Monday 8 July 2019

The Festival of Lincolnshire Football.



After a quiet summer waiting for news on friendly games to be arranged,the fixture list to come out and planning for the new season football was finally back and the first Imps game of 2019/20 was the festival of Lincolnshire football in Gainsborough. Actually i lie because it was actually two games as the festival featured the hosts Gainsborough, The Imps and Lincoln United.

There is something special about pre-season games, the sun is normally out, optimism fills the air, results don’t matter and there is normally a real buzz about going to these games. Plus you get to see fellow supporters/ goons you have missed over the long closed season months. Another reason i enjoy pre-season games especially in the early weeks if that it gives you the chance to go to grounds and catch up with clubs that you don’t normally get the chance to visit. A few years ago i use to get around many of the local non league clubs quite often throughout the season but a combination of purchasing an Imps season ticket three years ago and funds being needed for more important things in life means that forays into the non league game are few and far between.
Gainsborough is a town steeped in history that many people in the local area don’t really appreciate. As there is so much history to explore i suggested getting to the town early to try and find some of the historical sites of importance. Alas my ideas fell on deaf ears. Gainsborough gets its name after the tribe that made the first settlement here back in Anglo Saxon times, the Gaini. Gainsborough literally means stronghold of the Gaini.


The format of the day’s event was quite simple. The three teams would play each other once and the games would be 60 minutes long with 10 minutes for halftime. Two points were to be awarded for a win and one for a draw. I know some people wouldn’t count these are proper games given that they are shorter than normal but i am. Admission was a very reasonable £10 for adults in advance and rising to 12 if paying on the day. Baz, Emma Lou and i had used our loaf and ordered in advance but loads of money Felice opted to pay on the day. You always get one don’t you? Incidentally £12 is what Trinity charged last season in the 7th tier of English football. That seems a couple of quid too much to me but what do i know? I suppose funds were needed to support the promotion push that followed relegation the previous season, the promotion push never really got going though which is a real shame as Trinity really should be higher up the pyramid.

We arrived in Gainsborough just after 12.30 and although the normal car park was reserved for “Players and media” we managed to bag a spot just around the corner and made our merry way into the stadium. The “Special souvenir” programme was on sale just inside the turnstiles for £2.50 and although it looked quite snazzy it has to be said it was poor value with not a huge amount of reading material other than pen pics of the squads and given the large number of trialists that all three sides were playing it made this a tad useless. However many clubs don’t issue programmes at all for friendly games so i suppose i should be thankful that a programme was issued at all.  


Lincoln City 4-1 Lincoln United.

First up was the Lincoln derby and from an Imps point of view it was quite hard to read anything into this. The Imps named 6 unnamed trialist’s in the line up in addition to Adebayo-Smith who recently signed his first pro deal for the club and is one of the most exciting young prospects at the club. Early pre season games like this are normally littered with trialists so it’s hard for us in the stands to work out how much chance any of these players have at getting a deal with Lincoln  You also have to consider that there is a 5 division gap between the two Lincoln teams so you would expect anybody trying to get a deal with a League one club to look competent against modest opposition. In the end the Imps won comfortably with Adebayo-Smith grabbing three of the goals and the fourth coming from “Trialist E” We had the pleasure of spending the first game in the stand with Felice as he told us all about his bird watching antics over the past few weeks and gave us the lowdown on the puffin scene in North Yorkshire, something he is hugely passionate about. He is almost as passionate about it as he was the burger that he stuffed down his face at a rate of knots.


Gainsborough Trinity 0-3 Lincoln City.

This line up was far more interesting to Imps fans as it contained players that were all contracted to the club. Much of the talk amongst Imps fans this week has been the signings of Jorge Grant and Jack Payne on full time deals along with Joe Morrell who arrived on a season long loan from Bristol City. All three started in this game.  
As with the previous game City were on the front foot from the start and never really looked in trouble. We watching this match from the Carlise Street terrace and we got a perfect view of city missing a penalty in the 8th minute as Harry Anderson was adjudged to have been fouled in the box. New boy Payne stepped up to take the sport kick but it was well saved by the Trinity keeper. The Imps didn’t have to wait long for the opening goal, Andersons shot was well saved by the keeper but the rebound fell to Ellis Chapman who finished from close range. On 25 it was 2-0 as Matt Rhead finished off a good move from about two yards out. City added the 3rd in the second half via another penalty with Jorge Grant stepping up this time to take the kick. It was a decent penalty and one that Felice missed as he snuck out of the ground at halftime. Shocking stuff i am sure you will all agree.


After the second game it was time to visit the world famous Blues club for a quick pint. The blues club like much of Gainsborough is a bit of a throwback to a bygone era but it does the trick. When we remerged it appeared that about 70% of the crowd had decided to call it a day due to the Imps have finished their two fixtures. This left Trinity and United to fight it out over second place. Trinity bossed the first period whilst United had much the better of the second. The result being a 1-1 draw thus lifting United into second place. I have to thank my good friend Rob for giving me a life back after the third game thus allowing me to be able to watch it as all my viewing companions for the first two games had left for various reasons. Rob is the leading light in the local football blogosphere so check out his version of events .here



So what were my overall views of the day? This was the first time that Trinity (to my knowledge) had hosted an event like this so with that in mind i think it went pretty well and something i could see being an annual event involving different Lincolnshire sides. Although it may have been disappointing to see so many city fans leave after the 1st two games they had all paid their ticket money so neither of the two non-league sides sharing the gate money would have lost out but you would imagine the bar and catering takings would have been better if the Imps were on last as was originally planned. The bar and catering ques were fairly swiftly moving so from that point of view Trinity should be applauded. From what i could see everybody seemed to have a great day and i am sure all three management teams got something from it as well. I for one hope to see more of these in the future years and with a couple of tweaks i am sure this could be one of the high points on the pre-season calendar. I could see City, Grimsby and Scunthopre taking it in turns being the league club and another non-league side joining Trinity. If you invited say Boston or Grantham who would both bring a decent number the event could really take off.
Food for thought as they say.  


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