Sam Ellis turned to a vastly experienced figure to complete his Lincoln City management team on 25 August 1994, appointing Frank Lord as his new assistant at Sincil Bank.
The vacancy had been created by Billy Ayre’s departure to become manager of Scarborough, and Lord arrived with a background that stretched far beyond the lower divisions of English football. He had managed Hereford United, worked alongside Malcolm Allison at Manchester City and spent significant periods coaching overseas, including in South Africa and with the Malaysian national team.
Interestingly, Ellis revealed that Lord had been under serious consideration when he originally selected Ayre as his number two.
“Frankly, it was a toss up between Frank Lord and Billy Ayre when I chose initially.”
“But with Frank having spent so much time abroad in recent years, particularly in South Africa, I felt that Billy would have greater knowledge of players at this level.”
Ayre’s move to Scarborough changed the situation and gave Ellis the chance to bring Lord into the club after all.
By then, Lord had amassed a substantial amount of experience both as a player and a coach. A prolific centre-forward during his playing career, he scored 172 goals in 354 Football League appearances for Rochdale, Crewe Alexandra, Plymouth Argyle, Stockport County, Blackburn Rovers and Chesterfield. He was particularly productive at Crewe, scoring 68 league goals in 108 matches.
His coaching career took him into an even wider range of environments. After working with Plymouth Argyle, Crystal Palace and Preston North End, he spent time managing Cape Town City in South Africa and later took charge of Hereford. He subsequently worked in Malaysia, including a spell in charge of the national side, before returning to English football.
Ellis saw that breadth of experience as one of the major attractions of the appointment. Lord’s role would not simply be administrative, with much of his work focused directly on the playing squad.
“Frank’s job will essentially be to work with the players at the club and give me the kind of experienced backing I need, as well as being someone to lean on.”
Ellis himself had only taken charge at City that summer, following Keith Alexander’s departure at the end of the previous season. It was his first managerial position since a short spell with Bury in 1989/90, although he had subsequently worked as Peter Reid’s assistant at Manchester City.
There was movement within the playing squad as well. Midfielder Steve Mardenborough, who had fallen out of favour, was poised to join Exeter City on a month’s loan with the possibility of a permanent move. City’s reserves had also begun their Midland Senior League campaign with a 2-1 defeat at Rochdale, one of the goals coming from an own goal.
Lord’s stay at Sincil Bank would not be particularly long. He later moved to Wigan Athletic as football co-ordinator and briefly became their caretaker manager in 1995, before eventually returning to South Africa.
For Ellis, though, the appointment in August 1994 was about adding experience alongside him at the start of a new era. Having initially chosen Ayre ahead of Lord, circumstances had provided a second opportunity, and this time Ellis took it.
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