Lincoln City History : Players A-Brac


By Nathan Jackson
January 15 2006

The first part of our A/Z of Lincoln City's players reveals every player since the Second World War from A-Brac. In this, we have club legends such as Gareth Ainsworth right down to those who only made one appearance for the Imps, or even non at all.

Agogo, Junior – When he joined the Imps on loan from Sheffield Wednesday, a lot of things were expected of this young striker, he scored once in his 3 appearances in the 1999/2000 and he has since played for Oldham, Chester, Chesterfield, QPR, Barnet and Bristol Rovers.

 

Ainsworth, Gareth – Regarded by many as the best player who ever played for the Imps, a very creditable honour considering he was at the club for little over 2 years. The popular midfielder had played for Cambridge and Preston North End before making the trip to Sincil Bank in 1995 and in the 1996/7 season, he scored a memorable 22 league goals, the highest for a midfielder in the division that year. Ainsworth went on to score a hatrick against Scarborough in the 1997/8 season, however, a 3-1 reverse at Rotherham was his last appearance for the club and he moved to Port Vale for £500,000. His career has since taken him to Wimbledon, Walsall and QPR.

 

Alcide, Colin – Overall, Colin was a disappointment as a striker, scoring just 31 goals in his 140 appearances between 1995 and 1999. After leaving the Imps, Colin made appearances for Hull and York.

 

Alexander, Keith – A man who needs little introduction to City fans. Keith originally joined the Imps in 1990 as a striker, however, his strike rate wasn’t fantastic. However, in 1993, manager Steve Thompson was sacked and Keith was installed as manager. However, he didn’t have a successful time and was sacked. He went into the non-league before being brought back to the club as Alan Buckley’s assistant manager in 2001. When Buckley departed, Keith took over and the rest as they say, is history.

 

Allen, Jon – A tough tackling, no-nonsense style of player who played for the Imps 63 times between 1958 and 1961.

 

Allison, Ken – Former Darlington man who made 42 appearances in an Imps shirt between 1965 and 1967

 

Allon, Joe – Made 5 appearances in the red and white in 1995/6. Also played for Newcastle, Swansea, Chelsea, Port Vale, Brentford, Southend and had 2 spells at Hartlepool.

 

Anderson, Nicky – Made a single appearance for the Imps during the 1989/90 season before moving on to Mansfield.

 

Anderson, Geoff – Joined the Imps in 1966 and left in 1967. Also played for Birmingham City and Mansfield Town.

 

Appleton, Michael – A player brought in on loan in the 1995/6 season and made 5 rather uninspiring appearances for the Imps. Also played for Grimsby, Preston North End and West Brom.

 

Asamoah, Derek – A striker who joined the Imps in March 2005 after he fell out with the management team at Mansfield, before that he was at Northampton. He’s not a prolific striker but was a very dangerous winger. He left the Imps in 2005/6 when he joined Chester on loan for 6 months which saw out the rest of his contract

 

Austin, Kevin – Touch tackling defender who made 148 appearances for the Imps between 1996 and 1999. He joined City from Orient before leaving Sincil Bank for Barnsley, Bristol Rovers and Swansea.

 

Bailey, Dennis – Dennis Bailey will always be remembered as the unknown striker who scored a hatrick at Old Trafford for QPR and that was easily the high point of a career that also saw him play at Crystal Palace, Bristol Rovers, Birmingham, Charlton, Watford, Brentford and Gillingham. Bailey came to the Imps on loan towards the end of the 1997/8 season to cover injuries and although his loan move is largely forgettable, he did score the 2nd goal in the 2-2 draw at Darlington, without that goal, City wouldn’t have been able to win automatic promotion which was clinched a week later.

 

Bailey, Mark – Mark was a rarity, a player signed from non-league by Alan Buckley. Mark joined the Imps from Northwich Victoria and went on to make 111 games for the first team in between 2001 and 2004. Although his City career started slow, he quickly became a firm favourite. His most memorable moment in an Imps shirt came in the 74th minute of the 2002/3 playoff final and although his header made no real difference to the result, it was a great moment for the defender. A year later and he scored the 2nd goal in the away leg of the playoffs to give City a 3-2 lead on aggregate, however, City would lose 4-3 on aggregate in Mark’s last game for the club before joining Macclesfield Town.

 

Ball, Gary – A player who wasn’t very well known and was rarely noticed in his 3 loan games in the 1979/80 season.

