We’re at the sharp end of the most prolific post-war Lincoln City striker, and today we’re going back to the conflict in 1946.
Tommy Cheetham was a proven, prolific centre forward whose time at Lincoln City sits comfortably alongside some of the most efficient finishers the club has ever had.
4 – Tommy Cheetham (0.57 goals per game)
Cheetham scored 27 league goals in 47 appearances for Lincoln, a return of 0.57 goals per game. That ratio edges him just above Ashley Grimes in pure efficiency terms and earns him fourth place in this list. As with several entries in this era, context matters, because Cheetham’s Lincoln career was shaped by disruption, war, and the strange rhythms of football in the 1940s.
A late bloomer by professional standards, Cheetham did not sign for a Football League club until he was almost 25. His rise with Queens Park Rangers was extraordinary. 36 league goals in his first professional season set the tone, and his overall QPR return of 81 goals in 115 league games marked him out as one of the most reliable scorers of the decade. A £5,000 move to Brentford followed, where he proved he could score in the First Division as well.
Then came the war, and with it a fracture in what should have been the most productive years of his career. Lincoln signed Cheetham from Brentford during the conflict for £500, initially for wartime football, and shared him with West Ham United. He became a key figure again when the Football League resumed in 1946.
That first full post-war season tells you almost everything you need to know. Cheetham scored 30 goals across league and FA Cup football, carrying the attack with the assurance of a forward who understood space, timing, and responsibility. He was not flashy, nor remembered for individual moments in the way modern forwards often are, but he was relentless. He finished chances, led the line, and delivered week after week.
His Lincoln spell was relatively short, and his appearances became more sporadic by 1947–48, before he retired at 37. Even so, the impact remains clear. 27 league goals in 47 games is elite output in any era, especially in a period where pitches, travel, and preparation were far removed from modern standards. He scored in games on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, home and away against Tranmere, and bagged a hat-trick as we lost 8-4 against Accrington Stanley in the penultimate game of the season. That sentence sums up the difference between then and now.
Cheetham’s story is also one of resilience. Injured during wartime service and delayed in his career progression, he still left the Football League with 118 goals from 181 appearances. His contribution at Sincil Bank forms an important bridge between Lincoln’s pre-war and post war history, a reminder that prolific strikers have always emerged here, even in the most disrupted of times. Also, his time with us didn’t finish when he stopped playing – he scouted in the London area for us.
That consistency, that efficiency, and that quiet reliability secure Tommy Cheetham’s place at number four in this countdown.
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