I didn’t realise when I started doing this that I was going to be writing about a Hutchinson in one of the top two slots.
I always believed that my being a Lincoln fan was fated. The first game played after I was born, Mr Hutchinson was the referee, and he hailed from Bourn in Cambridgeshire, a village later to give its name to Cambourne, where my wife lived when we met.
Fate.
Now, I get to number two on the list of Lincoln City’s most prolific pre-war Football League strikers, and it’s a player called Hutchinson, who also had a son play for the Imps. Spooky? Only if you believe in stuff like that.
So, number two in the countdown belongs to a forward whose output for Lincoln City is so strong that it still stands up against every era the club has known. His spell at Sincil Bank was brief, intense, and devastatingly effective, producing numbers that place him among the most reliable scorers in the club’s history. He also has a great surname.
Jimmy Hutchinson (0.65 goals per game)
Jimmy Hutchinson scored 55 league goals in 85 games for Lincoln City, a return of 0.65 goals per game. Only one player in this series bettered that ratio, as you’ll see in the week.
Hutchinson’s story is not one of hype or reputation arriving at Lincoln, but of a player forged in football’s hardest years. Born in Sheffield in December 1915, he came through local football with Aqueduct before signing for Sheffield United prior to the Second World War. First team opportunities never materialised at Bramall Lane, but the war years reshaped his career. Like many players of his generation, Hutchinson guested extensively, turning out for Bradford City, Hull City, Port Vale, the Royal Navy, and, crucially, Lincoln. By the time league football resumed, Sincil Bank was already familiar ground.
His first proper post-war move took him to Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic in the Third Division South, where he scored three goals in eight games during the 1946–47 season. It was a modest return, but Lincoln saw enough to act quickly. What followed remains one of the most productive spells any Lincoln forward has ever produced.
Hutchinson arrived at City midway through the 1946–47 campaign and immediately transformed the attack. In 25 league games he scored 15 goals, then added another two in cup competition. That momentum carried straight into the following season, when he delivered a staggering 32 league goals in 41 appearances. Lincoln City won the Third Division North title by a single point over Rotherham United, and Hutchinson’s goals were central to that success. He was not simply scoring in bursts, he was scoring consistently, week after week, carrying the responsibility of a promotion chase without faltering.
Promotion brought tougher surroundings. The Second Division in 1948–49 proved unforgiving, and Lincoln struggled badly. Hutchinson still managed eight goals in 19 games, but the step up, combined with a faltering team around him, took its toll. City finished bottom and were relegated, bringing his Lincoln career to an end.
He left Sincil Bank with 55 league goals across just three seasons, having been top scorer during the title-winning campaign and a central figure in one of the club’s defining post-war moments. Later spells at Oldham Athletic yielded little by comparison, and he would not return to Football League prominence, eventually dropping into non-League football with Denaby United.
You must be logged in to post a comment.