Liam Bridcutt
You could argue Bridcutt was not a success at Lincoln, but he still ranks as one of the best players I’ve seen in a Lincoln City shirt. He arrived at Sincil Bank with a reputation built at a much higher level, but his spell immediately before City had gone badly wrong. Nottingham Forest had paid around £1 million for him in 2017, yet after 25 league appearances in his first season he virtually disappeared from the picture, making just one Championship appearance in 2018/19 before being sent on loan to Bolton Wanderers the following campaign.
By the time he joined us on loan in January 2020, Forest had effectively moved on from him. Bridcutt had made only 28 league appearances across two and a half seasons at the City Ground, while his Bolton spell brought another 11 before Forest recalled him early. It was a remarkable decline for a player who had previously been Brighton’s Player of the Year twice, played in the Premier League with Sunderland and captained Leeds United.
City gave him the platform to become important again. He was handed the captaincy during his initial loan spell, returned permanently after his Forest contract expired and became a major senior figure under Michael Appleton, helping the Imps reach the League One play-off final in 2021. His fitness was not always kind to him here either, but his time at Sincil Bank was still a significant revival after a Nottingham Forest spell that had simply fizzled out.
Some great names there from the past including my favourite GH. Goid article.