It’s been sixty years since Lincoln City competed in the old Second Division, and for many, that is out of our memory bank by some distance.
It isn’t the case for everyone. Two Stacey West readers, Derek Burrows and Graham Tinkler, have been in touch, eager to share some of their recollections of that time under Bill Anderson.
Derek Burrows: Hooked For Life In 1954
Derek’s story begins in September 1954, when he first watched the Imps as a 12-year-old.
“You asked what it’s like being such an estranged City fan. Well, when I emigrated to New Zealand in 1973 it was very difficult. It was long before the internet and Sky, so British football got very little coverage over here, and certainly nothing involving the Imps.
“I had to content myself with making sure I could hear the UK football results on the radio at about 8am on a Sunday morning, and then wait for week-old British national newspapers to arrive so that I could at least see who scored for Lincoln.
“The only other link I had was when my Dad occasionally sent me clippings from the Football Echo.”
Before that move to New Zealand, Derek had been one of those lucky enough to see City in the Second Division. His first match came against Nottingham Forest, and the result did the rest.
“Seventy-odd years on, I still treasure my memories of standing on the terraces at Sincil Bank. I was especially fortunate to start following the Imps as a 12-year-old, when Lincoln were in the old Second Division.
“My first match was in September 1954 against Nottingham Forest, and the Imps won 2-1. I was hooked for life.”
City finished 16th in the Second Division that season, with the Forest game not only attracting Derek, but 14,166 other supporters. For Derek, part of the magic was not only watching Lincoln, but seeing the calibre of footballers coming to Sincil Bank. In the old Second Division, City were in the same orbit as clubs and players who would become part of the wider story of English football.
“I am glad I have lived to see Lincoln return to the second tier, and now our fans will get to see a higher calibre of visiting players gracing the LNER Stadium.
“I was fortunate enough to see players such as Harry Gregg, then of Doncaster and later Manchester United; Denis Law, with Huddersfield and Manchester United; John Charles and Jack Charlton with Leeds United; Brian Clough with Middlesbrough and Sunderland; and Johnny Haynes with Fulham.”
There is, though, a sadness attached to those memories. The Second Division years did not lead to permanence. They were followed by a decline that took City into the lower reaches of the Football League.
“Unfortunately, our 1961 relegation was followed by a plunge right through to the old Fourth Division and several re-election pleas.
“We were fortunate that geographically we were seen as more appealing fellow competitors than far-flung northern clubs like Workington and Barrow, who were voted out.”
Graham Tinkler: Football Echoes, Scrapbooks, and Sincil Bank
Graham’s memories begin a little later, in the late 1958/59 season, when he was around 9 or 10 years old, and a friend asked him to go to a match.
“I couldn’t believe that I could go and watch them. I had been getting interested in them because the man next door was giving me Saturday night’s Football Echo. I remember starting a scrapbook of the blue pictures, since gone, and no, not those blue pictures.
“The only picture I remember is one of the centre-half McEvoy. So, from the Sincil Bank terrace, I saw bits of the last three seasons in Division Two.”
Like many childhood memories, Graham’s version of that team is coloured by the fact he seemed to catch them on good days.
“To my mind, they were a very good team. Probably because every time I went, they won, except for the time they lost to Alf Ramsey’s Ipswich, 0-1.
“I thought they had gone on to win the league that year, but looking at the results, they had one more year to go before winning Division One. Memories play tricks. I do remember Ipswich being hard and workmanlike, though. Ruthless comes to mind.”
One of the few other occasions Graham saw City fail to win still felt like something close to a victory.
“The only other match I saw that City didn’t win was against Division One champions Burnley in the FA Cup, which finished 1-1. Against them, that almost felt like a win.
“Ron Harbertson scored with a long-range strike into the bottom corner. Good goal. He had a hard shot, like David Herd did at Manchester United.”
The names of the teams mentioned are all huge, but remember, football was much more rooted in the working class, much more grounded. These big clubs had big fans, but it wasn’t half-and-half scarves, selfies and tourists. This was thousands of working-class people following their team, sometimes in front of 15,000 or more.
There was Derby County, and a performance from a player who clearly left a lasting impression.
“There was the 6-2 win over Derby, with a hat-trick from my favourite player, right-winger John McClelland.
“He came in part exchange for George Hannah, who went to Manchester City. He must have been good. How did Lincoln get him?”
Another memory involved Middlesbrough, Brian Clough, and a reminder that some players do not need to dominate a match to define it.
“There was a 5-2 win over Middlesbrough. Brian Clough scored their two goals.
“I remember thinking that he didn’t do much, but he had two chances and scored them both. Well done, young man. His friend Peter Taylor was in goal.”
Bristol City also feature in Graham’s memories, although not for the game itself as much as what happened outside the dressing rooms afterwards.
“There was a 3-1 win against Bristol City. All I remember of this one is being outside the dressing rooms with my autograph-hunter friend and others. The players were very good at signing, but Bristol legend John Atyeo stormed out and never gave a glance to anyone.
“Perhaps he had just been told off.”
Sadly, by 1960/61, City were floundering, and yet Graham still remembers highlights, much like we would now.
“Looking back at the results of that time, I think I was lucky at the games I saw,” added Graham.
“There was the brilliant FA Cup win over West Brom, 3-1, with Don Howe, Ronnie Allen and Bobby Robson. I’m not sure Derek Kevan played, but I seem to remember him.
“My main remembrance is of captain Fred Middleton being chaired in front of the Railway End at the end of the game.”
That came in the 1960/61 season, a campaign City were dire in, but even now, the memories of big wins still stand out.
For Graham, one figure stood above the rest in terms of affection from the Sincil Bank crowd.
“Early on, I realised Andy Graver was a big favourite of the Sincil Bank crowd. What a shame he didn’t quite live long enough to see the latest team make it back.
“I saw him in the crowd at some of the games. Our family left the city as they went down, but I kept coming back for games when I could.”
The Long Years After
Both memories carry the same theme. The Second Division years were special, but what followed made them feel even more distant.
For Derek, that meant following City from the other side of the world, relying on radio results, old newspapers and Football Echo cuttings. For Graham, it meant the contrast between those early afternoons and the far harder days that came later.
“Well, the gods must have been looking down on me favourably at that time, but thinking they would make me suffer for this, and I certainly have.
“Bottom of the Fourth Division with Exeter, and a 0-0 draw with them, was one low point and about the worst game I’ve seen. I think Roy Chapman was manager at the time.”
The game, and watching Lincoln, have changed enormously since those days. For Graham, the simple act of deciding to go to a match at the last minute feels like part of another world now.
“I don’t think I will be coming much now, if at all. Long gone are the days when you could just decide to come and pay on the gate, and I’m getting on.”
These are exactly the sort of memories we want to record for future generations in the 1884 Collective. They make this return to the second tier feel bigger than a fixture list or a league table. For some, it is new ground. For others, it is a return to something they saw as children, when Sincil Bank hosted names who would go on to become legends, and Lincoln City briefly stood in a very different place in the English game.
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