RIP Sir Bobby Robson

As many people know i am against sport stars being awarded honours by Her Majesty. How the likes of Alex Ferguson, David Beckham can be awarded with them when there are servicemen and women, police and fire crews who risk there lives on a daily basis, or doctors and nurses who save lives on a daily basics is beond me. to me it doesn't seem right to award sport "stars" who earn 120,000 quid a week when there are 1000,s of people who give there time for free to help there commutes and people less better of than themselves.
However this morning football has lost in my opinion one of the very few men who truly deserved to be a knight of the realm sir Bobby Robson.
The man was a true legend of the game (a tag that is used far to often nowadays)He never had a bad word for anybody in the game,never got involved in the stupid childish mudslinging insults the likes of Wenger,ferguson and bentiz do with each other.His appetite for the game was there for all to see right the way till the end. to beat cancer three times was another measure of the man.
H achieved so much in the game, but winning the UFEA cup with Ipswich and taking England to within a penalty kick of the world cup final in 1990 must rank up there as his finest moments.
It may be a long time till we see a true gentleman the caliber of Sir Bobby in football again.if at all.

RIP Sir Bobby Robson.you will be missed. lets hope that if England win the world cup next year they dedicate it to you.

Recent Results

Alas i haven't been to any games this week.but here's a couple of results of interest (well to me anyway)

Friendly match
Lincoln city 0-2 Sheffield United

Linc's shield semi final
Lincoln United 1-4 Boston united

Champions league qualifying third round 1st leg
Sparta Prague 3-1 Panathinaikos 1


i didn't go to watch the Imps v Blades match last night, by the sounds of it i didn't miss a great deal.The Blades just missed out on promotion to the premiership so i wasn't expecting us to get a result against them in all honesty.unlike Arsenal they played there strongest side against us and on the plus side (according to the Lincolnshire echo) we gave as good as we got.but still looked a little light upfront. although given the quality of the blades defence i am not surprised that we didn't rip them to bits at the back time and time again
although some views on various message boards are all doom and gloom because we haven't beaten two champions league football playing sides and a side that were 90 mins away from the premiership i am not to worried. yes the squad is a little thin on the ground but 90% of the teams in our league have smaller squads than the last couple of years.plus we can always use the loan market once the season starts.i still think we will bring another couple of players in before the season starts though.
The champions league reaches the 3rd qualifying round tonight Celtic have there hands more than full with Dynamo Moscow, other games i like the look of are

Sporting v FC Twente
Sheriff v Slavia Prague

the losers of these games get nothing, no back doors into the europa league (UFEA cup) no payoffs not even there bus fair home!

Great goals of our time number 4

Heres the Imps scoreing a very un-lincoln like goal.good movement, first time passing and a cool finish! is it really us?

Shirebrook Town 5- 1 Rothley Imperial

With the Imps not having a game today i decided to take the short train trip to Shirebrook to watch Shirebrook Town of the NCEL take on Rothley Imperial fc of the lecicestershire senior league.
Originally Quarn fc were meant to be the opponents for town today but for some reason pulled out ( quarn are a league above shirebrook) that would have been a better game to watch but credit to Rothley for stepping in and agreeing to play.i am not totally sure but i think there must be about three leagues minimum between the sides and it showed as the scoreline suggests.


As it was a nice sunny day for a chance i sat outside the clubhouse with sometime to kill (next time i wont set off till 1 o clock) Town players arrived in suits and ties where as there opponents were dressed in casual gear an early sign of the divisional difference between the two clubs.The clubhouse always reminds me of Jenkins club where i first started drinking when i was doing my apprenticeship certainly one of a dying bred of clubs and much poorer the world is without them.

I went into the ground at about 2.35.walked round and took the normally crappy pictures.
The game as the score line surgests was pretty one sided. town played some decent football at times and could have scored more goals the keeper could only have done better with the 4th goal all the rest were pretty well worked.(the above picture is the Rothley keeper picking the ball out of the net after towns first goal) It is hard to say how good a side is after a game like this but on this showing Shirebrook should do better than last season but do seem to be a young side.

admission £4
food/drink tea 60p 5/10 burgers looked very nice and only £1.50!
Programme None issued
clubhouse 8/10
ground 7/10
WAG factor 6/10-reasonable nothing more nothing less


all in all not a bad way to kill a few hours and see a few goals it would have been more had it not been for Rothleys number 6 at the back making many last ditch tackles.

