Stand by me, as we take a trip to Lincoln

An insight into the Imps with Gary Hutchinson

Jun 24, 2024

Monday 24 June 2024

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Dear County fans, Stopfordians, Lincoln supporters, and anyone else from The Football Family joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Monday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore. (If you’re only just joining us today, for no reason at all, I’m somehow trying to use Oasis songs for every single one of our League One season previews!)

Gary Hutchinson from The Stacey West joins us today, ahead of Lincoln’s sixth consecutive season in League One. (If you fancy reading more from Gary, check out his personal website garyhutchinson.co.uk.)

EURO 2024 – DAY 11

8pm: Albania v Spain 🇦🇱🇪🇸

8pm: Croatia v Italy 🇭🇷🇮🇹

Here’s a list of the best places to watch today’s games…

Bask (SK1). All the action on two 75” screens.

Crown (SK2). Buy a pint of Helles today and you’ll be in with a chance of winning 52 free pints! There’s also a special menu throughout the Euros.

Armoury (SK3).

Reddish Working Men’s Club (SK5). There’s four screens in the games room, a new projector in the lower games room, and a screen in the middle room where families and children can enjoy the match. Check out the Special Offer Wheel which will be offering a variety of great deals before, during and after each game.

Railway (SK6).

Marple Tavern (SK6). Food served at half-time such as burgers, hot dogs, pizza and chips.

Steelworks (SK6). Games shown downstairs (sound off) and upstairs (sound on).

Shady Oak (SK7). Food served during the games from the matchday menu. Pick up a loyalty card to receive a discount on certain drinks.

Three Tunnes (SK7). Buy a pint of Helles today and you’ll be in with a chance of winning 52 free pints! There’s also a special menu throughout the Euros.

Cross Keys (SK8). Bitter £2.30 a pint all day. Discounts on certain lagers 12pm - 6pm.

Railway (SK9). TVs in every room, and outside. Discounted doubles on spirits and 10% off four pint jugs.

Flute & Firkin (SK12). Call 01625 879181 to book a table, and quote “The Scarf My Father Wore” to receive 10% off your first round of drinks. (Not applicable for walk-ins.)

Friendship Inn (SK13). Five big screen TVs with surround sound, including one outside in the beer garden.

Today’s edition is sponsored by Kate O’Brien Art and Bauhaus Blinds & Shutters. A big thank you to Kate, as well as Karmen and Aaron.

Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.

Total distance so far: 148.94 miles

Total steps so far: 237,462

Total raised so far: £1,881

Total completed streets so far: 304 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)

Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.

Des Junior

Last win at our place: Tuesday 12 February 2013, Conference, 2-0

Last win at their place: Saturday 15 March 2008, League Two, 1-0

Today’s Sky Bet title/promotion odds: Us – 20/1 7/1 Them – 20/1 7/1

Top story in the local news today: “We tried Turtle Bay’s new Jerk Platter and felt like we’d been transported from Lincoln to the Caribbean”

Back in 2016-17, National League side Lincoln won at Premier League Burnley in the fifth round of the FA Cup (LOL)

I’m sorry to start with a political question, but as Rishi’s chucked a general election slap bang in pre-season, I feel we’ve got to mention it. Who are you voting for? If that’s too personal just give us a flavour of the current political feeling in Lincoln? And which person at your football club do you think would make the best prime minister?

Great question. It really doesn’t matter who I’m voting for as I live in one of the most Brexit areas of the country, in the Wolds away from the city. However, I will vote Labour, which is like pissing in the wind but I am a staunch anti-Tory.

Lincoln is a marginal city, switching between red and blue. However, I suspect this time, much like the football club, our city will be red.

In terms of prime minister, the best person would be Clive Nates, our chairman, a man with the values and integrity few politicians show. However, as he’s based in South Africa he wouldn’t be eligible, so I’ll say Liam Scully. He’s known for giving a few politician’s answers, but unlike most Tory MPs, Liam does have good intentions.

Nigel Farage has had cement and a milkshake chucked over him recently. If he was to do a lap of Sincil Bank on a Saturday afternoon, what would Lincoln fans be most likely to throw at him?

I can’t speak for all fans, but if the fascist in a politician’s clothing walked near me on a matchday, I’d quite like to have one of my dog’s used poo bags to hand.

If you had to compare the ownership and daily operations of your club to a political party, which would it be?

I’d say the Liberals. There’s no pretence with our club, they are what they are. They certainly don’t lean to the right at all, and there’s a sense that they’re in the minority on the wider football stage, one of a few lone voices fighting for reform and fairness across the football world.

On and off the pitch, what do you think your club’s manifesto should say for the next 12 months?

Our manifesto should be built around the tagline “More of the Same”. We were excellent in the last four months of the season, we pulled some outstanding results from nowhere and showed we were on the right path. We’ve been good with recruitment, we buy low and sell high, and we remain a club committed to spending within our means. One day, reform in football will happen, and when it does, we’ll be ready.

Right, that’s enough political stuff. Next question. “We’re all from Stockport, who the fuck are you…?”

We’re Lincoln City, the original City. The first club to be named City on inception, the first club to be called City and play in the EFL. Also… “We Are Imps.”

Which team do you most want to beat this season?

Rotherham. Any team managed by Evans is a team I want us to beat.

Which Lincoln player is most likely to end up in League One’s team of the season?

Ethan Erhahon, but only if we don’t sell him for a couple of million before the season starts. Which we might.

County haven’t been to Lincoln in the league since October 2012. In just one paragraph, sum up everything that’s happened at your place since then.

