Love him or loathe him, Lee Angol will always stir up the emotions of Lincoln City fans, and once again, he is a free agent.
The Carshalton-born 31-year-old has recently been with Eastbourne Borough, but is one of 17 players being released by The Sports as they drop out of the National League South and into the Isthmian League.
Angol made eight appearances for the side that finished 14 points adrift of safety, but didn’t score, and is now looking for another club. He won’t be troubling our scouts, but for a while, we did have a real interest in him.
We signed him on loan from Peterborough United in 2017, and he made an immediate impact, bagging a hat trick on his debut. He became the first player to do so since Billy Cobb in 1968, and thus far, the only player to do it in the 21st century. He added more goals, notably one to get us back on terms in a critical game against Forest Green Rovers.
At that stage, everything looked rosy, and he rode around the city on the open-topped bus, celebrating with players. It seemed likely he’d sign for us as he headed for Posh exit, so imagine our surprise when he rocked up as the latest signing for Mansfield Town and Steve Evans. From hero to zero.
He got nine goals for them in 16 starts before a move to League One with Shrewsbury Town, where he scored just three times in 17 matches. As the 2018/19 season rumbled on, they deemed him surplus to requirements, and the world felt we needed a striker. On deadline day, he joined City, despite talk of players such as Danny Hylton coming in.
A PR campaign began, pushing Angol as cover, adequate for our needs, fitting our budget. If we’d had an injury to John Akinde, Shay McCartan or Matt Rhead he might have got a kick. Instead, he got one minute away at Notts County, and 16 minutes against Northampton at home. That was it, off he went.
Every transfer window since, fans have joked Lee Angol has been seen at the Bentley. His fame far exceeds his football input – 11 starts in the National League and those two sub appearances in the EFL, but by the way he’s remembered, you’d think he had played for us for a couple of years.
He’ll now be looking for a new employer, almost certainly at step six or below.
Comments Welcome!