In April 1983, Lincoln City had a national cup final to prepare for, with Sincil Bank providing the stage.
We were quite famous for a while for being one of only a handful of clubs who never played at Wembley, and we never appeared at the old Wembley. That run was kept up by the Millennium Stadium hosting our two play-off finals, meaning it took 134 years for us to appear at the national stadium.
However, the trips to Wales weren’t our only near misses. In 1983, we reached the final of what is today known as the EFL Trophy, only for the final to be played at the real home of football: Sincil Bank. Our route there had begun eight months earlier, in a competition whose name had just changed and whose format would soon disappear altogether. The Football League Trophy offered the Imps an opportunity to bring silverware to the Bank, although its place in the history of the competition we know today takes a little explaining.
Early EFL Trophy
It had started life in 1981 as the Football League Group Cup, replacing the Anglo-Scottish Cup after the withdrawal of the Scottish clubs. Grimsby Town won its inaugural edition, before a change of name brought the Football League Trophy into being for 1982/83. This was the predecessor to the Associate Members’ Cup, introduced the following season, which would eventually develop into today’s EFL Trophy.
The format brought together 32 clubs in eight regional groups of four, with each side playing three group matches and only the winners progressing to the quarter-finals. From there, single-match knockout ties would decide the finalists, with extra time and penalties available to settle matters. The final itself would take place at the home ground of one of the competing clubs. For City, the journey began in a group containing Scunthorpe United, holders Grimsby Town and Sheffield United, with three August fixtures offering the first opportunity to make progress.
City began that campaign with a squad of just 14 senior players, two of them goalkeepers, and very little money to improve it. Colin Murphy had a small group of youngsters to call upon, but there was precious little protection against injury. The club was anticipating a loss approaching £200,000 and liabilities of almost £400,000, figures that made keeping the team together an achievement in itself.
An attempt to bring in money during the summer had made matters considerably worse. A country music festival at Sincil Bank, featuring Billie Jo Spears, attracted fewer than a thousand people across two days against an anticipated six thousand, with dreadful weather contributing to the failure. Originally budgeted at £20,000, the event ended up costing £46,000 and taking just £6,000, leaving the club with another substantial hole in its finances.
Gilbert Blades, who had followed Dennis Houlston into the chair, was overseeing a fight to preserve League football in Lincoln. The eventual sale of Sincil Bank to the council raised £225,000, with the club paying £11,250 a year in rent for the first three years and retaining an option to buy the ground back. Crucially, the rescue came with conditions, including cuts to staffing costs and the playing squad. It helped keep the club alive, but left Murphy trying to sustain a promotion challenge with very little room for anything to go wrong.
14 August 1982: Scunthorpe United 1-1 Lincoln City
City’s journey began with a point rescued late in the afternoon at the Old Showground, where a crowd of just 1,022 watched a performance that took time to find any rhythm. There was greater commitment than in the County Cup defeat against the same opposition three days earlier, but Scunthorpe were ahead inside five minutes. After Trevor Peake conceded a free-kick, a curling delivery from Neil Pointon found Les Hunter, later an Imps’ player, whose looping header carried beyond Stuart Naylor.
City had opportunities to recover, with Gordon Hobson shooting wide before forcing a good save from Joe Neenan after an excellent George Shipley pass. Naylor also had work to do at the other end, while Steve Thompson made an important challenge to prevent another Scunthorpe opening just before the interval. The home side continued to threaten after the restart, and City needed the woodwork when Steve Cammack’s effort struck the post in the 51st minute.
The breakthrough finally arrived nine minutes from time, by which point Scunthorpe had been forced to replace their injured goalkeeper. Stuart Hibberd delivered a beautifully weighted ball from just inside the home half, and Tony Cunningham timed his run to meet it with an accurate header beyond the substitute keeper. Hunter still had time to head a late Scunthorpe chance wide, but City had their opening point and something to build on before the visit of Grimsby.
The shortage of cover was already dictating who played and where, with injuries and Phil Neale’s summer absence helping to put 16-year-old Chris Moyses at full-back against Scunthorpe. Paul Brown was now injured as well, leaving Moyses in place for the visit of Grimsby. Murphy warned that using the same players in every game was hardly ideal preparation for a new season, and his immediate priority was avoiding further casualties. David Felgate returned in goal after Naylor’s outing at the Old Showground, but the bigger problem was how few alternatives there were around him.
18 August 1982: Lincoln City 2-1 Grimsby Town
The visit of the holders brought a marked improvement, with City rediscovering the composure that had been missing at Scunthorpe. Moyses helped create the opening goal after just seven minutes, splitting the Grimsby defence with a pass from inside his own half. Glenn Cockerill ran clear, took the ball in his stride and slipped it underneath the advancing Nigel Batch to put the Imps ahead.
