Lincoln City’s Valentine’s Day fixtures form a scattered but revealing thread through the club’s history, and we do have history against Bolton Wanderers on the date as well.
Across nearly a century and a half, games played on 14 February have coincided with promotion pushes, relegation seasons, empty stadiums, and the occasional moment of optimism.
The most recent Valentine’s Day fixture came in 2023, when City travelled away to face Derby County. City took the lead on 43 minutes through Shadipo, only for Connor Hourihane to equalise after the interval. The balance of the game shifted decisively on 55 minutes when Ben House was sent off, leaving City to play over half an hour with ten men.
Valentine’s Day football returned in 2021, this time under the extraordinary conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. With supporters locked out of Sincil Bank, City drew 2-2 with Accrington Stanley. Dion Charles opened the scoring for the visitors before Morgan Rogers and Tom Hopper turned the game around for City. Just as it appeared three points were secured, Charles struck again in the 90th minute to salvage a draw.
During the non-league era, Valentine’s Day appearances were infrequent but memorable. In the 2013-14 season, City travelled to Chester and lost 1-0, with 335 supporters making the journey. Two years earlier, on Valentine’s Day 2012, City hosted Braintree Town and drew 3-3 in front of just 1,616 spectators. Jefferson Louis, Tyrone Thompson and Louis Almond scored for City. Britt Assombalonga found the net in the 88th minute but was sent off two minutes later, while Jai Reason scored twice for the visitors.
The mid-2000s brought a more positive Valentine’s Day memory. In the 2005-06 season, City won 3-2 away at Barnet (main picture), watched by a crowd of 1,695 that included 395 travelling supporters. Jamie McCombe, Gary Birch and Nat Brown scored for City in a campaign that ended with a play-off finish.
Another play-off season followed a Valentine’s Day fixture in 2003-04, when City drew 1-1 away against Scunthorpe United. Peter Gain scored City’s goal in front of 5,324 spectators, 901 of them from Lincoln.
Not every Valentine’s Day fixture came during successful seasons. In 1986-87, City lost 1-0 away at Southend United in the middle of a five-match run without scoring, a sequence that ultimately ended in relegation.
There were brighter moments earlier in the decade. In 1983-84, City travelled to Bolton Wanderers on Valentine’s Day and won 2-0, with goals from Gordon Hobson and John Thomas. Three years before that, City beat Halifax Town 3-1 on 14 February 1981. Hobson scored twice, George Shipley added the third, and the season ended with City finishing second and securing promotion.
Valentine’s Day football also featured during the 1975-76 title-winning campaign. City drew 0-0 away at Rochdale in front of 2,439 spectators as they moved steadily towards lifting the Division Four trophy.
League football on 14 February stretches back much further. In 1959, City lost 4-1 at home to Derby County in Division Two, with Granger scoring City’s goal in front of 11,476. Six years earlier, City drew 1-1 away at Barnsley, with Ernie Whittle scoring in a season that finished with a 15th-place finish in the second tier.
The post-war Valentine’s Day record began positively in 1948. City beat Halifax Town 3-1 in front of 12,500 supporters on the way to winning the Division Three North title. Billy Windle (on his debut after moving from Leeds United), Gurney and Lester scored for City.
City’s very first Valentine’s Day appearance came in 1885 during their first active season, a friendly victory over Mellors Limited of Nottingham. The club’s first competitive match played on 14 February came in 1891 in the Midland League, once again against Derby, but Junction, not County.
It is not a date City have visited often, but when Lincoln City have played on Valentine’s Day, the results have tended to mirror the wider story of the season, for better or worse.
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