April 2026, the month when Lincoln City won promotion and then the League One title.
It’s been a crazy month, with City getting five wins and a draw. That means 28 matches unbeaten, with just a single game to go.
With 13 goals scored and seven conceded, there was no lack of entertainment. City registered strong away wins at Reading and Stevenage, rounding the month off by lifting the League One trophy.
Who was your Player of the Month? Which game stood out to you the most? It was the first month of our bespoke Player Rater
You can now check out all the winners of our monthly awards by going to our Roll of Honour page
Player of the Month
Conor McGrandles (8.30)
Conor McGrandles has made Stacey West history here, winning the Player of the Month four times in a row. He was, as always, excellent this month, picking up three Man of the Match awards (13 now in total) and getting the second-highest monthly score ever.
Crucially, it is his fifth win of the season and his seventh overall, making him the player with the most awards via the ratings system since we started taking player ratings. He’s also the only player to ever win four in a row, picking it up every month since January.
Tendayi Darikwa’s score of 7.84, fifth-highest, would have won the award on 42 occasions over the last six years. Madness.
| Player | Wimbledon | Reading | Orient | Stevenage | Doncaster | Wycombe | April Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McGrandles | 8.19 | 9.28 | 8.33 | 7.16 | 8.46 | 8.37 | 8.30 |
| Bradley | 7.73 | 9.04 | 8.15 | 6.98 | 8.17 | 7.86 | 7.99 |
| Wickens | 7.18 | 7.99 | 8.09 | 8.25 | 7.48 | 8.25 | 7.87 |
| Varfolomeev | 6.99 | 9.06 | – | 6.77 | 8.58 | 7.93 | 7.87 |
| Darikwa | 7.23 | 8.63 | 7.64 | 7.48 | 7.99 | 8.06 | 7.84 |
Individual Performance of the Month
Conor McGrandles (Reading A) 9.28
Once again, I type the words ‘Conor McGrandles’ in an awards piece. I do suspect the hard-fought game against Reading has benefited from being the one where we secured promotion, as the numbers have shot right up, but you know what? I can happily live with that, because it will live with me forever.
Your Man of the Match on that occasion was Conor, and why not. The best player of the season, appearing in the best afternoon of the campaign, probably deserves the highest rating.
Best Team Performance of the Month
v Reading (A) 8.42
Why not, right? Only one game has topped this since we started doing the ratings, and that was West Ham in the cup.
Was this the best actual performance? No.
Was this a game we’ll never forget, one that transcends possession, shots and all that?
Yes. 100% yes.
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