David Felgate was important in preserving that advantage, making a fine early save and remaining alert as Grimsby created further chances before the break. City also continued to threaten, with Moyses delivering another dangerous cross and Shipley heading an opportunity from Phil Turner’s delivery. Early in the second half, Batch touched away a Cockerill header as the Imps looked for the second goal that would give them some breathing space.
Instead, Grimsby equalised in the 76th minute when a right-wing cross found Kevin Drinkell unmarked at the far post, but City restored their lead just two minutes later. Turner broke down the right, Batch missed his cross and Thompson headed home to settle the derby in front of 1,430 spectators. With a bonus point available for scoring three goals, the Imps continued to attack and should have claimed it when Hobson was presented with an open goal late on, only for his weak effort to allow Batch to recover. Even without that extra point, the victory kept City’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive.
21 August 1982: Lincoln City 3-1 Sheffield United
City completed their group fixtures with an excellent attacking performance against the previous season’s Fourth Division champions, although they first had to recover from going behind. Both sides wasted early opportunities before Keith Edwards put Sheffield United ahead in the 19th minute, volleying home from around 15 yards. The response came through Cockerill in the 37th minute, collecting Shipley’s pass, wrong-footing a defender and spotting Keith Waugh off his line before curling a superb effort over the goalkeeper from 25 yards.
Waugh’s afternoon ended shortly afterwards when a collision with Cunningham left him with a broken collarbone, bringing substitute goalkeeper Steve Conroy into the game. City began the second half confidently and took the lead in the 57th minute following a spell of pressure from successive corners. Moyses sent the ball back into the box, Conroy failed to claim it under a challenge from Cockerill, and Cunningham finished to put the Imps ahead.
Eight minutes later, Cunningham headed a long clearance into Cockerill’s path, allowing the midfielder time to steady himself before driving an unstoppable shot past Conroy from 15 yards. That third goal secured the bonus point and City’s place in the quarter-finals, with Turner almost adding another when his late effort struck the post. Sheffield United enjoyed their best spell in the closing stages, but Thompson helped repel their attacks and Naylor made important saves to protect the two-goal advantage. A crowd of 2,800 had watched City turn an uncertain start to the group into a convincing passage through it.
Off Field Problems
With qualification secured, attention returned to a dispute that would hang over the league campaign. Blades wanted to change the players’ agreed bonus scheme, arguing that previous arrangements had committed the club to increases it could not afford. The players calculated that his proposal amounted to a 45% cut, while Maurice Burton argued that their relatively modest basic wages made those bonuses an important part of their earnings. The team were being asked to deliver success while the terms of their reward were being contested.
Then the attack that had carried City through the group lost Cunningham, sold to Barnsley for £80,000 in September. Blades said the financial situation, particularly the low gates, had forced the decision, while financial director Heneage Dove warned that home receipts needed to double to prevent further departures. Confirmation of a record annual loss exceeding £259,000 underlined the seriousness of the position. Murphy was left with even less cover for his preferred three-man attack.
The consequences became painfully visible at Newport, where injuries to Hobson and Bell left Cockerill as the only fit recognised striker and Naylor was sent out wearing the number nine shirt. Murphy defended the choice as the best available in the circumstances, but Burton’s response was withering: “If he were a centre forward, he would not be keeping goal for Lincoln Reserves.” Whatever view was taken of the selection, a team leading the Third Division had reached the point of putting its reserve goalkeeper up front. The lack of depth was now impossible to overlook.
The players eventually accepted an 8% reduction in their bonuses, believing the saving would help bring in reinforcements. They also objected to being portrayed as the villains of the dispute and complained about public statements made while negotiations were supposed to remain confidential. By November, with two loan spells ending, City were down to just 12 professionals, including their two goalkeepers, and 16-year-old schoolboy Stuart Hall was being called upon to fill a place on the bench.
Former chairman Houlston added to the public argument, accusing the board of running the club “penny-wise, pound-foolish” and criticising its failure to insure potential win and promotion bonus payments. Dove replied that the lowest insurance quotation had been so expensive that paying the possible bonuses made better financial sense. Behind the argument were two competing assessments of the same situation: how much the club could afford to risk, and how much it stood to lose by failing to support the team.
The distance between the players and their chairman was evident after the League Cup replay at West Ham. Cockerill complained that Blades had walked out of the directors’ lounge when the team went in, adding: “It would have surprised me if he’d bought us a drink.” Hobson, meanwhile, said the chairman had not even visited the dressing room to congratulate them. City were producing performances to be proud of, but those involved were increasingly struggling to find common ground.