Lincolnshire Shield quarter final - Brigg town v Boston united

While the big three footballing powerhouses of Lincolnshire do battle for the Lincolnshire senior cup every pre-season (Lincoln city,Grimsby town and scunthorpe united)Our non-league friends (semi pro) teams fight it out to claim the Lincolnshire shield. i carnt seem to find the whole draw on the Linc's fa website but scouting around various websites i found the following ties

Grantham v Spalding town
Stamford town v Gainsbrough Trinity
Lincoln United - bye
Brigg town v Boston United (our destination for the evening)



More often than not i tend to lean towards one side or the other,when i go to these non league games.It can be something daft like the team kit, the Bar staff in the club house or even the club badge that sways it. this time however there was no competition at all i was firmly a Zebra tonight (Brigg towns nickname)
If you asked any lincolnshire football fan you would be hard pressed to find anybody with a good word for Boston united and there supporters.as i have stated elsewhere on this blog they were all over the phone-ins when they got promoted to the football league saying they were going to the new force in Lincolnshire.hmmm
Alas they are still a bunch of big headed bastards who think they have devine right to be in the top flight of non-league football. i hope they enjoy there trip to Retford united next season instead of sincil bank, how the mighty have fallen eh?

My fellow hopper has asked me not to wear any Lincoln colours for this evenings match, ( a Mansfield town fan who also thinks Boston were very lucky to be allowed into the league) i couldn't quite resist a few pro Lincoln city comments in the clubhouse within earshot of some Boston fans,we got chance from a fiver for two pints of Carling and it went down very nicely,the club house was quite smart with a few pennants and trophy's dotted around the place giving that football feel to the place.
after paying 6 quid to enter,( a bit steep i thought but i am sure its the Linc's fa that sets the prices for this competition and not the clubs) we strolled into the ground.
Brigg have a quite tidy looking ground with covering on two sides of the pitch and open behind both goals. as seems the norm with pre season games there was no programme but we got a team sheet.Boston had ex-imp Mark camm in there line up as well as Tom Evens in goal who was in goal when Lincoln slammed 5 past Scunthorpe in the first leg of the 2002-03 playoffs at Sincl Bank.
Both sides had chances to win the game but as the game went on Boston (who are a league above Brigg) began to get the upper hand. if it had been level after 90 mins the game would have got straight to penalties.However the inbreds form Boston scored with 4 mins to go.sorry for the brief match report but i don't want to go into a Boston win to much.
So Boston go into the semi final to play Lincoln united next Tuesday.and while they maybe to strong for the whites. i feel that blue square north league side Gainsbrough Trinity will win lift the shield in the final.


All in all an enjoyable trip, nice ground and club house, shame about the result though.

Admission -£6
Programme -none
Badge-non available
food-ate before i left, had two cups of tea at the ground- 75p 7/10
WAG factor 0/10 didn't spot any.
clubhouse 6/10
ground 7/10

Just as an after thaugh, why is it that when you have two cups of tea at football the second is never as good as the third?

Great goals of our time,,number three

Back to the 93-94 UFEA cup and its Jeremy Goss v Bayern Munich
(plus the other goals but its the 1st one to look out for)

Lincoln City 2- Arsenal 3

Although the score looks close, we could have been totally hammered out of sight after about 20 mins. Rob Burch almost single handed kept us in the game in the first half, The speed that Arsenal moved the ball around at times was first class and it was easy to see why they won the FA Youth cup last season.
When there first goal did come it was a great chip from the edge of the box, the kind i used to score, well on the PlayStation anyway.
We made a better fist of it in the second half creating a few chances, only for Arsenal to score a second, we got on back when they made a pigs ear of defending a free kick, Allowing Browns free kick to creep in at the far post.
we got it back to 2-2 when Fagen scored form 25 yards with a great strike, only to fuck it up in the 89th min 2-3 to the arse. (it came from a corner, somethings don't change do they eh city?)
Man of the match was keeper rob Burch by a mile, but special marks to Jamie Clarke who beat there life back time and time again, and left back Joe Heath.

