Barney Stewart
First reported: 15th May
Falkirk forward Barney Stewart was linked with City by Pete O’Rourke, who reported that the Imps, West Bromwich Albion and Oxford United had all seen bids rejected for the Scotland Under-21 international. The 22-year-old joined Falkirk from Heriot-Watt University in 2024 and developed rapidly after scoring regularly during a loan spell with Dunfermline Athletic, before carrying that form into the Scottish Premiership. Stewart scored 18 times across the campaign, earned nominations for two young player awards and attracted reported seven-figure offers while under a long-term contract with Falkirk.
He eventually signed for West Brom, where he currently has five substitute appearances under his belt. Jez George later confirmed that City had been involved in the competition to sign Stewart:
“There were a couple of players we identified in Scotland really early and watched extensively last season. If you look at those players in terms of their profile, age and attributes, you would describe them as Lincoln City players and Lincoln City signings.
“We decided that, at that point in the summer, we were losing nothing by being in that race. With one of those two players, I think 44 clubs had registered an interest with his club.
“We met, we did presentations and we did what we do. We tried in the best possible way to sell our club to those players and their agents.”
He didn’t name Stewart, but I did in my question to him, so that seems to be that.
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