8 December 1982: Lincoln City 3-1 Norwich City
First Division Norwich City provided the quarter-final opposition, with Colin Murphy welcoming Shipley and Marshall Burke back from suspension but leaving out Thompson because of a groin strain. The game came sandwiched between some big moments: a week previously, we’d drawn with West Ham in the League Cup, then we’d featured on Match of the Day as we beat Millwall, and days after, we’d put nine past Bournemouth.
The visitors threatened early, although City soon settled and went close through Hobson before Turner’s close-range effort was blocked on the line. Norwich’s task became considerably harder in the 29th minute when their leading scorer, John Deehan, was sent off for a foul on Turner, but the Imps were already showing signs of taking control.
The decisive spell came after the interval, when Derek Bell produced a seven-minute hat-trick to carry City into the semi-finals. His first arrived in the 59th minute, Phil Neale racing onto Shipley’s pass and delivering a cross that looped over Chris Woods for Bell to head into the unguarded net. Bell soon added a second, cutting inside from the left and driving a low shot underneath Woods from a tight angle. A handball then gave him the chance to complete his treble from the penalty spot, and he struck firmly past the Norwich keeper for his second hat-trick of the season.
City had opportunities to make the victory even more emphatic, with Bell sending a young substitute clear only for him to lift his effort over the bar. Gary Strodder also came on during the closing stages, replacing Neale as the Imps saw out a memorable evening. John Fashanu headed a late consolation for Norwich, catching Colin Murphy’s eye, but it did little to alter the impression left by City’s performance in front of 3,853 spectators. The Imps had beaten top-flight opposition and were one game away from a national cup final.
Turmoil at the Bank
As winter progressed, City’s strong league position made the shortage of players increasingly frustrating. Injuries continued to be managed rather than given time to heal, and Bell’s groin trouble exposed how little cover there was for the front line. Murphy said the club had reached a crossroads and needed new blood, with “the question is whether the board will give me the cash”. He also admitted: “Until recently I thought I was getting somewhere but now I am not so sure.”
An attempt to sign Ernie Moss came to nothing, while a possible move for Norwich striker Ross Jack failed to produce the immediate reinforcement Murphy needed. Former City coach Lennie Lawrence, now in charge at Charlton, allowed Steve White to arrive on a month’s loan, and Errington Kelly subsequently joined on a non-contract basis. These additions provided options, but by the time the rearranged semi-final at Chester came around, City had surrendered their place at the top of the table and the underlying argument about support for the manager remained unresolved.
8 February 1983: Chester 1-3 Lincoln City (after extra time)
The semi-final at Sealand Road proved a much more awkward assignment than the eventual scoreline suggested, with City having to work hard to overcome a determined Chester side. Murphy again adjusted his team, bringing David Carr into the defence in place of Thompson, while Cockerill and Turner began among the substitutes. After surviving some early home pressure, the Imps went ahead in the 21st minute when Burke’s free-kick led to Peake firing home from around 12 yards following a blocked effort. Bell then missed a good opportunity to double the lead before John Thomas equalised from close range in the 44th minute.
Chester continued to make life difficult after the interval, with City struggling to turn their greater attacking resources into a second goal. Murphy introduced Turner and Cockerill in the 67th minute, and the changes gradually gave the Imps more impetus. Even so, Thomas had a clear chance to win it for Chester ten minutes from time and shot wide, leaving the teams level after 90 minutes. The increasingly slippery pitch had become enough of a problem for City’s players to change their boots before extra time began.
It was the two substitutes who finally decided the tie, Turner restoring City’s lead in the 103rd minute after a missed clearance and hesitation from the Chester goalkeeper allowed him to force the ball home. Four minutes later, Bell’s corner was helped on by Turner and Cockerill finished with a fierce shot on the turn to make it 3-1.
Just 1,058 spectators were present to see the Imps secure their place in the final, the club’s first appearance in the final of a national knockout competition. Millwall would be the opponents, with City’s long route through the competition now bringing the final not to Wembley, but to Sincil Bank.
In his programme notes after the semi-final, Blades revealed that the venue for the final had been settled by the spin of a coin. It had fallen in City’s favour, with the match initially scheduled for 22 February at 7.30 pm. He also disclosed that he had offered Chester a guaranteed gate return of at least £1,000 to move the semi-final to Sincil Bank, only to be refused. His message to the team was enthusiastic: “Well done lads. I am preparing a place in the Boardroom for the Cup!!”