We plumbed the depths of hell (although not quite as deep as you), losing to North Ferriby and Salisbury. We’ve won three trophies, two titles, been promoted twice, and suffered defeat in two play-off campaigns, one of which was for a place in the Championship. We’ve been to the FA Cup quarter-finals, and beaten a Premier League team in the cup. Away. Twice.

Lincoln away. I think of somewhere very flat, with a cathedral, and that air raid siren you let off at home games. Do I need to educate myself further, or is that fairly accurate?

The cathedral is on a hill, so dispels notions of Lincoln being flat. Have a climb up the aptly named Steep Hill before the game and you’ll see. We did have a siren (not sure if we do now, if we do, I block it out) so you’re right about that. I think too much education is a dangerous thing, it never hurts to stereotype away matches. If you dig too hard, you find that we’re all pretty much the same, wanting the same things from working class places with different buildings and geography. It’s harder to irrationally hate other clubs when you acknowledge we’re all the same. Apart from Grimsby, obviously, as they stink of fish.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Stockport County?

Oddly, Carlton Palmer. He was manager in 2003 when we played you in a cup game and a mad bastard called Scott Willis got sent off for spitting. I think you had Luke Beckett as well – my mate Chris, who’s on our podcast, was a teammate of his, briefly, at Gainsborough.

Rotherham play at the New York Stadium. NFL star Tom Brady is involved at Birmingham. Wrexham are plastered all over Netflix or Nickelodeon or whatever it is. League One has a bit of an American flavour this season. What’s the most American thing about Lincoln?

That would be our American investors. The first on board was Harvey Jabarra, a personal friend of Landon Donovan, who now operates as a strategic advisor to the Imps board. Recently, Ron Fowler, former owner of the San Diego Padres, also joined the board.

I’ve been watching Football Cops on Channel 4 recently, featuring Sunderland fans kicking down barriers after the game at Coventry, and loads of little Crewe rapscallions playing up at home to Walsall. On a scale of 1 to 10, how naughty are Lincoln fans these days, and how safe will our lot be when we make the trip to Lincolnshire this season?

Like any club, we have elements that I’m sure would make life difficult for certain visiting supporters, but on the whole it’s not like the days gone by. There have been flashpoints with some supporters in the past, but I’ve never felt unsafe at a Lincoln game. Of course, that’s because I wasn’t in town the day our game with Bolton was cancelled and their fans went on a rampage.

Who or what needs to be top of Lincoln’s shopping list before the new season starts in August?

As we’ve just sold our right wing-back for a reported £400,000, we need a replacement for him. We’re probably going to need a centre-half, an attacking midfielder, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we dipped in the market for a striker. We need to garnish the dish right now, but the base ingredients are all there.

What’s your early predictions in terms of the promotion and relegation places?

Bolton, Peterborough, Rotherham, Birmingham and Blackpool will all be there or thereabouts this season. That’s a tough roster of teams, and Huddersfield will be knocking on the door as well.

At the bottom, Cambridge seem to be perennial strugglers, I think Crawley will find it tough, and second season syndrome will surely hit Stevenage, now they don’t have the Burger King in charge. I’d like to see Mansfield struggle, and I’m not entirely convinced Burton are heading in the right direction either, despite spending big this summer.

Click on the links below to read the other 2024-25 season previews we’ve published so far.

Crawley / Huddersfield / Leyton Orient / Rotherham / Wigan

Get comfy with a County cushion!

Kate O’Brien – an artist based at Stockport Market – has some excellent County products to buy on her website, from coasters and cushions to magnets and mugs.

With the Euros starting to hot up in Germany, you’ll probably be spending quite a lot of time on your sofa over the next couple of weeks, especially with the knockout rounds starting this Saturday. Why not enjoy the football in even more comfort with this Stockport County cushion.

Priced at £35, this beautiful velvet cushion features Kate’s original artwork, and has a concealed zip so that the cover can be removed and washed in the washing machine.

Visit kate-obrien.co.uk to make a purchase.

If you’re looking for some new blinds or shutters, have a look inside the new Bauhaus showroom on the A6

Bauhaus Blinds & Shutters is a family run business, based in Poynton. They have a long and distinguished track record of happy customers, providing high quality blinds and shutters which are expertly fitted.

They specialise in turning your house into a home, having a solution to suit every room and window. Your blinds are provided and installed by their expert team of fitters. If you have any custom requests, let them know and they’ll find a solution.

You can pop along and have a chat with Karmen and Aaron in person if you’d like some more information, as their new showroom on Buxton Road opened a few weeks ago.

Visit bauhausblindsandshutters.co.uk for further details.

Photo of the day

Somewhere in Germany

The High Peak Hatters flying the flag for County at the Euros.

Today in SK

🎬 Cinema

One film at The Savoy Cinema (SK4) today. The Bikeriders (15) at 7pm. Click here for tickets.

🍺 Food and drink

Treat yourself to lunch at The Dog & Partridge (SK2). One course for £7, two courses for £11. 12pm - 2pm.

Discounted doubles on spirits and 10% off four pint jugs at The Railway (SK9).

🎶 Free jukebox

The Nelson Tavern (SK1). From 6.30pm.

100 random grounds that County have played at

#46 – Blundell Park, Grimsby

Last visit: A straightforward victory on our last visit to Grimsby back in February. Goals from Antoni Sarcevic, Tanto Olaofe and Lewis Cass had us 3-0 up inside 27 minutes, before Grimsby grabbed a consolation after the break.