The good, the bad and the ugly: three players who represented both Lincoln City and Sheffield United, with very different places in our history.
With the Blades coming up, it is time to look at another trio who have worn both shirts. This selection takes us from our first spell outside the Football League to the difficult years following our second relegation into non-league football, with a club-record signing somewhere in between.
The good is one of my all-time favourite Imps, a player whose contribution stretched well beyond the position he originally arrived to fill. The bad had ability, but the return on our investment fell a long way short of what I had hoped for when he signed.
As for the ugly, that comes down to the circumstances surrounding two very different spells at Sincil Bank. The same player arriving from a higher division as a young prospect, then returning as an experienced non-league footballer, tells its own story about what happened to us.
The Good: Paul Smith
Paul Smith is comfortably one of my all-time favourite Lincoln City players. Across eight years at Sincil Bank, he helped us regain our Football League place, changed positions and remained a dependable presence through a succession of managers.
His career began at Sheffield United, where he made 36 league appearances and scored once between 1982 and 1986. He featured in the side that won promotion from the Third Division under Ian Porterfield in 1983/84, although he never established himself as a regular at Bramall Lane. A loan at Stockport County brought five goals in seven league games, before he joined Port Vale in July 1986.
Colin Murphy brought him to Lincoln from Vale in September 1987, shortly after the start of our GM Vauxhall Conference campaign. Initially a pacey wide man and striker, Smith scored four times in his first five games, immediately suggesting he could help get us back into the league. John McGinlay and Phil Brown eventually took over much of the goalscoring responsibility, but Smith remained an important part of the title-winning side, missing only a short spell through injury towards the end of the campaign.
Injuries interrupted his first season back in the Fourth Division too, although there were still reminders of his attacking quality. He scored five times in five games around Christmas after returning from a spell out, then had another absence before reappearing in February. A brace in a 2-1 home win against York City showed he could still make the difference in front of goal.
The following season brought the move towards full-back, where he eventually settled. He went on to serve under Murphy, Allan Clarke, Steve Thompson, Keith Alexander and Sam Ellis, adapting as the club changed around him. By the end of his Lincoln career, he had made 305 appearances in all competitions and scored 40 goals.
Ellis eventually let him go in 1995, with a short spell at Halifax Town following his departure. Years of injury problems had taken their toll, but they never diminished what he had given us. Smith was a faithful, dedicated servant, and the sort of player whose place among your favourites survives long after the details of individual matches have faded.
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