Lincoln United legends 1-0 Lincoln City Legends

Well its been a while since i was able to say this but i really enjoyed myself at football today. Well in truth not only at football but the whole day; another rarity. I had noticed in the local rag that one of the flower shops in town had managed to hire a replica of the European Cup (Or Champions League trophy if you like) for a week and for a donation to a local charity you could have your picture taken with "old big ears" and as a supporter of current European champion's(Well we are for another week anyway) Internazionale of Milan i popped along, complete with Inter away shirt on, to get my pic taken.

FC Internazinale of Milan Champion's of Europe 1963/64,1964/65 and 2009/10

Inter's run of 5 successive championships was ended this season by Milan's 2nd team AC Milan. Inter are however in the final of the Coppa Italia, they've also won the Italian super cup (Italy's answer to the community shield). This season Inter have also won the World Club Championship, finished 2nd in the league and made the last eight of the Champions league. So it's not been too bad a season has it? When i started following the Nerazzurri in the mid ninties they were lucky to finish in the top 5 let alone win the league so any success is to be well received. Quite often when people ask me if i follow a "big" team as well as Lincoln they look gone out when i say Inter. But like i point out, I have been to as many Inter home games over the years as 95% of Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal fans in Retford (i.e none) but hopefully that will change soon...

I have been looking forward to today's game for quite a while. After watching the drivel that the Imps have served up this season it was going to be great to ee some Imps of yesteryear who wore the shirt with pride and passion. Two things that have been in very short supply in from the 2010/11 Imps it has to be said. The bulk of City's team were the core of players who formed the 1997/98 promotion squad; stars such as Steve Holmes, Jon Witney, Dean Walling and the now Lincoln United player/manager Terry Flemming. I had got into the retro spirit of the day by wearing my 1995/96 away shirt. Its a good fit now so it must have buried me when i first got it as i am sure i have put on weight since then. We got to Lincoln United's Ashby Avenue stadium at about 1.45 and headed straight for the bar. As it was a sunny day we took our drinks outside to sit in the sun and take in a spot of cricket on the pitch next door.

Programmes were on sale for £1 on the other side of the turnstile. Gaz was making a guest appearance as a steward for the day so I gave him the cash for the programmes and he very kindly passed them through for us. As we sat supping and discussing yet another championship for Glasgow Rangers the players started to arrive and i must admit i felt like a star struck 15 year old kid again. The likes of Gavin Gordan, Dave Barnett, Steve Holmes, Alan Marriot, John Finnigan, and Jamie Forrester all looked in great shape and were happy to stop and chat to fans and sign stuff. Again such a huge contrast to what we have had since Jacko left the club. When Terry arrived I plucked up the courage to ask the great man to pose for a picture with me and he was only too happy to(Thanks to David Del Colle Bellamy for taking the picture). Today i had my picture taken with the European cup and a true Lincoln City legend. What could be better? Only needed a picture of myself with Sophie for the full set but as Meatloaf once famously sung, two out of three ain't bad.

Admission today was a bargain £5 so after parting with our cash we ambled over to have a ferret about in the club shop. As with many non league clubs it is a treasure chest of old football programmes from clubs of all shapes and sizes and most of them cost a mere 20p. Lee really was in his element here and came out with a bag full and picked up a couple of real bargains. Meanwhile Felice had sprinted into the canteen at the speed of light to check out the food on offer and returned with a cheeseburger.

Programmes? or...

Double cheeseburger? tough choice my friends


We decided to stand behind the far goal for the first part of the match. The Lincoln United legends were out warming up but City's players didn't show till about 2.50. It was great to see the likes of Jason Minett, Paul Miller, Grant Brown, Ian Wilkins and John Schofield in the red and white stripes again. Felice's hero Ben Dixon was also playing today even though we didn't recognise him at first. Nobody seemed to recognise the keeper for the Imps but the rest of the line up was very familiar. As is the norm with these types of matches it was a case of rolling subs. After watching the first 10 minutes or so behind the far goal we ambled round the ground to get some pics and also so we could be in a position to view Ben Dixon in his finest form on the left hand side. In all fairness not only did he play the full 90 minutes but he linked up very well with his full back Jon Whitney aka "Psycho" who is now Walsall's physio for the first team.

United were having the lion's share of the ball but neither side were able to carve out many chances. John Schofield was running the show in the Imps midfield but nothing was happening up front. Halfway through the first half we paid a visit to the canteen(Mine and Lee's first, and Felice's 2nd). I went for the Cheeseburger and chips for £3. You can't even get a burger at City for that. The food got mixed reviews. Felice gave the burger a standard 7, Gaz only gave the chips and cheese a 6/10 due to the fact the cheese wasn't freshly grated. I however was more than happy with my fodder and marked it with a 8/10. All in all a solid day on the food front.

As we were getting our food United took the lead i didnt see it so i can't tell you chaps about it but there you go. The score stayed the same until half time and United were deserving of the lead although neither side had really looked like adding to the scoring.


City stepped it up in the second half as we brought on Colin Alcide up front. Colin was one of those players who looked quite ungainly to watch but was a nightmare to play against,and he hasn't changed. From 1995-97 Lincoln had a very effective attack which went like this. Flemming long throw, Alcide flick on which was normally then buried by Gareth Ainsworth arriving at the back post. If we didn't use that trick, then it was headed home by Steve Holmes arriving late in the box. Although Ainsworth wasn't here today just seeing big Colin bully the back line brought back all the memories. At the back Grant Brown and Steve Holmes took it in turns to go up for corners and free kicks etc etc. Jason Minett had a few decent efforts for city as they pushed for a goal but quite often the final ball or some great defending denied them. Alcide had the best chances with a couple of headers and a "one on one" but it wasn't his or City's day. The game was played in the right spirit through out and everybody involved was a credit to the two clubs and the city of Lincoln. The only disappointing feature for me was the fact that more people didn't turn up to see the match. Oh and the fact that nobody did the old AAALLLLCCCIIDDDEEEEEE!!!! shout when big Colin had a chance.
I really enjoyed the game and seeing all the old faces return shows that they remember their various times at Lincoln fondly. I really dont think that we will see much of the class of 2010/11 playing in this kind of game in 2020.