Injury. It’s the one variable that clubs like Lincoln City can not factor in when signing players.
There have been some great players over the years lost to injury before they reached their peak. Ledley King, Paul Lake, Dean Ashton, Jack Wilshere, even Gazza. These are all players who could easily have been top England prospects, had injury not destroyed their careers.
When it comes to Lincoln, the discussion is probably two-fold. You have to look at players we had who were injured here and could have been great for us, or players we sold on who really could have excelled, had they not got injured after leaving City.
Thinking about the players who I felt could have been so much better if they’d stayed injury-free, I have decided to focus on Lincoln figures for now. There are just some players that you know could have been club legends, if only they hadn’t picked up severe injuries.
For some, the injury meant their career was finished. For others, it meant they just weren’t the same player when they came back. Either way, City history is littered with examples of players who could have been so much more if only they hadn’t been badly injured.
There’s a handful of players I may have mentioned here, but didn’t. Graham Bressington was one obvious pick, having missed a lot of his time at City with injury, but when he left, he did so in a move up the divisions, so he had bounced back to a degree.
For the record, this list has not just been compiled by me – I asked the site patrons what they thought, and have dropped some of their picks in as well.
Comments Welcome!