Every season, transfers happen, and you look on, often with envy, as players you admire switch clubs.
I’m less invested in jealousy these days because I have the utmost trust in our recruitment team to do the right thing for the club and bring good players to Sincil Bank. I didn’t always trust management, though, and before social media, I’d often flick through the paper enviously as clubs around us signed players I bloody loved.
I think my very first memory of wanting a player from another club was Darran Rowbotham of Exeter City. Does anyone remember him? He had a great season for them, maybe 1988/89, and at ten years old, I was convinced he could one day play for England. He didn’t; he played for Torquay, Mansfield and Crewe, but he was a player I’d have loved to see in the red and white of City.
My first example of being careful what I wished for was Joe Allon. I rejoiced when I saw we’d signed him, especially as he’d been at Chelsea, but it was a false dawn. That proved to me that signing a big name in the summer is all well and good, but they have to do the business. John Akinde is a classic example of that, I feel: a goal machine with Barnet, but not so lethal with us. He played a part though, unlike Joe, whose first goal after signing for us was against us!
With that in mind, and given I am away for a day or two and need to queue some bits in advance, I thought I’d put together a fun XI of players I always wanted us to sign, but who never became permanent Imps. I’m not saying these are the best players we played against, but they’re the ones that, for some reason, I always fancied at Lincoln City.
Disclaimer: There are no tactics to this; yes, I’ve got three at the back, but only one full-back. The midfield is unbalanced, and I’m playing three strikers, but these are players that, deep down, I always wanted at City, and finding an XI that fitted into some sort of structure was hard enough.
GK: Christy Pym
Pym came through Exeter City’s youth system and made 151 league appearances before joining Peterborough United in 2019. His time at London Road included seven Championship appearances, followed by loans at Stevenage and Mansfield Town. He made the Mansfield move permanent in 2023 before joining Grimsby Town in July 2025. Having represented England at under-20 level, he also earned a senior Northern Ireland call-up in 2024.
I would have loved to see Pym between the sticks for us, but it never happened. He is the only recent player on this list, proving I don’t make a habit of coveting other teams’ players in the modern era. Pym is different, though: he was outstanding for Exeter the season they beat us in the play-offs, and I always felt he could go on to become an established Championship keeper. He didn’t quite go on to prove that, but he was still a keeper I loved. Not now, not in this team, by the way.
DF: Matt Lockwood
Lockwood began as a trainee at Southend United before spells with Queens Park Rangers and Bristol Rovers. He joined Leyton Orient in 1998 and spent nine years there, establishing himself as an attacking left-back before moving to Nottingham Forest in 2007. Colchester United followed, along with loans at Barnet and Dagenham & Redbridge, before four years at Dundee and a spell with Sutton United. He later moved into international football with Montserrat as a coach and technical director.
Matt Lockwood was primarily a left-back, and I remember him from Orient. Researching this, I see he earned five Team of the Year selections across England and Scotland, and it isn’t difficult to understand why. He always seemed so composed on the ball and had a decent delivery, too. For some reason, he reminded me a lot of Ian Baraclough, a vastly underrated Imps player from the past. Remember, he was a full-back; get this stat: in 328 league games for Orient, he scored 50 goals, roughly one every six or seven games.
DF: Efe Sodje
Sodje started his senior career at Stevenage Borough before joining Macclesfield Town in 1997. His long Football League career took him through Luton, Crewe, Huddersfield, Yeovil, Southend, Gillingham and Bury, with loan spells elsewhere and a later return to Macclesfield. Born in London, he represented Nigeria 12 times, scoring once, and appeared at both the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2002 World Cup.
Oh, how I hated Sodje. The big bugger was always there, kicking our players, winning headers and rubbing our noses in it. He was part of the Huddersfield team that beat us in the play-offs, then he was at Yeovil, Southend and Bury. With every move, I’d mutter something about him being a massive shit under my breath, secretly wishing he’d sign for us. I feel he was a great defender, big and strong, purpose-built for Keith’s tactics. Plus, imagine the money the club shop would have made from that bandana he used to wear.
DF: Andy Crosby
Crosby began at Leeds United but made his Football League breakthrough with Doncaster Rovers, later playing for Darlington, Chester City, Brighton and Oxford United. He joined Scunthorpe in 2004 and helped them win three promotions during six seasons at the club, including the League One title in 2006/07. His playing career brought 715 league and cup appearances, and he subsequently moved into coaching and management, including spells in charge of Port Vale and Tranmere Rovers.
When we talk about players who are easy to hate, Crosby is right up there. I remember him playing for Oxford and giving almost as much stick back to the fans as he was getting. He went to Scunthorpe and was always there, kicking our players, beating us in the air and celebrating victories like he’d won the FA Cup. I think a mark of a good player is if you hate them for no real reason, unlike Szmodics, where there’s good reason. I disliked Crosby because he was good, pure and simple. He would have fitted in brilliantly with City, even after Keith left, when we needed a proper leader.
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