 

Bannan, Tommy – Tommy made 69 appearances for City between 1955 and 1957 which ever really excelling.

 

Bannister, Gary – The lower league journeyman joined the Imps for the 1994/5 season where he played 34 times in the red and white. His long career also saw him play for Coventry, Sheffield Wednesday, QPR, West Ham, Brighton, Oxford, Nottingham Forest, Stockport and Darlington.

 

Bannister, Neville – Neville was a popular player with the Imps fans between 1960 and 1964. In this time however, he was quite injury prone and only played 82 matches in a career than also saw him play for Bolton, Hartlepool and Rochdale.

 

Baraclough, Ian – A tough tackling defensive midfield player for played 91 times between 1992 and 1993 and almost returned to the Imps during the summer of 2004. However, he declined the offer to join Scunthorpe and has also played for Wigan, Grimsby, Mansfield, Notts County and QPR.

 

Barlow, Phil – Phil was a loan player from Bradford who played 6 games in the 1967/8 season.

 

Barnard, Ray – A rugged player who wore the Imps badge 47 times between 1960 and 1963.

 

Barnett, Dave – Dave was a player who seemed to disappear and re-reappear and played just 22 games in 2 years between 1999 and 2000. He has also played for Colchester, Walsall, Barnsley, Birmingham and Port Vale.

 

Barnett, Jason – Jason was a good right back for the club and he joined the club in 1995 from Wolverhampton Wanderers and was crowned as the young player of the year. 7 years later and he had amassed 239 appearances for the Imps before being released during the financial crisis in 2002 and he moved to Lincoln United. Jason is also one of the few players to have played in more than 10 games who scored in both his first and last match for the club.

 

Barrett, Ken – Former Aston Villa man who only managed 19 games in 4 years at the club from 1959 to 1963.

 

Barrow – City haven’t faced Barrow for over 30 years and if form had continued, it would have been a virtually guaranteed 6 points a season as City lost just 10 of the 59 meets, winning 37 and drawing 12.

 

Barton, Roger – Injury plagued his time at Sincil Bank as he played just 30 games between 1964 and 1966.

 

Batch, Nigel – A regular in the first team that won promotion back to the football league in the 1987/88 season but soon struggled to get in the side and left in 1988. Also played for Grimsby, Darlington and Scunthorpe.

 

Battersby, Tony – Lincoln City brought Tony for a club record fee of £75,000 in 1998 from Bury as the Imps prepared for Division 2 after just winning promotion. Tony’s form wasn’t fantastic and he was a frustrating player and we even loaned him out during his first year to Northampton. Tony survived though and found regular first team football under Alan Buckley. Tony also survived the cull during the summer of 2002 but his stay with the Imps’ didn’t last long when Keith took over, Battersby was offered a severance deal, which he took and has since played for Boston, Rushden and Grays.

 

Bean, AS (Billy) – A regular tweener between the first 11 and the bench who amased 185 appearances for the Imps between 1934 and 1949. After the war is finished, Bean was one of the few to return to the club but was never viewed as the same player and retired in 1949.

 

Beavon, David – David wasn’t one for kicking up a fuss despite playing just 7 games for the Imps between 1981 and 1983. He failed to find regular football at Notts County and Northampton.

 

Beevers, Lee – A right back who signed for the Imps in 2005 from Boston United just 3 days after our victory at York Street. He quickly established himself as a member of the first team and even got international recognition whilst at the Imps. He is still a member of the Imps’ squad.

 

Bell, Derek – Derek was the Matt Bloomer of his day and failed to hold down a regular first team spot, playing a disappointing 84 in 4 seasons between 1979 and 1983. He also played for Halifax, Barnsley, Chesterfield and Scunthorpe.

 

Bell, Ray – Made 1 appearance for the Imps in the 1950/1 season.

 

Bell, Willie – Willie won just 11 of his 40 games in charge from 1977-1978 and his 1 season saw the Imps finish 16th before he was sacked.

 

Bermingham, Karl – Karl was a highly rated youngster in the Man City set up and joined the Imps on loan in the 2004/5 season. In his month at Sincil Bank, he played just 30 minutes of action between 2 games before returning to the City of Manchester Stadium.

 

Bett, Fred – The former Sunderland and Coventry man played 15 games in the 1948/9 season.

 

Betts, Robert – City loaned the highly rated prospect that was Rob Betts in the 2001/2 season and he was a flop, playing 4 games the Imps before leaving Coventry and playing for Plymouth and then Rochdale.

