By Nathan Jackson
January 17 2006

Lincoln City have accepted midfielder, Dean Keates' transfer request, which has come as devastating news to the fans. Many fans were big fans of Dean Keates and after the half-hearted efforts of Peter Gain, it was nice to see a midfielder with such passion but as they say, all good things must end.

Keates joined the Imps in the summer after rejecting a deal to stay at relegated Kidderminster Harriers and many people were concerned about signing a player who had been relegated but 2 months earlier, however, theimps.tk told you to expect something special and that's exactly what you go.

The popular midfielder, who was the smallest player in the squad, played his heart out for the club and his passion for the game showed as he produced some great performances, however, his passion did earn him a few red cards as indisipline ruled him out of several games and he is ruled out for Saturday's trip to Peterborough, however, many questioned when Keates' would have played that game anyway and many would be very surprised if Keates ever played for the Imps again.

Keates still lives in the West Midlands and have a 6 hour round trip every day which has certainly taken the strain, however, the midfielder revealed to the Echo that he would have been willing to do that many times, however, with his wife being due to give birth any day now, Keates' has put football into the back seat

"It's nothing to do with footballing matters and this decision has been heart-wrenching, but my performances have dipped in the past two weeks because of all the stuff going on in my personal life and it's not fair on the lads or the fans. Handing in a transfer request was the hardest decision I have had to make in my career because, football-wise, everything is perfect for me here. The gaffer and the chairman were superb in trying to keep me at the club and pulled out all the stops.

"However, my girlfriend has some health issues - which I don't want to go into because it's her private life - and it's been very tough for both of us. I need to be close to her now because she is due to give birth at any time. It's no good me being three hours away, so football has taken a backseat. If it had been two years ago - when it was just me and my girlfriend - I would have stayed, but circumstances change.

"When I first came here, I thought I could handle all the commuting, as well as the stuff going on in my personal life, but that hasn't been the case. It is with a heavy heart I will be going because the lads are terrific, as is the gaffer. The fans have been absolutely tremendous too."

theimps.tk would like to thank Keates for all his 100% effort performances and also, some of the most memorable goals that we'll ever seen.