Former Lincoln City Man Released By League One Outfit

Former Lincoln City full-back Cohen Bramall will be a free agent when his contract at Luton Town expires at the end of June. 

Bramall only signed for the Hatters last summer on the back of their relegation to League One, but he will be looking for a new club for the second successive summer.

The 30-year-old left Sincil Bank almost four years ago and will almost certainly be playing at a lower level than the Imps next season.

It’s funny how football works. Adam Reach also went into consecutive summers without a club, but last year was signed up by Lincoln on deadline day. Perhaps Bramall will have a similar story to tell later this summer, given some of the parallels between the two players in recent years. It’s been a tough season for Bramall and Luton, who were eyeing an immediate return to the Championship after successive relegations from the top-flight to the third-tier.

Turning that losing feeling around can be tough, and in Matt Bloomfield’s case, one that eventually cost him his job last October. In came Jack Wilshere for his first permanent job in senior management, leading the Hatters to EFL Trophy glory at Wembley. However, the opportunity for a second visit to the national stadium just eluded them on a dramatic final day of the season, missing out on a play-off place to Stevenage.

Wilshere and Bramall were briefly teammates at Arsenal in 2017, and the Hatters gaffer put his faith in the Crewe-born left-back during his first few months at Kenilworth Road. However, injuries in the second half of the season ruled him out for much of their recent good run of form, playing just 38 minutes of League One football since the end of January. It was a similar end to his time at Sincil Bank, when I remember Bramall pulling up during an awful game at Shrewsbury Town in March 2022.

Signed by Michael Appleton midway through the covid season, he started 12 of the remaining 21 League One fixtures, but didn’t play any part in the play-offs. In his only full season at Sincil Bank, Bramall made 36 appearances, laying on five assists. He departed City after Rotherham United met his release clause, which was believed to be in the region of £200,000.

Where Has Bramall Been Since Leaving Lincoln?

At the time, the Millers had just been promoted to the Championship, so it was a move that made sense all around. The former Gunner played a part in keeping the South Yorkshire outfit in the division, appearing on 39 occasions in his debut campaign at the New York Stadium. They were unable to sustain themselves as a second-tier outfit, though, dropping back into the third tier the following year.

After struggling back in League One, he surprisingly returned to the second tier the following January, as Portsmouth made a late move in the winter window. Twelve appearances later, Bramall was released after his short-term contract on the south coast came to an end. A year on, the ex-Imp is in the same position once again.