Ticket- £10
Programme £2.50, nice design with good articles in it,although i imagine we will all be bored with the 125th season lark by October.
Food- fish and chips from fish dish, carnt remember how much they were 7/10
Imps performance 7/10
Man of the Match- Rob Burch

The week ahead for the Imps

Busy week ahead for the imps, On Monday night we play the glamour game of our pre season against Arsenal. Ok its only going to be there youth team/reserve side but its the team that always seems to get to the semi finals of the Carling cup, plus they won the FA youth cup last season so there will be some high standard football on display (not from us i feel) so far we have sold around 3000 tickets for the game. i am a bit disappointed in that,its only £15,and we have got one of the biggest names in English football to play us for our 125th anniversary,lets hope a lot pay on the gate. when we played Liverpool a couple of years ago we sold out 2 weeks before the game. lets get 6000 there at least.



Next up on Friday night we play the Lincoln derby.
Lincoln united are a part time side who play on the edge of the city.they have spent most of the last 20 years or so playing in the NECL and unibond leagues so have never been true rivals to city(normally there is about 4 divisions between us and there crowds are normally in double figures).if city are away then a few go and watch united.
I have always liked going to see united. it was the first non-league ground and match that i ever went to back in about 97-98(i think) and so have fond memory's. the ground is quite nice with covering on three of the four sides with seating on two of theses.the club house is nice and placed just outside the ground (you can nip out to get a beer at half time :-).
another good thing about going to watch united is that they more often than not have a few ex city players playing for them.last season they had Imps legend and gavs hero(once served him in HMV i will have you know) Terry Flemming, Mark hone and my all time favourite Imp Barry Richardson was helping out with the coaching there after leaving Nottingham forest as there goalkeeping coach.


i only say the whites play once last season a 1-1 draw against loughbrough dynamo. there home form has been dire for the last couple of years but the had a great away record last season not losing away till April.
Relations between the two clubs haven't always been great but lets hope we can help each other out where we can.The imps have played reserve games at Ashby avenue from time to time plus we have loaned them some of our fringe players as well.
I do hope a few imps go down to watch this game. jacko has said we will play a few of the younger players (like Arsenal) but a good crowd here will help uniteds bank balance much like the Arsenal game should help ours.
i can recommend the fish and chip shop on the corner near the ground (the gravy's shit though) and the food in the ground is normally very good!
see you there !!!

Boston united away

good old Boston! back in the 2001-02 season when the came into the league and we had one of our worse seasons ever they were going to be the big footballing power in lincolnshire...
well it didn't quite work out for our in bread friends, in the five years they were in the league they never finished above us,never won at sincil bank. had the humiliation of there being more Lincoln fans at the game in Boston that Boston fans and only manages two wins over us at there dump of a ground!
after falling through the leagues quicker than a whores knickers at the sight of a ten pound note they are 3 leagues below us.

and at half time its 1-1 (there,s was a dodgy penalty-same old Boston,always cheating)

staveley miners welfare 0-3 Worksop Town

My first non-league (semi-pro) game of the season was very pleasant,if a little one sided.Staveley had a decent season last time around finishing 4Th in the NECL division one and winning what must be the best looking trophy ever, the wilkinson sword trophy (which is literal a 3 foot long sword)
Worksop for all there own problems had survived in the Unibond premier division thus setting up the north nottinghamshire derby later this season with newly promoted Retford united(theres about 8 miles between the two towns)
A very reasonable entrance fee of two pounds was charged and a programme was only 50pence for 22 pages (take note lincoln theres 6 leagues between lincoln and staveley and they could be bothered to issue one) they even gave us a ticket receipt aswell nice touch!
one of the only bad points was the fact that staveleys club house doesn't sell any beer! managed to get a pin badge for 3 quid in there though. i didn't have any food as i had stuffed down fish and chips before i left but i heard good reports of the pie quality.
The two division gap between the two sides was apparent throughout the game as worksop(with ex-imp danny Bacon) more or less ran the game from start to finish. for the first time in a game that i can remember going to, Worksop were given 4 penalties (only scoring two!). one of them looked a bit soft but the worse thing was that the ref decided for the third one to book the staveley player,of which there is little point in a friendly.even the worksop fans thought this was a little pointless.
all in all a very good day out and also an early contender for WAG of the season!it wouldn't take much to get the ground ready for a higher level of football.

