2 – Ben House
Eastleigh gave Ben House a route into regular senior football after his release by Reading, and his first month in the National League brought five league goals and the division’s Player of the Month award. We paid an undisclosed fee to sign him in January 2022, following a season and a half with the Spitfires. He finished 2022/23 as our leading scorer and Players’ Player of the Season, later signing a new contract to 2028 during the campaign that took us into the Championship.
Let’s not forget, House arrived from Eastleigh in a transfer window containing John Marquis, Morgan Whittaker, Liam Cullen, Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Charley Kendall, and it would be fair to say he wasn’t the signing attracting most of the attention. He looked like a project, somebody we had seen something in rather than somebody expected to transform the team immediately, which makes his subsequent importance all the more impressive.
There was a point when his goals and extraordinary work rate suggested he might become one of our first million-pound sales, but even if that never happens, we have had a tremendous return. He has adapted from leading the line to playing deeper or wider, endured difficult periods, thrived as the team improved and helped take us into the Championship. We are talking about a player recruited from the National League who is now widely regarded as one of the first names on our team sheet at the higher level.
His development has matched our own, and his understanding of what Lincoln City require from a footballer makes that relatively understated signing look inspired.
Hard to argue with the list … totally agree with comments about Harry Anderson !