With Lincoln City stepping into the Championship, we thought we’d take a comprehensive look back at the last time we had a long stay in Division Three, resulting in promotion.
You have to go back over 100 years for us to have a similarly long stay in the Third Tier that ended in promotion, and it certainly wasn’t all flowers and sunshine. Our first season in the Third Division North began with the relief of being back in the Football League and ended with the club publicly questioning whether it could carry on. What should have been a moment of renewal instead became one of the most precarious periods in our early history.
The problems had started a year earlier, in 1920. At the end of the first post-war season, we lost our place in the Second Division after failing to win re-election, and thanks to a little bit of match fixing by Coventry City. Grimsby Town had finished below us, but that counted for little when the votes were cast. They were admitted to the newly formed Third Division, while we were left outside the League.
We could have followed Grimsby into the Southern Section, but the cost of travelling made that option unattractive. Instead, we returned to the Midland League and began reshaping the squad. Several senior players moved on, including William Ashurst, Frank Chipperfield and Fred Linfoot, all of whom had arrived after Leeds City were disbanded in 1919. Their departures to Notts County, Middlesbrough and Chelsea brought in a combined profit of more than £1,500, a significant sum for a club already accustomed to balancing its books through player sales.
There was irritation among supporters when admission prices remained unchanged despite the drop in status, but the season itself gave us plenty to enjoy. We won the Midland League title by four points from Notts County Reserves and did so with a side capable of playing attractive football. Bainbridge was the regular goalkeeper, with Atkin or Greaves and Ward behind a half-back line of Bryan, Fenwick and Richardson or Atkin. Hopper, Rippon, Bretnall, Bird and Ball formed the usual attack.
The FA Cup also provided a welcome reminder that we could still trouble Football League opposition. Bromley were beaten 5-0 at Sincil Bank before we travelled to Millwall and won 3-0. That left us as the final non-league side in the competition and set up a home tie against Fulham in the last 32.
The club increased prices for the occasion, with adult admission ranging from two shillings to 10 shillings and sixpence. A crowd of 12,500 generated receipts of £1,637, a new record, and watched us earn a goalless draw. We were beaten 1-0 in the replay at Craven Cottage, but the run had brought prestige, excitement and money at a time when all three were useful.
Manager James Fraser left for Grimsby in April, with the Midland League title almost secured. His replacement was David Calderhead junior, whose surname already meant something at Sincil Bank. His father had managed City before moving on to Chelsea, where he was then in his 11th season. Calderhead junior had played for Lincoln Boys and later represented Chelsea, Motherwell and Clapton Orient, but management offered him the chance to establish his own reputation.
He inherited a club preparing for another change in surroundings.
Back in the Football League
The idea of a northern section of the Third Division had existed for some time. Former City secretary JH Strawson had supported such a competition during our difficult Second Division years, recognising that clubs like Lincoln needed somewhere to compete when the financial gap to the wealthier sides became too large.
Strawson had left before the plan was finally approved, with Alderman Cropper of Chesterfield taking much of the credit for pushing it through. The Football League Management Committee had not been united behind the proposal, despite the Southern Section already being in operation. Agreement only came after the applicant clubs offered financial guarantees to satisfy the League.
The Northern Section was created in March 1921. Fourteen clubs, including ourselves, were admitted together, another four were elected from the remaining applicants, Grimsby moved across from the Southern Section and Stockport County came down from the Second Division.
Our new opponents included Darlington, Hartlepools, Accrington Stanley, Crewe Alexandra, Stalybridge Celtic, Walsall, Southport, Ashington, Durham City, Wrexham, Chesterfield, Barrow, Nelson, Wigan Borough, Tranmere Rovers, Halifax Town and Rochdale. After a year back in the Midland League, we were once again members of the Football League.
There were practical improvements at Sincil Bank before the season began. The dressing rooms were renovated, the pitch had survived a dry summer in good condition and cinders were laid along the Sincil Drain side to improve the footing for spectators. Calderhead offered a restrained assessment of our prospects, describing himself as “quietly confident”.
That confidence was understandable. We had just won a championship and retained much of the side which had done it. The difficulty was that the strongest part of that team had already begun to break up.
A Forward Line Lost
The defence from the Midland League title season largely remained, but the attack did not. Of the established front five, only Rippon stayed. Hopper was transferred to Millwall, Ball retired after several years with the club and Bretnall’s business commitments in Sheffield made a return to Sincil Bank impractical. He wanted to play for a side whose away matches would not take him too far from home, while any move for him would also have involved negotiating a fee with Sheffield Wednesday.