admission -£2
programme - 50p 7/10
badge- £3
food-didnt have any but heard good reports
WAG factor 8/10 quality not quantity here.
game 5/10 bit one sided

Lincoln City 0-0 Ferencvaros

The second game in our European series was a glamour game against the only Hungarian side that has played in the champions league and the biggest side in hungry Ferencvaros from Budapest.
i had been looking forward to this game for a while,certainly more than our other home pre season games.its not often you get to play a top European side. amazing what celebrating you 125th aniverasty can do for you isn't it?
a couple of moans first.why didn't the club release a programme for the game? i know they were expecting a small crowd compared to the Sheffield united and Arsenal pre season games we have coming up, but surly they could have issued something, even just a couple of A4 pages folded in half with a bit about our visitors etc etc and sold it for about 50p?
I know the next one isn't the clubs fault, but myself and baz were gutted that the fish and chip shop next to the ground was shut! thus forcing me to eat in the ground. the burger i had was as bad as ever 3/10.the hot dog was nice enough but at 3 quid a throw it should be.7/10. felice said the tea was crap as well.
On to the game.you could tell just by the way they warmed up, number of training staff and players that they had that Ferencvaros were a big club.Lincoln didn't look fazed by them though are created more chances than our opponents while looking steady and strong at the back with big Janos steady as ever.however the problem was still the same, no muscle up front. we are crying out for the big target man who can play with his back to goal. Chris Fagan showed some nice touches and could well be a threat this season if given a decent partner up front. trailist Paul conner did well and should have scored (same old same old for Lincoln there)
At the other end Rob Burch made a couple of saves from there number 88 but overall didt have much to do.
overall another solid Lincoln performance but the worrying thing is we have played two friendlies and have yet to score.

ticket price- £10
burger £3-crap
hotdog £3 ok
programme-non issued :-(
Lincoln performance 6/10

after rubbing shoulders with Europe's finest its back down to earth with a bump for the imps as we travel across lincolnshire to the backward dump of a town that is Boston to take on Boston united fc on Wednesday night.

respect to the ferencvaros fans who traveled over for the game, i mean who in the right mind would travel halfway across Europe for a meaningless friendly game? hmmmmmmm

germany tour part 1- the journey there!

The plan was to leave Redford at about 10-10.30, get down to stanstead airport then get some sleep at the airport before we flew out at 6.30.
i was planning to get some sleep in the day but a combination of the heat and excitement made this pretty much a non starter. so i had a few beers in the day to help me sleep,which didn't work but never mind lol.
we stopped at a service station outside of stanstead for a hour at about 1.00 am and had the pleasure of 3 slappers bitching about an ex boyfriend. on the next table to us. boy were they rough.
when we got to the airport what surprised us was the amount of people there were laid out everywhere. family's with small kids just fast asleep. after about 10 mins it was evident we weren't going to get any sleep due to the fact we were taking the piss out of each other, and generally "arsing about" to quote Mr Barry Oxby. the conversation ranged from the quality of ladies walking past to football, to former workmates and jobs from the past,wondering if our guts were ready for the next few days,fears of flying (or not in my case) and again on of the quotes of the holiday was said again by Baz


everything will either go perfect,or it will all go tits up!

once we were air side i had the worse sausage sandwich i have ever had- total crap!one shitty little,uncooked sausage in a large bread bun and some piss poor tea! all for £4.25 robbing twats!

we got on the plane with no major problems apart form a couple of our number worrying about flying and getting sweaty parms etc etc.it was surprising how good the air hostess looked at 6.30 in the morning very nice they were to! the flight was pretty smooth and we got to Bremen airport on time and ready for whatever Germany could throw at us!

