They Could Have Been Great: The Lincoln City Players Lost To Injury

10. Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh started 46 matches in a three-year spell with the Imps, but was eligible for 171 through that period, meaning he featured in 26% of City’s games during his tenure.

In those matches, he showed a tenacious ability on the ball, a ball-playing defender with some old-school centre-back traits. We lost 19% of the league games Walsh played in, compared to a season average of 28%. There’s no doubt we were better with him, and had he stayed fit, who knows, he might have helped steer us into the Championship with panache.

9. Lewis Montsma

Lewis Montsma arrived like an unexpected Amazon delivery – we didn’t know what we were getting, but boy, was it exciting. He came out of the blocks like the only greyhound with five legs, striding through our early League One matches with a style and panache that said one thing. Championship.

He had it all. He could defend, he could stride forward and ping 50-yard balls with ease. I would almost say he swanned around the field, chipping in with goals as well. What was it, six in nine at the start of his career? Incredible stats. Remember, we were one season into League One, and in fairness, we’d tried to do it the year before on League Two winners. This was our first real foray into Europe, and it seemed we’d got one of the very best.

Injury began to dog him. He played twice in November, but popped up with a winner against Swindon in December. He missed most of January, but was back for the play-off run-in. The following season, he made his first league start on August 28th against Oxford, and in January, he made his final league start against Oxford, as he tore his ACL. After 13 months out, he came back, lasted 51 days, and did his ACL again. 17 months later, he was back against Harrogate, and while the story seemed written, it wasn’t.

He never really looked to be the same player, appearing 21 times in 2024/25 and just four times last season. He went to Dundee and didn’t play at all. Imagine if he’d stayed fit. First £1m player? That’s what some said.