Lincoln City’s first home game in the second tier since 1961 ended in a 3-1 defeat to Portsmouth, but the historic occasion at Sincil Bank was marked by optimism and celebration rather than disappointment.
The Imps, who won League One last season with more than 100 points, hosted their first Championship match in over six decades. Yuri Gagarin had only just returned from space when Lincoln last hosted second-tier football, a 2-0 win over Leyton Orient in 1961.
A historic return to the second tier
Sincil Bank housed its biggest attendance in more than 40 years, with 10,545 fans packing the ground for the return. While the majority left disappointed as Portsmouth inflicted the hosts’ second consecutive defeat to start the season, the mood did not feel too dampened given the extraordinary journey the club have enjoyed of late.
Most of Lincoln’s recent history has been in the footballing wilderness, but there is rapid change, on and off the pitch. The Imps have spent £10m over the summer modernising the ground with a new fan village, a big screen and upgrades to the stands that were all but sold out.
Changes on and off the pitch
There is change in the dugout, too, with Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw jointly taking over from Michael Skubala, but some things remain the same. The air raid siren – a nod to the city’s military history – still sounds every time a Lincoln corner booms its way into the opposition area, and the dedication to a traditional 4-4-2, which has seen them rise through the leagues, endures.
The most important constant is the deep-rooted connection between supporters and team, which has helped fuel their progression. Togetherness is at the heart of everything.
A defeat that did not dampen the mood
Barely a soul left before the final whistle, even when Ebou Adams’s strike secured a first win of the season for Portsmouth in the 69th minute. Many supporters stayed behind in the new fan village to debrief the loss and they remain generally upbeat. Given how far they have come, it will take more than two defeats to steer this club off course.
Had Ben House scored when through on goal early on, this historic afternoon may have been one of celebration. But Portsmouth underlined the step up in quality shortly after, going 2-0 ahead with wonderful strikes from Ryan Kavuma-McQueen and Adrian Segecic. Reeco Hackett’s penalty before the break gave the Imps hope, but Adams sealed the deal for Pompey.
“It’s been an amazing day for the club,” Shaw said. “The atmosphere was fantastic at the start of the game and it all aligned lovely until the goal. People have waited a long time to have a Championship football match here and I desperately hope we can have some good results here. But the ball moves around a bit quicker at this level, the quality increases so we’ve got to be a bit more alive to certain situations.”
A beacon of hope for the EFL
Lincoln represent a beacon of hope not just for themselves, but for much of the EFL, by showing that aggressively spending beyond your means is not the only way to achieve success. If they can go from non-league to the Championship in 10 years, why can’t anyone?
Success can be built on spirit, being greater than the sum of your parts and a bond between all involved. The revamped Stacey West Stand bears the name of the two fans who died in the Bradford fire disaster of 1985, while the family zones were packed with the next generation of Lincoln fans.
Lincoln weren’t supposed to win League Two in 2019. They certainly weren’t supposed to win League One with a mid-table budget last year, a division that included Cardiff, Luton and Bolton. This time around, they are not expected to survive the Championship; they may not beat the odds again but, with that spirit of togetherness behind them, they will give it a thoroughly good go.