Germany tour part 3 Celle

we decided to stop at a motorway service station,that wasn't like a British one-it was clean had helpful staff, good value and tasty food etc etc.the bill was again very reasonable, although we were charged 25 cent for a prefand! what the fucks that seemed was the general thaught. when postman scott inquired (he was very good with the natives) we found out that if you take your bottle back you get 25 cent back good idea i thaught.
after what seemed for ever passing signs for "Ausfahrt" which we thaught it was a place when it was infact a sign that ment exit! doh! we made in to Celle. after going past a sign for a football stadium because baz said " no that's a different ground and team, somebody back me up on this one i know i am right!!" (he was wrong) we pulled up outside the stadium in the blistering heat and had alook around, a bloke was marking out the pitch so we knew the game was on. the ground seemed quite nice and it was great to be there in the right place.
after interrupting an old Lady's tea session in the club bar we decided to grab a quick shower in the hotel and check out the town. fleice and mine room was nice however baz and postman scotts beds/bed was a little close together you could say.
we thought we would take a stroll into the town, after walking for what seemed like miles we found a bar and had a nice refreshing drink of beer in a nice smart glass not like the pint size crappy ones you get in the uk. it was then decided that food was the order of the day and when you have four guys together a kebab is called for, and what a kebab it was! served more like a sandwich the sauces was spot on,the meat and the salad both fresh! hmm great beer,food,weather and football is there anymore to life? it was then back to the hotel, shit,shower and sleep then onto the match!!

germany tour part 2 Breman

Its sods law that wherever you go in the world there will be a twat or too and the odds are that you WILL encounter them at some point.We did just that after about 10 minutes in Germany. Upon arriving at passport control Baz was asked by the guy at the desk if he knew about Germany's 4-0 win over England in the recent under 21 European championship final? after replying no i was asked if i knew the reason why Germany has three stars on there shirt, again i just smiled and nodded whiles thinking prick!
once outside the airport the first thing that hit you was the humidity of the place much worse than the uk even with the recent heatwave we have had here. we spent some more time "arseing about" looking to find our car hire company, the passport control guy came out to ask if we knew that Germany were also under 17 euro champs , you learn something new every day dont you!
We couldn't get the car for another hour so we retreated to a bar outside the airport for a few beers,Becks was the order of the day and 3 beers and a coke was less than 10 euros and served by a nice blond German girl, we all had a game of guess the girls age, it was 30, as asked by postman scott (i would have said abut 27-28) watching the people stroll past it was interesting to note that although there wernt as many people over weight as there is in the uk, there were alot more smokers i would say about 70% of the people smoked as apose to about 30% over here, strange eh?

we picked up our car for the next couple of days, a might panda! which was surprisingly good.First stop was the Werser stadium, home to the German cup winners and UFEA cup runners up Werder Breman.
I was quite impressed by the stadium, (not hard when you are used to going to crap grounds like the ones i normaly go to). first stop was the club shop which was abit disappointing although we were told that the new shirt was being released tomorrow. the range wasnt as big as i would have thought but i got a badge for my collection so i was a Happy bunny.as we walked around the ground we could see that work was being done to the stadium, we tried to get a look inside however a chat who must have thought he was the furher in waiting waved us away-prick. another interesting fact is that terracing is still allowed in the German top division if they can do it there why not in England?
then it was of to find Celle the guy at the car hire place told us it would take no more than 54 Min's, typically German eh? and by the way it didn't.

Germany tour part 4- the Match!

after a dump,shower and change we made the five minute walk to the stadium to see the imps first game of the 2009-10 season.
the first thing that struck us was the number of police there was there.at least 5 vans plus dogs plus everything else.the tickets cost 8 euro and went in to the ground.there we were great ed by the Lincoln chief executive Dave Roberts who we had a good chat to about out trip and such. he seemed very impressed that us we had made the journey and been up since Wednesday morning. another imp had also made the trip which was nice to see we wernt the only ones.Mr Roberts then went on to buy us all at least two or three beers (carnt remember) you would never get this happening a big club.
we then ambled over to where the team were warming up, (in the 37 degree heat) Jacko then broke off from the warm up came over the fence shook all of our hands and thanked us for coming over! after posing for a picture with the team and a few other imps who had traveled over jacko asked the team to give a round of applause for the supporters! great moment! thanks jacko! (the pic is on Lincolns website!)

