Lincoln City produced one of the most improbable performances of their season on Sunday, 26 April 1987, derailing Northampton Town’s Fourth Division title party at Sincil Bank while briefly hauling themselves away from the relegation trapdoor.
For the visitors, this was meant to be a coronation. For City, it was a last roll of the dice in a season that had turned bleak long before spring arrived. Ultimately, it meant nothing at all.
Northampton arrived in Lincoln knowing a win would all but secure the Fourth Division championship. Having played 41 games, they were nine points clear of second-placed Preston North End with a game in hand. Victory would have moved them onto 94 points, twelve clear, with a goal difference so superior that only a freak 27-goal swing could deny them the title. Around 2,000 Cobblers supporters made the journey, fully expecting celebration.
At the other end of the table, the mood could not have been more different. Lincoln sat 21st, marooned on 45 points after 42 games, with Burnley, Torquay and Rochdale circling ominously below. City’s form was dreadful. In the six matches leading into this game, only two goals had been scored, both in a rare 2-1 win over Crewe. The last time Lincoln had scored more than once at home had been on 3 January. Survival felt possible, but only because others were so bad.
City lined up: Lee Butler, Peter Daniel, Neil Franklin, Richard Cooper, Gary West, Glenn Humphries, Willie Gamble, Shane Nicholson, Jimmy Gilligan, Simeon Hodson, John McGinley.
Northampton Town: Peter Gleasure, Phil Chard, David Logan, Warren Donald, Russ Wilcox, Keith McPherson, Eddie McGoldrick, Ian Benjamin, Dave Gilbert, Trevor Morley, Richard Hill
Gary Lund, arguably one of our best players pre-Christmas, was on the bench.
From the opening minutes, the script began to unravel for the visitors. Lincoln, desperate and energetic, disrupted Northampton’s rhythm early on, and in the eighth minute took a shock lead. Sixteen-year-old full-back Shane Nicholson delivered from the left, and on-loan striker Jimmy Gilligan broke clear to loop a header over Peter Gleeson. There was suspicion of offside, but the goal stood, and Northampton’s title march faltered almost immediately.
City pressed again. Gilligan went close with a header saved by Gleeson, Willie Gamble fired into the side netting, and John McGinley’s flick caused panic in a Northampton defence that looked increasingly jittery. The Cobblers barely threatened before the break, their best effort a Trevor Morley drive straight at Lee Butler.
Northampton tried to regroup at half-time, with Graham Reid introduced and Phil Chard moved into central defence. Instead, matters deteriorated rapidly. Five minutes after the restart, McGinley’s near-post flick struck the far post and Gamble reacted quickest to smash home the rebound.
Seven minutes later came the moment that summed up the afternoon. Chard, under little pressure, attempted to play a back pass from fully 35 to 40 yards. The ball sailed over Gleeson, bounced once, and rolled gently into the net. A farcical own goal, lobbed from distance, and Northampton’s title celebration was in ruins.
To their credit, the visitors rallied. Eddie McGoldrick pulled one back after 65 minutes, and Northampton poured forward, launching long-range efforts and appealing furiously for penalties. Referee Alan Flood waved away multiple claims, including one when Richard Hill was bundled over. Lincoln, content to defend deep, hacked clear repeatedly as pressure mounted.
Despite the late onslaught, City held firm. The final whistle confirmed a result few had foreseen, a 3-1 defeat that delayed Northampton’s title and delivered Lincoln a vital, if fleeting, lifeline.
The win lifted City to 48 points, seven clear of bottom club Rochdale, though the threat of relegation remained. As history records, Lincoln’s reprieve proved temporary. Defeats to Wolves, Scunthorpe United and Swansea City followed, and relegation to the Conference would soon become reality.
Northampton, meanwhile, recovered swiftly. They clinched the Fourth Division title days later and finished champions on 99 points, nine clear of Preston North End. But for one sunny Sunday at Sincil Bank, their procession was halted by a struggling Lincoln side playing with desperation, pride, and nothing left to lose.
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