Recently, I did an article on Lincoln City players who could have been heroes, had they stayed injury-free.
It struck me that there was also a select group who moved on from City with stars in their eyes, who could have done more on the bigger stage, but for injury.
These are players who excelled with us, who got their big move, be it for a chunky fee or sliding out the back door, but who were seemingly destined for bigger things, only for an injury to rob them of that chance.
I have picked five players who could have been so much better, had they not been cut down in the prime.
Tony James
I don’t think anyone can argue about the first entry. Tony James was destined for the very top. He joined City from Gainsborough Trinity and played 29 times. He made his Imps debut in a 1-1 draw with Crewe Alexandra on August 30th of 1988, just three short months after the historic GMVC win. It quickly became very clear to all who saw him that he oozed class in the centre of defence, and he was soon talked about as a man who could move for a lot of money.
He made just 29 strong performances for City, which alerted the attention of Leicester City, and a deal was swiftly done to take the DF styled ‘Greatest Imps of All’ to Filbert Street. His final outing for the Imps was in a 1-0 home win over county rivals Scunthorpe almost a year later on 19th August 1989. After one slightly injury-hit season with City, he left for a reported fee of £150,000.
He stayed at Leicester for four years and made close to 120 appearances for them, scoring 11 goals. He scored a crucial goal for them that retained their second division status in 1990 against Oxford Utd, which turned him into a hero there as well. However, a broken leg sustained in 1991 really hit Tony hard, and he never recovered the same form after that. He could have been a top-flight player: they were promoted to the Premier League in 1994, and had James been fit, he would have been a mainstay of the team. Instead, as they celebrated promotion, he moved on.
Upon completion of his time at Leicester, he moved to Hereford and Plymouth before retiring from the professional game in 1997 at the age of 31.
I missed the Tony James days because I was working abroad, which from a supporters view point is disappointing. As for the rest I’m glad I’ve been a part of.