..

First County Visit:	Friday 26th December 1986
Competition:	Today League Division 4 – (Tier 4)
Result:	Lincoln City 0 – 0 Stockport County
Attendance:	2,773
Away Trip:	42
Away Day:	138
County Line-up	1 Andy Gorton; 2 Clive Evans; 3 Ian McKenzie; 4 Phil Brown; 5 Trevor Matthewson; 6 Wayne Stokes; 7 Andy Hodkinson; 8 Ernie Moss; 9 Vernon Allatt; 10 Les Robinson; 11 David Mossman
Manager:	Colin Murphy
County Visits:	9

..

THE NAISSANCE OF THE GREAT ESCAPE

..

..

He took charge of his first league game a week after Caernarfon, and had an immediate impact as Cardiff were sent packing, (3-1). Despite a defeat at Hartlepool six days later, a draw down at Southend and a home win over Wrexham meant a return of 7 points from the 4 games.  Considering that the previous 15 had yielded just 6 this was pretty impressive.  What had been a six point gap from next to bottom Torquay had been reduced to a single point as Christmas arrived. 

He had obviously looked at the resources available to him and, presumably not being over-impressed, brought in Andy Gorton, a goalkeeper from Oldham, and Les Robinson, a combative midfielder from Mansfield. 

Gorton was a somewhat erratic character, (just type his name in Google to get some of the details), but one thing was for sure was he was a bloody good keeper. He was on loan from Oldham, and only played 14 games, but made sufficient of an impression to be brought back permanently the following season. 

 Robinson was more than a good player, and after 67 games with the Hatters, went to Doncaster, and later to Oxford where he had the majority of his 700+ game career.  These two had made an immediate difference.

Boxing Day 1986 presented a trip to Lincoln and hopes of continuing this good run.  The Imps were 8^th in the table, some 17 points better off than County so if nothing else this was going to be a real test of the improvement that had been apparent thus far under Murphy.   Getting to the ground there was news that two more signings had been made on Christmas Eve and both had made the short trip from Saltergate.  Phil Brown was a midfielder of whom not much was known, but the other was a Spireites legend.

..

..

Ernie Moss had a long career but at Chesterfield, (in three separate spells) he racked up 469 games and hit the target on 162 occasions. It was a signing which certainly buoyed the travellers that day, and in the remainder of that season, (his only time with County), he got 7 goals from his 26 games, with 6 of those strikes bringing priceless points as we edged away from that dreaded relegation spot.  He left at the end of 1986/87 but it wasn’t the last time we heard of him. 

Making a visit to the Northolme, Gainsborough, in January 2015, Ernie was a guest of the home club  Very, very sadly he had fallen victim to Picks Disease, a form of dementia, and quite rightly a collection was made around the ground to support research into this condition.  Whether this will uncover a link between heading a football and the onset of the disease only time will tell, but it has been reported by the Derbyshire Times that his will donate his brain to a ‘bank’ when he dies to help with research into the illness’ link to football .

Sincil Bank has changed significantly since that festive fixture 32 years ago.  I stationed myself on a small terrace in front of the Main Stand – a structure which then had but 6 months left before demolition and replacement by what I’ve always regarded as a strange construction.  It’s tall, no doubt about that, but extends by no more than 20 yards on either side of the half way line.  Anyway the old stand was my vantage point for the day. 

..

..

On the opposite side was the uncovered Sincil Terrace, and for a lower league ground it was more than adequate.  I did stand on there a couple of years later, but with the advent of progress that is now long gone as well.  Its replacement is definitely impressive.  A huge area of seating which must hold upwards of 5,000.  But, whilst spectator comfort has improved on that side, I do bemoan the loss of the sort of enclosure that formed from an early age my views on what a football ground should look like.  At either end there were small covered stands, terracing back in 1985, but converted to seating, and upgraded extensively since then. All in all I liked Sincil Bank as a ground as it was in 1985.  It was a pretty happy hunting ground as well.

That first game was itself less than memorable for the purist.  But a goalless draw was further evidence of the progress that Murphy was making, and driving back across Woodhead there were some small embers of optimism.  And we didn’t have to wait long to see this built on.

My views on the disappearance of the traditional Christmas programme are documented elsewhere. For many years the schedule always had games on both Boxing Day and 27^th December, (except of course in those days when Sunday football was verboten).  It was still the case in 1986 – so 24 hours after the trip to Sincil Bank there was a home game against Peterborough. 

..

..

A convincing 3-1 win featured a hat-trick from Vernon Allatt, the first since John Kerr picked one up over two years previously in a 5-1 rout of Chester (†).  We had to wait nearly three years for the next one – when Brett Angell went one better, getting 4 against Hartlepool.  He could have made it 5 as well, when he generously, (and many said foolishly), gave up the chance from the penalty spot, allowing George Oghani to get on the scoresheet. So as we wended our way back that Boxing Day evening, content in the impact that Murphy was having, little did we know that following his miracle job of preserving league status five months later he would quickly up sticks and take up the job at Lincoln.  He had the task of a quick return to the League.   

County might have been on the up and Lincoln having gone into the game in 8^th place with 30 points were on the cusp of a cataclysmic slide.  They managed only a further 18 points from the remaining 26 games and plunged into the Conference on the last day as Burnley beat Orient. 

A club which had been Football League Champions 27 years previously could well have been consigned to oblivion.  There had been all sorts of talk that relegation could spell the end for Burnley, with the local non-league outfit, Colne Dynamoes, who were on the crest of a well funded wave, being ready to take up occupancy of Turf Moor. 

History says, of course, that it didn’t happen but coincidentally the next stop for me was to be another fallen giant …

April 2020

† – I’ve since been reminded by Josh on the ‘Yellowboard’ that Allatt’s was a ‘perfect hat-trick’ – right foot, left foot and a header!! Thanks for jogging my memory.

..

VISITS

..

Day	Date	Competition	Tier / Round	Opponents	Res	F	A	Crowd	Away Day
Fri	26/12/86	Today League Division 4	Tier 4	Lincoln City	D	0	0	2,773	138
Wed	01/11/89	Barclays League Division 4	Tier 4	Lincoln City	D	0	0	5,003	176
Sat	23/02/91 (Highlights)	Barclays League Division 4	Tier 4	Lincoln City	W	3	0	3,257	206
Tues	27/09/05	Coca-Cola Football League – League 2	Tier 4	Lincoln City	L	0	2	3,508	536
Sat	07/04/07	Coca-Cola Football League – League 2	Tier 4	Lincoln City	D	0	0	5,320	578
Sat	15/03/08	Coca-Cola Football League – League 2	Tier 4	Lincoln City	W	1	0	4,544	601
Sat	23/10/10	npower Football League – League 2	Tier 4	Lincoln City	D	0	0	4,809	661
Fri	26/08/11	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Lincoln City	D	1	1	2,152	680
Sat	27/10/12	Blue Square Bet Premier	Tier 5	Lincoln City	D	3	3	1,873	710

..

ON MY JOURNEY WITH COUNTY AROUND 180 GROUNDS

..

Previously – THE OVAL Next stop – MOLINEUX