 

Bickerstaffe, Jack – Back up goalkeeper who played 12 times between 1948 and 1951, also played for Bury and Halifax.

 

Biggins, Wayne – Another flop journey man who made 8 appearances in the 1980/1 season. Also played for Burnley, Norwich, Man City, Stoke, Barnsley and Oxford.

 

Bimson, Stuart – “Bimo” was a odd defender, one game you’d be thrilled he was in the team and the next, you knew he’d be costing you a goal. A popular character, the scouse defender played 201 times for the Imps between 1996 and 2003 before leaving the Imps for Cambridge. He has also played for Bury, Macclesfield and Canvey Island.

 

Birch, Bryan – City seem to have accumulated a few journeymen in their history and Birch was one of them, he played 60 times in the 60’s for the Imps in a career that also saw him play at Manchester United, Wolves, Barrow, Exeter, Oldham and Rochdale.

 

Birch, Gar y – Gary is a striker who joined the Imps from relegated Kidderminster Harriers before the 2005/6 season. A skilled striker who finds the net on a semi-regular basis and he started his career at Walsall.

 

Birkbeck, John – Made 2 appearances for the club in the 1954/5 season.

 

Black, Kingsley – A highly cultured and talented midfield player who could turn games on their heads. After initially joining the Imps on loan in the 2000/1 season, Black became one of Alan Buckley’s first signings in the following summer and played regularly in the 2001/2 season. However, after a pre-season injury, he didn’t play for the Imps under Keith Alexander and like Battersby, agreed a severance deal with the club, a shame as he was arguably our most technically gifted player in the new Millennium. He also played for Grimsby, Luton and represented Nottingham Forest in the Premiership.

 

Blackwood, Michael – Blackwood was a left sided defensive midfielder/attacker who was really unlucky with injuries. He joined City when Telford went bust in the summer of 2003/4 and played the first 5 games of the season and played really well until he got an injury which kept him out until January, but the damage had been done and he only played 4 more times after that. He has also played for Kidderminster.

 

Bloomer, Matt – There’s not much that can be said about Matt Bloomer, a very quiet player both on and off the pitch. He joined the Imps towards the end of the 2001/2 season and played really well but he did signed for the Imps midway through the following season. A versatile player who is extremely good back up for the squad and can weigh in with several goals. He has also played for, Hull, Telford and Grimsby (twice).

 

Bloor, Micky – Despite playing 78 games between 1971 and 1973, he was released at the end of his contract and also played for Darlington.

 

Boden, Jackie – Another player who didn’t fair too well at City, playing just 3 times between 1949 and 1951.

 

Bolton, Ian – Joined the Imps on loan in the 1976/7 season but only played 3 games for the club. Also played for Watford, Notts County and Brentford.

 

Bonson, Joe – This journeyman played 50 games for the Imps between 1965 and 1967. He also played for Wolves, Cardiff, Scunny, Donny, Newport and Brentford.

 

Booth, Dennis – A popular player who donned the Imps’ shirt 185 times between 1973 and 1978. His successful career also took him to Charlton, Blackpool, Southend, Watford and Hull.

 

Bos, Gijsbert – The man with the awkward name made no-one mistake who he was when he scored against Man City in the League Cup in the 1995/6 season. Bos played 42 times for the Imps between 1995 and 1997 and also played for Rotherham and Walsall.

 

Boulton, Colin – The former Derby and Southampton man played just 7 games for the Imps in the 1980/1 season.

 

Bound, Matt – A left sided defender with a thunderous shot joined the Imps on loan in the 1995/6 season, playing 5 times. He also played for Hull, Stockport, Swansea and Oxford after being released by Southampton.

 

Bowery, Bert – Played 2 games for the Imps during the championship winning season in 1975/6. Also played for Nottingham Forest.

 

Bowling, Ian – A capable goalkeeper who was used in a rotational system and played just 68 games between 1988 and 1993. Also played for Hartlepool, Bradford and Mansfield.

 

Brabin, Gary – Gary was never a prolific striker and a loan spell at the Imps in the 1998/9 season showed exactly why. Playing 5 games for the Imps, he failed to impress and later went on to fail to impress fans at Stockport, Donny, Bury, Blackpool and Hull.

 

Bracewell, Ken – Midfielder who played 24 times for the Imps between 1963 and 1965. Also played for Burnley, Tranmere, Bury and Rochdale.

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