The final was subsequently postponed at City’s request to allow greater concentration on the league programme, but the weeks that followed brought the club’s arguments to a head. Murphy wanted Jack for £20,000 and Thomas, the Chester striker who had scored against City in the semi-final, for £12,500. The board refused to sanction the deals, with Blades insisting there was no money available. The players, having already accepted their 8% bonus reduction in the belief that it would help fund new signings, were then presented with a proposal for a further one-third cut in anticipated promotion bonuses to finance the transfers.
At a meeting called by Murphy at the Grand Hotel, the players made clear how unhappy they were with the situation. Peake asked to go on the transfer list, while Thompson spoke for several teammates when he said: “If Gilbert Blades is not prepared to help us, we have to go out and help ourselves.” Money was sufficiently tight that Murphy also appealed for someone to provide £125 so the team could rest in a hotel before a midweek game at Exeter. An elderly supporter eventually supplied it in five-pound notes.
After defeat by Plymouth, around 400 supporters gathered behind the stand to protest, with police keeping demonstrators away from the directors and later escorting Blades home. Murphy said he would resign, saying: “I have had the heart ripped out of me.” Following reports of abuse and death threats, Blades convened a Sunday board meeting, and the resignation of the entire board was announced. The outgoing directors would remain in control until their shares could be bought, leaving the club facing a change of ownership while the promotion campaign was unravelling.
Houlston eventually returned as chairman, heading a new board with John Reames, Michael Pryor and Derek Overton in a deal reported at £125,000 for the outgoing directors’ shares. He immediately promised a renewed push for promotion and said: “Colin Murphy can have his two new players if he still wants them.” By then, however, Norwich had changed their position over Jack, and Murphy acknowledged that circumstances had changed. Reinforcements began to arrive, but the opportunity to strengthen at the moment the manager had wanted had passed.
By the time the final programme appeared in April, it was Houlston writing the chairman’s notes. He celebrated the fact that “we are making history by appearing in the final of a national competition for the first time”, while thanking the people still helping to keep the club going. The Vice-Presidents’ Club had recently donated £2,000, and the final itself was sponsored by Colin Tesh, the club’s electrician. Even on an evening of national recognition, the programme showed how much City continued to depend on practical help from people close to the club.
Secretary Philip Hough’s notes also captured the unusual nature of the occasion, describing the competition as being “of a pre-season nature”. He suggested it would benefit from being completed before the league programme began, preserving its momentum rather than stretching it across the season. City’s own journey had lasted from August to April, carrying the team from the early hopes of a new campaign through a bonus dispute, a boardroom upheaval and an increasingly difficult promotion challenge.
20 April 1983: Lincoln City 2-3 Millwall
The final was played in atrocious conditions, with almost incessant rain leaving standing water on the Sincil Bank pitch and referee Neil Midgley determined to get the game completed. With a strong wind behind them, City dominated the first half and forced Paul Sansome into saves from Hobson and Colin Brazier. Their reward came in the 32nd minute when Hobson’s cross found Burke, who volleyed home from around ten yards. It was the only goal of a first half in which Millwall had offered relatively little threat, leaving the Imps 45 minutes from lifting the trophy.
The game changed dramatically after the restart, Dean Neal equalising in the 47th minute despite Felgate’s protests that the ball had not crossed the line. Millwall took the lead in the 59th minute when Andy Massey’s low corner travelled through the crowded goalmouth and straight into the far corner, a goal initially thought from the press box to have involved an Alan McLeary touch. Neal then made it 3-1 in the 71st minute with a fine lob that struck the inside of a post and dropped into the net. Only two excellent Felgate saves prevented the visitors from extending their advantage further before City began to rally.
The Imps were given a route back when Hobson was brought down in the 79th minute, but Sansome saved Burke’s penalty and thwarted him again before Brazier lifted another chance over the bar. Burke finally scored his second four minutes from time, running through the defence and beating Sansome with an excellent chip, but the late pressure brought no equaliser. Millwall took the trophy, leaving Burke to reflect on the opportunities that had escaped him. “I could have had four goals tonight and we would have won the trophy,” he said afterwards, a painful verdict on an evening that had promised City so much.
Writing in the programme for the subsequent visit of Oxford, Houlston thanked those who had watched the final in “quite appalling weather conditions”. He acknowledged that City “could not quite come to terms with these conditions”, while maintaining that the match had been entertaining. The same notes recorded another contribution towards keeping the club going, a £150 cheque raised by the Sleaford supporters through a jumble sale.
The league season eventually ended with City sixth, six points short of promotion, and the departures of Peake, Carr and Bell began to break up the side. Reaching a national final had been an achievement, but the story around it was of a club that had spent months arguing over how much it could afford to help a very good team. The trophy slipped away on one wet evening; the promotion opportunity had been eroded over a much longer period.
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