2020/21
League One table after close of play on 05 February 2021
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lincoln City | 25 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 38 | 20 | 18 | 51 |
| 2 | Hull City | 25 | 15 | 3 | 7 | 41 | 22 | 19 | 48 |
| 3 | Doncaster Rovers | 22 | 14 | 3 | 5 | 38 | 21 | 17 | 45 |
| 4 | Portsmouth | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 40 | 21 | 19 | 44 |
| 5 | Peterborough United | 24 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 36 | 23 | 13 | 43 |
| 6 | Sunderland | 24 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 32 | 19 | 13 | 40 |
| 7 | Accrington Stanley | 22 | 12 | 4 | 6 | 35 | 24 | 11 | 40 |
| 8 | Charlton Athletic | 26 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 39 | 35 | 4 | 40 |
| 9 | Crewe Alexandra | 27 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 36 | 33 | 3 | 40 |
I’m a little numb to this now. With it being Covid, a lot of it felt unreal, but when you look back, wow. I remember people noticing similarities between this and 2006/07, and me staunchly denying it, saying how it was different. It was, we ended up in the play-off final, but the collapse was stark. Six points clear of third place (albeit three games further ahead) was a good cushion, while eight points between Posh and us seemed unassailable. All we needed was consistency.
This is the table after winning 3-0 at Gillingham. After this we drew with Hull (0-0), not the worst outcome, and then Accrington (2-2, again). Wins at Wigan (2-1) and at home against Crewe (3-0) were our only wins in the next 11 matches. Plymouth beat us 4-3 after we led 3-2 with 12 minutes remaining. We lost 3-0 against Gillingham and dropped out of the top three with a defeat against Fleetwood.
By the end of the season, we’d led 3-0 at Peterborough and ended up drawing 3-3 as we cemented a play-off place. The rest is history.
League One end-of-season table for 2020-21 season
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hull City | 46 | 27 | 8 | 11 | 80 | 38 | 42 | 89 |
| 2 | Peterborough United | 46 | 26 | 9 | 11 | 83 | 46 | 37 | 87 |
| 3 | Blackpool | 46 | 23 | 11 | 12 | 60 | 37 | 23 | 80 |
| 4 | Sunderland | 46 | 20 | 17 | 9 | 70 | 42 | 28 | 77 |
| 5 | Lincoln City | 46 | 22 | 11 | 13 | 69 | 50 | 19 | 77 |
| 6 | Oxford United | 46 | 22 | 8 | 16 | 77 | 56 | 21 | 74 |
| 7 | Charlton Athletic | 46 | 20 | 14 | 12 | 70 | 56 | 14 | 74 |
| 8 | Portsmouth | 46 | 21 | 9 | 16 | 65 | 51 | 14 | 72 |
| 9 | Ipswich Town | 46 | 19 | 12 | 15 | 46 | 46 | 0 | 69 |
Conclusion
Okay, a collapse here would be the sort of thing to trump all of those, but come on…. not bottom at all in 86/87, until the end of the season? Not in the bottom two at all in 2010/11, until the final game of the season? They might be a collapse at the wrong end, and dropped points at the top are more noticeable, because teams around you are good, but this does demonstrate why some Lincoln City fans just won’t count their chickens.
So you keep sending me your messages of support, saying we’re going up and all that. I’ll believe you when I’m sitting in the media suite at Loftus Road, or looking for parking at Molineux, because as a City fan, I bear the scars of promises broken more than many football fans.
I’m with you on this one. I’m still waiting for the mathematical confirmation we can’t be relegated. My paranoia goes back to 75/75 – on the supporters’ bus to Southport with a bottle of bubbly to celebrate promotion. We lost. End of the dream.