Today’s player is a living legend, a modern-day icon loved by so many of our supporters.
Gareth Ainsworth takes his place in our countdown with a record that stands at 37 league goals in 83 outings, a ratio of 0.45 goals per game. His impact, however, went far beyond statistics. His time at Sincil Bank became a benchmark for personality, attitude, identity and connection between player and supporter, shaping an era that still holds a special place in the memories of Imps fans.
Gareth Ainsworth, 0.45
Ainsworth arrived at Lincoln having worked his way up from non-league football into the professional game. He came through the youth ranks at Blackburn Rovers, moved on to Northwich Victoria and earned his break at Preston North End, where he became a first-team regular during his second spell. His move to Lincoln came with little ceremony as John Beck rebuilt a squad that had been left badly depleted. Yet from the moment he stepped onto the field, he made it very clear that his time at City would be anything other than ordinary.
He began strongly, scoring 12 goals in 31 games to help drag the Imps away from the wrong end of the table. His arrival coincided with the departure of David Puttnam, a mainstay of the early nineties and a firm favourite. Ainsworth filled the void with an energy and style that instantly resonated. He received the ball wide, drove at defenders and carried an unshakeable belief that something positive could happen whenever he attacked. Supporters who had grown accustomed to thin years after the GMVC era suddenly found themselves watching a player who felt fresh and fearless at a time when the sport around the country was slowly reimagining itself.
His early performances, including a brace in a 4-0 win against Fulham, gave the first signs that something special was developing. What elevated him further was the way he connected with supporters, not through words but through personality. The hair, the pace, the directness and the freedom of expression tapped into a cultural moment born out of the rising confidence around Euro 96. For the first time in a generation, Lincoln City had a player who felt completely of his time, a figure whose identity fitted the football landscape beyond the city as much as it did within it.
By the 1996-97 campaign, Ainsworth had become the face of Beck’s evolving Lincoln side. The previous season had brought survival, but the new one carried momentum and optimism. The city felt different after the summer and Ainsworth’s performances embodied that shift. He became the symbol of a team that was not expected to challenge the division’s strongest sides but did so with a style and swagger rarely seen at Sincil Bank during the decade.
His 22 goals from 46 outings that season cemented his place among Lincoln’s most memorable performers. The Coca Cola Cup run added to the sense of excitement. City won at Maine Road, drew at the Dell and produced a series of spirited displays in which Ainsworth was a central figure. The team did not win trophies, yet success can be measured in more than silverware. That squad brought hope and joy to a support that had endured years of stagnation.
Ainsworth’s personality stretched far beyond the field. He lived locally, played pool for pub teams and mixed freely with supporters. He was visible in everyday life, completely approachable and utterly authentic. For many younger fans, he was the first player who felt genuinely relatable. He did not present himself as a distant figure in a separate world but as someone who understood exactly what following the club meant. That blend of ability, charisma and approachability created a bond that remains unmatched for many who lived through the period.
The end came quickly, yet it almost added to the legend. Wigan were keen to sign him, but the move did not materialise. Port Vale eventually matched the required fee. Before leaving, Ainsworth produced a final defining moment with a hat trick against Scarborough in a 3-3 draw at Sincil Bank. He waved to supporters as he left the pitch, a gesture that became a full farewell only ten days later when he played his final game at Rotherham before sealing his move.
His departure was followed by an extraordinary unbeaten run that carried the Imps towards a brighter future, yet that only deepened the sense of absence. The team was successful, but it no longer had the player who had been its heartbeat. The cultural shift symbolised by Euro 96 faded in the years that followed, and with it the sense of collective optimism that had carried Lincoln through that spell. Ainsworth became part of that nostalgia, forever linked to the mood of the mid-nineties.
His later career took him to Port Vale (£500,000 into our bank), Wimbledon (£2m), Preston, Walsall, Cardiff City and Queens Park Rangers, where he also stepped into management on a temporary basis. He joined Wycombe Wanderers in 2010, became manager in 2012 and built a remarkable record that included promotions from League Two and League One. Later spells at QPR, Shrewsbury Town and Gillingham added to a career defined by character and leadership.
Gareth Ainsworth’s Lincoln City statistics place him firmly among the most prolific strikers in the club’s post war history, but his legacy rests in something far greater. He arrived when the club needed life and left having given supporters a sense of identity and pride that helped carry them into the years that followed. He was a force of nature on the pitch, a cultural figure off it and a player whose impact transcends numbers. For many, he remains the most electrifying presence ever to wear red and white.
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