I want to do a feature that basically looks at players who have both played for Lincoln City and our opponents, in this case, Middlesbrough.
I’ll try this today and see how it goes. Might not get any eyes, so if not, we’ll shelve it, but for now, let’s see. The crux is I’ll pick a player who played for both; one we like and one we don’t, and then do ‘the Ugly, ‘ which is essentially one for everyone to discuss, who is neither fair nor foul. I thought about calling it The Good, The Bad and Marmite, but I’m not sure if that’ll stick.
Does that make sense?
The Good: Adam Jackson
I’m definitely going for one of my favourite post-Covid players. Adam Jackson’s Middlesbrough connection goes right back to the start of his career, having come through the academy on Teesside before spending five years on their books as a professional. He never made a senior appearance for Boro, with his route into first-team football eventually coming through loans at FC Halifax Town, Coventry City and Hartlepool United before he left permanently for Barnsley in 2016.
It is at City where Jackson has really put down roots, joining in August 2020 and going on to make 178 appearances in all competitions by the end of 2025/26, including 153 in the league. He scored on the opening day of his first League One campaign against Oxford United and, despite injuries interrupting him at various points, became one of the longest-serving and most dependable members of the squad.
The Bad: Ben Hutchinson
Ben Hutchinson came through at Middlesbrough after joining from Arnold Town in 2006, eventually making eight senior appearances and scoring once, that goal coming on his Premier League debut against Manchester City in October 2007. Celtic took him north in 2008, reportedly in a deal that could rise significantly depending on appearances, and it was through Chris Sutton’s Celtic connections that he arrived at Sincil Bank on loan in August 2010. He came with the sort of pedigree that suggested he could make a real difference in League Two, but four goals in 36 league appearances tells a rather different story.
His City spell is best remembered for all the wrong reasons, particularly the night he reportedly branded supporters “the worst fans in the world” after receiving criticism from the stands, a line which unsurprisingly became a terrace chant in the weeks that followed. Things got worse later in the season when he was sent off against Macclesfield with City leading 1-0, only for the visitors to equalise late on in a campaign that ultimately ended in relegation from the Football League. Hutchinson had arrived with a big reputation and enough talent to suggest he should have been capable of much more, but instead he became one of the most frustrating symbols of that disastrous 2010/11 side.
The Ugly: Mustapha Carayol
First, the clarification: Mustapha Carayol is not here because there is anything “ugly” about him; this is the category for those players whose City legacy sits somewhere between good and bad and is worth debating. Chris Sutton brought him to Sincil Bank from Torquay United for £35,000 in 2010 after seeing first-hand what his pace and ability could do, and Carayol scored on his debut at Rotherham before finishing the season with four goals in 37 appearances across all competitions. There were flashes of a genuinely exciting winger, but injuries restricted him and he featured in only four matches during that dreadful closing run as City slipped out of the Football League.
Perhaps the frustration comes from what happened afterwards, because Carayol clearly had the ability to operate at a much higher level and eventually joined Middlesbrough in 2012, making 54 appearances in all competitions and scoring 12 times for Boro. He produced eight Championship goals in 2013/14 alone before an ACL injury curtailed that season, and his subsequent career included spells with Brighton, Huddersfield, Leeds and Nottingham Forest. That makes his City spell difficult to categorise: he was clearly talented and showed it occasionally, but supporters who watched the 2010/11 relegation season might reasonably wonder why we never saw enough of the player who later proved capable of making an impact in the Championship.
Comments Welcome!