As for the game it was what you would expect. Celle hadnt won since February so had a new look squad out,including 4 lads from the local British Army base (got to keep an eye on jerry even now you know!) the imps knocked the ball around well creating a few chances but as normal fucked them up although we had the lions share of the ball celle were dangerous on the break and nearly got behind the imps back line on a couple of occasions.
on 30 mins the imps conceded there first penalty kick of the 2009-10 season (didnt take long did it!) Rob burch saved it(pictured above) but alas was beaten in the 37th min by the celle number eight . there were plenty of chances for the imps from then on but the celle keeper was having one of those nights were he saved everything and was greeted to great applause when he was subbed with about 6 Min's left to play
we were greeted to the sight of imps assistant manager and coach iffy onoura and steve clarke playing the last 15 mins or so, a sign that this game was aimed at fitness levels rather than winning.

full time Tus celle fc 1-Lincoln city -0
att- about 150 ish
programme- none
food/drink at ground-no food. beer after first pint was ok.
standard of ground 7/10

after the game the players came over to the imps fans and gave there shirts away. as a washing machine incident had ruined my white away top i was well chuffed to get one. Luca carmon cole, i salute you!
after the game it was back into the town for more beer and food! we hooked up with another imps fan Nigel and found a decent bar.The barmaid seemed worried that her English wasnt too good but it beat the shit out of our German.(surprise surprise the barmaid was good looking and very charming,the opposite to the ones over here then)
we left the bar at about 11.30, with only me and baz ending up on the beer while the others were on "cola" as the Germans call coke.
then i broke my personal best, my second kebab in 5 hours, get in! and again it was fantastic! we ate at a table inside and washed it down with a yogurt drink that baz had recommended to us!one of what i presume was the owners sons came in, say our Lincoln shirts and asked the score. he couldn't belive we had lost to celle!
big questions were being asked on the way back, like how would our guts cope with what had been thrown at them and what was for breakfast!

germany tour part 5- history time

The difference between European and British beer was evident in the fact that non of the four of us woke up with a hangover. the seem to prefer taste over chemicals unlike here plus the bar amids as in Prague seemed more friendly, better looking and didn't spend all the time texting, reading a crap magazine or looking mardy.
after a nice four course breakfast sat out in the sun discussing the staes of our insides and bowle movement over the past 30 or so hours (or not in certain cases) we packed the bags, "acquired" the local paper on the reception area of the hotel we jumped into the Panda and is was off to the old concentration camp in Belsen Bergen
After about 40 mins and a detour to a working British Army base by mistake. the guards face was one of a "what the fuck are these clowns doing here" types.

It is difficult to put into words what went on at the camp in the years between 1940-45 so i wont. the pictures speak for themselves. the suffering that went on here in my mind can never be brought home totally.the material in the displays is heartbreaking. the films and pictures just sickening.the strange thing i felt was although the British liberated the camp we got there i bit to late. although i have huge respect for every allied solider that lost there life in that terrible war.
walking around the camp in the blistering 37 degree heat was very humbleing. the were stories of how the normal German people threw food over the wall in the camp for the prisoners as they were appaled at what was going on in there only to get shot by the SS. and that the British generals order the Nazi leaders to dig the graves for the dead and throw the bodies in.once the camp was liberated.

WE WILL NEVER FORGET! NOR FORGET HOW LUCKY WE ARE TO LIVE WHEN AND WHERE WE DO.

German tour 2009 part 6 great quotes of the tour!

if you wernt there than these may have no meaning to you but trust me they were funny at the time!

"that Ausfart is a big place!"

"bowle or bladder sir?"

"somebody back me up on this!"

"fuck me is is better at English than me!"

" what about her,would you?"
" no mate"
"what?"
" iam picky mate,that or not desperate!"


" i tell ya i am getting it tonight"

"yarr"

"celle havnt won since February"
"you know whats going to happen now then!"

" i take it this isn't the old camp is it?"

" everything is either going to go well or its all going to go tits up"

" just arse about now for 4 hours"

" the turtles head is just popping out"

"i am fucking sweating already and we havnt even took off!"


there was many more but i carnt remember them at the moment. i have really enjoyed writing this blog and i would love to thank everybody who helped us over in Germany especially Peter Jackoson,Dave Roberts and Luca carmon-cole for giving me his shirt.
but most off all my three traveling companions!

roll on next year!