EXCLUSIVE: Inside Lincoln City's incredible rise from non-league obscurity to potential Tottenham clash
Just nine years after being a non-league side, Lincoln City will play second-tier football for the first time since 1961 next season
At recent Lincoln City games, before promotion to the Championship was secured, a catchy chant has been ringing out - "Tottenham away, ole, ole." That's the away trip fans have got their eye on ahead of next season.
The Imps have fulfilled their part of the bargain by booking a place in the second tier for the first time since 1961 with almost a month of the season to spare. It remains to be seen whether Spurs will be one of their opponents in 2026/27.
Regardless, they will face a host of ex-Premier League sides. Nearby Nottingham Forest would be another dream match for supporters who must think they are living out some kind of fantasy.
Ten years ago, Lincoln, who dropped out of the Football League in 2011, were coming to the end of a season that saw them finish 13th in the National League. Their league rivals included Altrincham, Southport and Guiseley.
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The decade since has been remarkable, with now three promotions, a historic run to the FA Cup quarter-finals as a non-league side and winning the EFL Trophy at Wembley. After Wrexham, no side in English football has soared quicker than Lincoln in recent times. The Imps have done it in a rather more understated fashion than the attention-soaked north Wales side.
There are no A-list celebrity owners, no mega-bucks sponsorship deals with international airlines or media companies. In fact, a behind-the-scenes exposé of life at the LNER Stadium would be rather bland. That's a compliment, not a criticism.
As long-serving chief executive Liam Scully puts it: "It takes a village. It takes consistent behaviour. Arguably, boringly consistent behaviour over a length of time. We've been this broad version of us since 2019 and have rarely deviated from our plan. And when we have, we've slapped ourselves and corrected course."
Lincoln have got where they are through sensible decisions, a solid structure and investing what money they have in the right areas. After two promotions in three seasons in the late 2010s under the Cowley brothers, who left for Huddersfield in 2019, the Imps had started to put down roots in League One. There was a surprise run to the play-off final in the Covid season of 2020/21 but Lincoln had essentially become a mid-table side.
That was perfectly acceptable for a club that has spent the majority of its existence in the fourth tier. They were punching above their weight financially (they still are with what is believed to be the 18th-largest budget in League One).
After sacking Mark Kennedy following a mid-table finish in 2022/23, the club wanted a manager more in tune with its ethos of developing players tactically and technically. Step forward, Michael Skubala, the former England futsal coach and PE teacher, who was appointed in November 2023. Most Imps fans were asking, 'Michael who?'
At the time of his appointment, he had been under-21 boss at Leeds, having a brief spell as interim first-team boss following the sacking of Jesse Marsch. He'd also worked within the academies at Nottingham Forest and Coventry, and coached England U18s. A certain Gareth Southgate was a colleague for a period.
On appointing Skubala, Scully recalls: "He wanted to collaborate and he respected club structures. He talked about how he needed to adapt to the Lincoln City way and how we needed to work together."
Transfer model and future proofing
There's been continuity off the pitch. Scully and director of football Jez George have been in situ since the club's early days back in the Football League.
A clear transfer plan has been developed that includes taking younger players, developing them and then reaping the benefits. Take striker Jovan Makama, who was picked up as a 16-year-old after not making the grade at Derby County.
Last summer, he became the first-ever Lincoln player to fetch a fee in excess of £1million when he was sold to Norwich. Three other first-team regulars left but their absence has barely been felt.
Lincoln have raided the Irish market with success. Exciting midfielder Jack Moylan, 24, signed from Shelbourne, could attract interest this summer but the club have future-proofed by recently tying him to a new long-term contract.
The same goes for the head coach, who is under contract with the club until 2028. Lincoln have cast their net into mainland Europe too, with Ukrainian midfielder Ivan Varfolomeev, 24, arriving from Slovan Liberec and quickly becoming a cult figure with fans.
At the back, Lincoln have gone for experience with EFL veterans like Tendayi Darikwa, Sonny Bradley and Adam Reach (combined age: 101). Their nous has clearly rubbed off on the younger members of the squad, while the defence has been rock-solid. "They've been huge in setting standards," says George.
Skubala is a 'head coach' rather than an old-fashioned manager but every transfer still needs his approval. Scully asserts: "Michael and the coaching team have first and last say. It's genuinely collaborative. We've never brought in a player that the head coach doesn't agree with a signing.
"But the idea that the manager makes all the decisions and is the single point of success and failure, that's a dying methodology. At Lincoln City, that went out years ago."
On the club's transfer model, George explains: "It's been about finding players who are perhaps underrated and undervalued and having a model that allows them to be fantastic for us, but aren't sought by the clubs with the biggest budgets.
"That's why everything has to be joined up in terms of how we play, the type of players we need, whether they're available, how robust they are, because we're never going to have the biggest squad.
"It's the job of the coaches to make recruitment look good, and that's exactly what they've done because we've improved as the season has gone on."
It may sound trite but it truly has been a team effort. George adds: "Off the pitch, the credit goes to an unbelievable group of staff. On the pitch, it's exactly the same; we don't have a superstar.
"We have 10 or 12 candidates to be player of the year. We've had 19 different goalscorers. We're the top scorers in the league but not one player in double figures."
American investment
Yes, the Imps have American ownership too. South African businessman Clive Nates, a driving force behind the club's rise over the last decade, recently stepped aside as chairman (he's stayed on as co-vice chairman).
Ron Fowler, a former co-owner of the San Diego Padres baseball team, is now at the helm after increasing his stake in the club. He says he was attracted by the club's "David and Goliath mentality."
It'll be a case of evolution rather than revelation under Fowler. There'll be no bold statements like aiming for the Premier League, and that's just how the fans like it.
Sensible spending and happy fans
Having achieved their holy grail of reaching the Championship, the next, arguably tougher, task will be to stay there. There will naturally be fresh investment in the playing squad for the big step up, but no casino-style spending.
In a project driven by Fowler, the Imps will construct an impressive new fanzone ahead of next season, while a few extra seats will be bolted in to take the ground's capacity close to 11,000.
With average crowds of close to 10,000 this season, it won't be big enough next season but the club won't rush into an expensive expansion unless it makes financial sense.
Supporters like the 'no egos' approach on and off the pitch. Even before promotion was confirmed, 6,000 season tickets had been snapped up for next term. That faith has been rewarded with a place in the Championship and possibly even a trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
