Earlier this week, I looked at nine teams Lincoln City would definitely play next season, and that list has now grown by four.
Thanks to last night’s results, we’re pencilled in for a couple more trips, including former players, and a side that at one point I thought it was usual to face!
Portsmouth
Portsmouth were thrashed 5-1 by Coventry City last night, but thanks to results elsewhere, they were tagged as safe from the drop.
Pompey are no strangers to the Imps, with us being the last side they faced as they climbed out of League One. Two seasons on, and they’ve posted a finish of 16th, and will likely be lower this time out.
Our record against Pompey is poor. We beat them once in League One, thanks to Morgan Rogers, and drew twice, 0-0. The other seven outings they won, usually with ease, and it was Pompey who ended our play-off hopes on the final day of the 2023/24 season.
John Mousinho is still the manager at Fratton Park, while Regan Poole has 42 outings for them across all competitions this season, him being one of the few Imps to take a sideways League One step in terms of level, but getting promoted as intended.
West Bromwich Albion
West Brom are not a side we’ve faced much – if you check Soccerbase you’ll be told we’ve not played them since 1975/76, but we did lose an AWS tie against them in the 90s. The fact still remains, they’re one of those sides we’ll be visiting who do not get to welcome us very often at all.
In fact, we’ve only met twice since the Second World War in league action, in 1948/49, with the Baggies grabbing an 8-0 aggregate win over us. Before that, it was 1910/11, and you have to go back to 1906 to find our last league win against them, when George Nisbet and William Watson gave us a victory.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
My first season as a City supporter saw us play Wolves in the league, and not long before my second game as a City fan, we turned them over 3-0 at the Bank thanks to Gary Lund, Bobby Mitchell and Tony Simmons. My Dad went and I couldn’t, but he came back full of tales of the fog coming in, but City coming out on top. It felt to me like Wolves were the sort of team we’d play every season.
A year later, we were welcoming Wealdstone, and they were on the way up.
Still, we’d knocked them out of the League Cup in 1986, a favour they returned in 1989, and for me, it just seemed like they were the sort of side we always played. Now, 37 years later, it’s pretty clear they’re not, and next season’s trip to Molineux will be the first in many years.
Games between us and Wolves prior to 1985/86 were not common: you had to go back to 1923/24 to find our league meeting before that date, and you’d have to delve as far back as 1920 to find our last league win. This year, they’ve faced Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal, and next season, we’ll visit the grand old ground.
Others close
Also, by the end of play this evening, Blackburn and Charlton could be safe, while Norwich would need a miracle to make the play-offs as well. Derby don’t look in a good position, so those four sides might be next to earn a trip to the Bank in 2026/27.
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