Former Lincoln City defender Sean Roughan has wished the club well for the Championship, while reflecting on his chances with Huddersfield Town.
Roughan was ever-present during the 2024/25 season, and often criticised much harsher than he should have been. Comfortable at left back, or left of a three, the young Irishman left for a fee thought to be in the region of half a million pounds.
He had to fight for his place in the Terriers’ side this campaign, but ended the campaign as a regular, alongside another former Imp, Lasse Sorensen. Both players seemed to be making an upward move when leaving Sincil Bank, but watched on as we ‘dominated’ the division.
That’s a word used by Roughan, who has spoken on our promotion this week, in relation to his own ambition for Championship football with the Terriers.
“Looking at Lincoln now and seeing them adds a little bit more fuel to the fire,” he told the Yorkshire Post.
“I am delighted for them and they have done very well this season and they know what they are capable of and what they wanted to do and did it very, very well.
“They came up against teams and dominated a lot of teams this year and fair play to them and I hope they do well in the Championship.”
I always thought Sean was treated harshly at City, certainly by Michael Appleton. After breaking into the side as a 16-year-old, he was given the runaround by Portsmouth in November 2020. After that, he disappeared from view, not making a league appearance for nearly two years. He was the only player to be taken off during the 1-0 win against Bowers & Pitsea in the FA Cup, and that was his only outing in 2021/22.
Mark Kennedy reinstated him to the team, and he began to thrive. That carried on under Michael Skubala, and quickly he went from forgotten prospect to solid first-team player, but with some fans, there was no going back. Trials at Southampton and Chelsea had some convinced his heart wasn’t with Lincoln, which was grossly unfair.
When he didn’t sign a new deal, there was some backlash, as there is when players move on, as if staying on much less money is the obvious outcome, given that is what fans think loyalty looks like. Personally, I was a big Sean Roughan fan, and I hope he gets a big move away from Huddersfield, so he plays in the Championship, just not with them.
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