The replacements struggled to give the side the same threat. Boylen and Hall alternated on the right, with Hall’s sprinting ability standing out more than his football. Chambers was used at centre-forward and brought enthusiasm, but he was still developing. Lees, who had previously played for Barnsley and Rotherham, had technical ability without always driving the side forward. Lemons arrived after a strong season with Scunthorpe but found the pace of the division difficult, while former Fulham winger Walker was nearing the end of his career.
Those shortcomings shaped the season. We conceded 59 league goals in 38 matches, which was respectable enough for a side finishing in the bottom half, but scored only 48. The attack never recovered from the summer departures.
Our first Northern Section fixture came at home to Walsall on 27 August 1921. A crowd of 6,580 attended, with Lord Monson among them, and Rippon scored in a 1-0 victory. Under the scheduling system of the time, the return fixture was played the following Saturday, when Walsall responded with a 3-0 win.
The opening crowd suggested there was enthusiasm for the new competition, but that faded as the results failed to match the previous season. We had won only four league games by Christmas and spent much of the campaign away from the leading positions.
Football also had to compete with the much harsher concerns of everyday life. Unemployment was high, living costs were rising and housing conditions in parts of Lincoln were appalling. Some families were living 16 to two rooms, while certain parts of the city had 128 households packed into an acre when the expected figure was 16. In those circumstances, paying to watch City was not a simple choice. Attendances suffered accordingly.
The Cup Blow
The FA Cup had been profitable and uplifting during the Midland League season, so another run could have eased some of the financial pressure. Instead, we went out at the first stage.
Northampton Town, from the Southern Section, came to Sincil Bank and fell behind to a goal from Lees. We stayed in front until the closing minutes, but the game turned quickly. Lockett, a schoolmaster who had previously played for Wolverhampton Wanderers, scored twice in the final five minutes and Northampton won 2-1.
The result was damaging in more ways than one. It was a home defeat against opposition from the same level, but more importantly, it removed the possibility of further cup income. The contrast with the Fulham tie less than a year earlier was severe.
By December, chairman Pearce Milner had reached the point where the club’s position could no longer be hidden. We needed £350 from each home game to cover our costs. The best return from any match that season had been £230. Milner had been chairman for more than 14 years, but he was no longer prepared to see the directors continue covering the losses.
“The directors have made up their minds not to guarantee any more money. If Lincoln people want football they must help to pay.”
He resigned a week later. Cornelius Taylor took over, although he made it clear that he saw himself as a temporary chairman and believed the club needed younger leadership. His first task was to explain just how serious the situation had become. City had survived through the sale of players, but that could not be relied upon indefinitely. Unless the public supported the club in greater numbers, the board faced a decision which went far beyond cutting costs.
“We must consider the advisability of closing the club down.”
The directors appealed directly to 13 prominent local figures for financial help. None of them replied. A shilling fund was launched, but that also failed to produce the required response. The shortage of money was then compounded by a break-in at Sincil Bank. Thieves stole tools and playing equipment, adding another expense at precisely the point the club could least afford it.
A Motorcycle Dash to Durham
The season also produced one of the more unusual stories from our early years. Before the trip to Durham City on 2 January, goalkeeper Robert Bainbridge reached Lincoln station just as the team’s train was leaving. He tried to catch up by travelling to Retford, but there was no onward connection available, so he returned to Lincoln. Local newsagent George Doughty learned what had happened and offered an alternative. Bainbridge climbed into the sidecar of Doughty’s motorcycle and the pair set off for Durham at 11.15 am.
They did not arrive before the match started. John Bryan, normally a midfielder, had to play in goal and acquitted himself well enough, although we lost 2-0.
By then, crowds at Sincil Bank were continuing to shrink. Only 3,107 attended the home game against Accrington Stanley, and the poor gates reflected both the team’s position and the wider hardship in the city. We eventually finished 14th out of 20, with 48 goals scored and 59 conceded.
That first Northern Section season did not bring a promotion challenge, a memorable cup run or any obvious sign of progress. Its importance lay elsewhere. We had returned to the Football League, but immediately discovered that membership alone did not guarantee security. The division gave us a place to play, yet the club still needed people through the gates and money in the accounts.
The Third Division North would later become an important route for clubs and players seeking to rise through the game. It helped bring figures such as Dixie Dean, Charlie Gee, Tom Waring, Sammy Crooks, George Camsell, Jack Burgess and Ellis Rimmer to wider attention.
In 1921/22, however, our ambitions were far more modest. We were trying to make sure Lincoln City had another season.
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