed to refresh the side, and as a leading figure under Danny Cowley, Freck was a victim. It’s reported he was forced to train with a ‘bomb squad’, including Ben Coker, a sad end to the career of an Imps’ legend.
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