Lincoln City are continuing their preparations for the Championship next season with plans to upgrade the Elite Performance Centre.
It has undergone several improvements since opening on the back of our historic FA Cup in the 2016/17 season.
But with second-tier football awaiting for the first time in 65 years, the Imps have the funds in place to make further upgrades.
This follows the work that is also currently taking place at Sincil Bank, with the grounds capacity set to rise, alongside the new look for the Rilmac Stand.
Several clubs in the lower divisions have used FA Cup runs to spearhead promotions, but it’s important to build all parts of the club at the same time. There has been widespread attention on the Spanish side, Rayo Vallecano, and their impressive run to the UEFA Conference League final. However, much of the focus has been on their facilities and how they have beaten better-equipped clubs, in spite of their current issues.
However, that was never the case with us. The club were very proactive in building off the pitch as well as on it. Speaking to talkSPORT’s Ben Jacobs, Imps CEO Liam Scully was keen to make sure two important figures in City’s recent history were given their flowers.
“We’ve got to give great credit to Danny and Nicky Cowley, who started the revival of Lincoln City in 2016/17. Their real driving determination was around the necessity to build the training ground.
“One of the things that we’ve done well as a club over the years is that every time we’ve sold a player or we’ve had a fresh level of investment and built something, we’ve added to the infrastructure. I think at times we’ve shown great restraint in order to not just put it into the playing budget and resource the first team.
“The development of the training ground and the stadium are all part of Lincoln City growing up as a football club. The owners and investors have shown incredible patience, support and humility. As custodians of the club, they’ve wanted to build for the long term, but specifically, the EPC has been a huge attraction as part of a League One club.”
Fans always yearn for new signings, and that will be the case once more this year. But it’s refreshing that money is being spent elsewhere too, which in turn helps to attract players to the club. I remember having conversations in January about whether we needed to really ‘go for it’ in the transfer window, in order to capitalise on the strong position we were in.
My word, we did that, and now we can reap the rewards that Championship football brings. This comes back to the work needed off the pitch, and Scully gave a further insight into what will be taking place at the Scampton site over the next few months.
“We have to upgrade the facilities again in the Championship. So we’re quickly cycling through what needs to be done to elevate the training ground. And there’s going to be a second and third phase, hopefully done over the course of the summer and the start of next season.
“As we rise, hopefully we can sustain ourselves in the championship. That will be a tough ask, but expectations of the players and coaches rise. We have to grow with the football club in all aspects, like I say, not just on the field.”
It’s one of the most exciting times in the club’s history, and we aren’t letting this success go by without capitalising on it.
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