Lincoln City have announced six new scholars ahead of the 2026/27 season, all of whom will link up with the Under 18s, including a former West Brom striker and a Nottingham Forest midfielder.
The intake arrives as the young Imps look to build on a positive finish to the 2025/26 season, with joint lead professional development phase coach Sam Tillen offering his thoughts on each player and the qualities they will bring into the academy programme.
New Scholars Confirmed
Tariro Darikwa arrives from Nottingham Forest as a versatile left-sided defender, bringing both defensive ability and a willingness to get forward. He is a familiar name to City fans, as his half-brother is none other than our club captain.
“There’s a family connection with his half-brother being captain of the first team, Tariro is a left-sided defender who likes to get forward,” Tillen said.
“He’s comfortable on the ball and has all the physical attributes we look for in this position.”
Sam Male joins from West Brom, having previously been with Crewe and is described as a hard-working striker with an eye for goal. Coming out of a bigger academy, there are parallels to draw here with the likes of Jovon and Freddie Draper, who came from Derby County at the same age.
“Sam works really hard, makes intelligent and unselfish runs and has shown that he is a good finisher,” said Tillen. “We also know there is plenty more to come from Sam physically, and he is another player who will benefit from a full-time structured training programme.”
Prem Sidhu is signing a two-year scholarship after a trial period following his departure from Nottingham Forest. He impressed while playing for Walsall Phoenix as a youth. He is a technically gifted central player, with a free-flowing style of play and undeniable confidence.
“Prem likes to get on the ball to make things happen and he is capable of playing a deeper role in midfield as well as a little bit more advanced because of his vision and technical atrributes,” said Tillen.
“Since he has joined us, he has realised the out of possession work is just as important as in-possession, which is the pre-requisite at this club and he will develop as a player because of it.”
We haven’t just gone out and grabbed players from elsewhere; three of the intake have been with the Imps for a period of time.
Fletcher Don-Duncan will also step into the scholarship programme after featuring regularly for City’s U18S during the 2025/26 campaign. A left-sided central defender, he joined the club from grassroots football around a year ago and has made quick progress through the academy pathway.
Tillen said: “Fletcher has done really well – he has a great mentality to learning and really wants to get better.
“He’s a left-sided centre half, capable of distributing the ball while also being good physically and he is someone we’re really hoping will benefit from the full-time Academy programme because he came to us from grassroots around a year ago.
“The trajectory he’s on has been rapid and having done very well in the U16 programme, he will really benefit from training every day.”
Leo Fifield will begin his scholarship after joining the young Imps from Coventry City, having spent the second half of last season with City’s U18 side. The forward made a strong impact in front of goal and will now continue his development in Lincoln’s full-time academy environment.
“Leo has done extremely well: he’s managed to play a significant amount of the games for us post-Christmas and he’s scored more than a goal a game for the youth team,” Tillen said.
“He has scored with all types of finishes, and we look forward to helping him develop his game, especially out of possession, as he’s been the big standout in terms of his performances over the last four or five months.”
Goalkeeper Isaac Shaw has already spent three years in City’s academy and will now continue that progress as a first-year scholar. He has impressed with his development, and has even trained with our first team keeper coach.
“Isaac is a goalkeeper who has been with us for three years and is a massive personality, showing real leadership qualities, who carries himself extremely well,” said Tillen.
“He’s developed really well, his improvement has been exponential in the last few months, and the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch indicates that he will really thrive in a full-time environment. Isaac has already trained with David Preece in the first team environment, and he is the type of character who will get the most out of his scholarship.”
It will be fascinating to watch the Under-18s develop next season and to see how the new faces fit in.
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