ST: Jack Lester
Lester came through at Grimsby Town before joining Nottingham Forest in 2000, later spending time at Sheffield United and returning to Forest. His move to Chesterfield in 2007 brought the most prolific spell of his career, with 83 goals in 197 league appearances across six seasons. He finished his playing career with Gateshead in 2014 and subsequently moved into coaching, including a spell back at Chesterfield as manager.
Jack’s name came up whenever anyone talked about ‘proven strikers’. When he left Forest in 2007, fans wanted him, and rightly so. He hit double figures in five of his six seasons with Chesterfield, with 48 goals in all competitions in his first two seasons. Sure, we hated playing against him; he always seemed to score past us, but even when he left them well into his thirties, I’d have taken him at City. Even during an eight-game league stint with Gateshead, he scored against us. Mind you, my abiding memory of him is missing a Boxing Day penalty in front of the Stacey West in a game we won 2-1. The fact that the great ‘Jack Lad’ had failed to score was celebrated more vigorously than when we bagged!
ST: Miguel De Souza
De Souza’s route into senior football took him through Clapton, Charlton Athletic, Bristol City and Yeovil before a prolific spell at Dagenham & Redbridge earned him a move to Birmingham City. He joined Wycombe Wanderers in 1995 after a loan at Bury, then moved to Peterborough two years later. Subsequent stops included Rushden & Diamonds, Boston United and St Albans City, having played in defence and midfield earlier in his career before establishing himself up front.
De Souza played for Wycombe, Dagenham, Peterborough and Bury, to name a few, and was never consistently prolific. He got 15 in 21 league games for Dagenham and 29 in 83 for Wycombe, but those were the spells that really stood out. Here’s the thing: he’s the only player on this list I never saw live. Why did I want him, then? Championship Manager. Pure and simple, I bought him on Champ Man, Football Manager for all of you too young to remember, and he smashed the arse out of everyone. I was utterly convinced he was going to be a big star, and I dreamed of him signing for the Imps. Mind you, I did the same with Tommy Svindal Larsen, but I can’t really have him on this list.
ST: Chris Greenacre
Greenacre began his professional career at Manchester City and had several loan spells before joining Mansfield Town permanently in 2000. His goals for the Stags earned him a move to Stoke City in 2002, where he spent three seasons before joining Tranmere Rovers. He scored 46 goals in 142 league appearances for Tranmere, then moved to New Zealand with Wellington Phoenix in 2009, later progressing into coaching with the club.
There are hundreds of strikers I’ve wished we’d sign, from Adam Le Fondre to Micky Boulding, Michael Bridges to Luke Beckett. Most of those were unreachable for the Imps, but you don’t stop dreaming. I liked Greenacre, and he should have been within reach: he left Manchester City for Mansfield at a time when they were a similar-sized club to us. He was sensational for them, and I always thought he would go on to play top-flight football in England. He didn’t; he spent three seasons in the second tier with Stoke before ending up in League One with Tranmere.
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