Stacey West FC are delighted to announce that former Lincoln City striker Simon Yeo has signed on for the game against the British Heart Foundation!
The Stacey West are set to face the BHF on Friday, May 22nd, in aid of the Lincoln City Foundation. As Director of Football, it is my job to put a squad together, a blend of former Lincoln City players, people connected to the site, and maybe a ringer or two if we can tempt anyone! We’ve already signed National League hero Terry Hawkridge, John Beck-era Craig Stones, and 90s icon Dean West, and now we’ve bagged our striker.
The game is taking place at Ashby Avenue, home of Lincoln United, and it’s going to be much more than a game of football. We’re putting together a fun evening in conjunction with British Heart Foundation FC, and it’s going to be epic. Ben and Emily from the podcast will be doing live comms on the evening, and we’re hopeful of having Poacher there for the kids, as well as a penalty shoot-out competition and some stalls.
The match sponsor is Fox Electrical
Matchball sponsor is JJ Hunsley
We are also running a raffle, where currently the top prizes are a signed Erik Ring home shirt from this season and a Matthew JI Wood framed print celebrating the title win. More prizes to be added, and if you wish to donate a prize, please let me know. Tickets will go on sale next week.
Our latest signing
Does he need any introduction? He’s on the wall of the Treaty of Commerce, and his input in the early 2000s made him an icon whose name still reverberates around the city today.
Simon Yeo arrived at Sincil Bank in the summer of 2002 with a formidable non-League reputation after scoring more than 100 goals in four seasons for Hyde United, but his start at City was not entirely straightforward. He scored within his first two appearances, only for his goals to dry up as he drifted in and out of the side, often finding himself used from the bench. However, Yeo had a knack for delivering in big moments, and his most important contribution of that first season came when he ended a seven-month drought with the goal that secured Lincoln’s place in the 2003 Third Division play-offs. He then exploded into life in the semi-final against Scunthorpe United, scoring three times across the two legs as City reached the Millennium Stadium for the first time in their history.
Over the following seasons, Yeo became one of the most popular players of the Keith Alexander era and a genuine cult hero at Sincil Bank. His relentless work rate, instinctive finishing and impact off the bench saw him become the club’s all-time leading substitute goalscorer, while his partnership with the supporters only grew stronger as the goals flowed. The 2004/05 campaign was his standout year, with Yeo scoring 21 league goals, becoming the first Lincoln player since Gareth Ainsworth in 1996/97 to hit the 20-goal mark in a season. At that stage, it appeared his City story had ended after the play-off final defeat to Southend United, but a brief spell in New Zealand was followed by an emotional return to Lincoln on New Year’s Day 2006.
Yeo immediately picked up where he left off, scoring five times in 11 matches before a medial ligament injury suffered against Boston United disrupted the second half of his comeback campaign. Even so, his standing among supporters was cemented long before his departure, with the striker later voted City’s “Cult Hero” in a Football Focus poll. His final appearance for the Imps came in the play-off defeat against Grimsby Town in 2006, after which he opted to follow mentor Alexander to Peterborough United. By then, Yeo had firmly established himself as one of the defining figures of Lincoln’s mid-2000s rise.
Stacey West FC Squad: Chris Laming, Dean West, James Harness, Ollie Burton, Luke Wagstaff, Terry Hawkridge, Stewart Aisthorpe, Josh Chapman, Craig Stones, Josh Russell, Kyle Fox, Kyle Kennealey, Chris Marren, Simon Yeo and more TBC
Coach: TBC
Assistant Coach: Gary Hutchinson
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