Scots at Sincil Bank! It's just the ticket!

After the excitement of Tuesday night subsided and I found out that I was heading to Lincoln for stop number 13 on the Road to Wembley from Scotland I was faced with two issues to resolve. Firstly, it became apparent on Wednesday morning that the match between Lincoln City and Brighton and Hove Albion in Round 4 of the FA Cup was going to be a sell out and I needed a ticket. Secondly, I needed to find out what the links are between Lincoln City and Bella Caledonia. Thankfully, two days later I have a ticket and I now know that Lincoln City have a rich Scots heritage.

Checking the Lincoln City web site on Wednesday night I noted that season ticket holders were allocated two match tickets each. After exploring a number of possibilities I thought – aha – phone Kevin Oliver. Kevin and I worked together at Boston College in Lincolnshire in the 1990s and the fanatical Imps fan has always been a season ticket holder. Kevin had promised his other ticket to a mate but made a few enquiries on my behalf and to cut a long story short his nephew Alan has sorted me out. Phew! Many thanks to both Kevin and Alan and a case of lager is on the way to Boston!

As well as working together, Kevin and I were also team mates in the all-conquering (not!) Boston College staff team of the 1990s when the team’s fanzine ‘Play On Until The Lights Go Out’ was produced and edited by College Registrar Johnny Hale. A very appropriate title given the average age of the team.

Boston College Staff FC circa 1995: Ticket Master Kevin Oliver left and Johnny Hale right

Unfortunately Johnny won’t be at Sincil Bank on Saturday week as he is no longer with us. He is sadly missed and his re-naming of the players to give the team a more exotic reputation still survives. When visiting Boston I am often recognised as Donkinelli. My pal Jim Morrison still goes by the name of Jiminio Morrisini. Johnny Hale was a big man in every sense – a huge personality and an ample girth that gave testament to the fact that he had been able to kick his anorexia problem at an early age. One evening we were strolling off the pitch at the end of another defeat from the Boston Fire Brigade and a young scally called out ‘Mister – did you score a hat trick?’ ‘No’ replied Johnny. 'Then why have you got the match ball tucked under your shirt?’ Thanks again for sorting out the ticket Oliveria.

As regular readers know, for each match I like to find out what the links are between the competing teams and Bonny Scotland. This is the Road to Wembley from Scotland after all. To find out more, I joined two Imps facebook fan forums: (i) The Lincoln City banter fb page and (ii) the Lincoln City Red Imps banter fb page. I then asked if the members knew of any links and I have been inundated. Thanks everybody.

The first suggested link with Scotland was the A1 … very funny! Then Susan Whitworth posted that she is a Lincoln City supporter but her parents live in Scotland! Thankfully the connections continued to come in and became a lot stronger. It would seem that there is a link between Lincoln and Scottish football that goes back over 100 years. Glasgow Rangers were founded by 4 young men, one of whom was William McBeath who died in Lincoln in 1917 at the age of 61. In addition to helping found the club, William also played for Rangers. William had a hard life and after moving to England found himself accused of selling adverts in a newspaper that was never distributed. It would appear that financial chicanery amongst the Ibrox community is not the exclusive preserve of the modern Glasgow Rangers. William spent most of his later years in a Lincoln Poorhouse where he was branded an imbecile. It is very likely that he was suffering from Alzheimers disease. Until 2010 his grave was unmarked when in the summer of that year members of the Rangers supporters internet forum Vanguardbears bought a 50-year lease on the grave.

McBeath -founder of Rangers and buried in Wahingborough Road Cemetery Lincoln

Another notable historical link between Lincoln City and Glasgow Rangers is that they actually played each other in the FA Cup in January 1887 at Ibrox. This makes Lincoln City one of a very exclusive club of football teams who have played an FA Cup tie in Scotland. The match took place in an era when a handful of Scottish teams entered the FA Cup. For the record Rangers won 3-0.

On the pitch at Lincoln City one of the first sightings of a Scot at Sincil Bank was an inside forward from Dalmuir, Tom McInnes, who played for The Imps between 1900 and 1903.  In the 1930s a left half / outside left from Fife called George Whyte represented the Imps for the whole of that decade. He racked up an impressive 322 appearances between 1931 and 1939. At that time this placed George 3^rd in the list of the biggest number of appearances for the club. This information was sent to me by Chris Henderson of the Lincoln City Red Imps Banter facebook forum. Chris is the great grandson of George Whyte. Thanks Chris.

A portrait of George Whyte: Commissioned by and lovingly maintained by his family

In the 1970s the Imps were managed by a Scotsman. In season 1977-78 Willie Bell briefly took the helm at Sincil Bank. After a successful playing career in England with Leicester City and Leeds United Willie tried his hand at coaching when he hung up his boots. 

Wille Bell: Good player for Leicester - carp manager for The Imps

The twice capped Bell got his first job manager’s job at Birmingham City in 1975. He was sacked after two unsuccessful years at St Andrews but was offered a second chance by the Red Imps. After the Imps finished in the bottom half of Division Three in 1977-78 Willie moved on again – to America where he made the good old US of A his home. In later years he became a man of the cloth and at the age of 79 it is believed he is still bashing the bible.

In the 1980s highlander Ross Jack played for Lincoln City for two seasons for the Imps appearing 60 times and scoring 16 goals.

Highlander Ross Jack in Imps 1980s regalia

Ross was a man of many clubs both north and south of the border. Norwich City, Everton, Dundee, Dunfermline and Kilmarnock all benefited from the Scottish striker’s eye for goal. After a break of about 10 years at the end of his playing career he is now back in the game. The 57 year old is currently manager of Turriff United who are going well in the Highland League.

In more recent times a forgettable link between Scotland and Lincoln City was the pre-season friendly between the Imps and Celtic at Sincil Bank in the summer of 2010. The fans of the green half of the ugly sisters disgraced themselves in Lincoln City centre and 20 arrests were made. Once inside the ground the Celtic fans continued to fight – this time amongst themselves!

A tenuous current link between Scotland and Lincoln City is provided by Chris Sutton. Chris is English but played football in Scotland for 6 years for Celtic between 2000 and 2006 scoring 63 goals for the Hoops. His one foray into management was an unmitigated disaster when he took control at Sincil Bank for one season in 2009-2010. His record as boss was abysmal and he set the Imps on a downward spiral that ultimately saw Lincoln City relegated out of the football league. 

Sutton as Imps boss pointing the way - downwards!

He now works as an outspoken pundit for BT Sport covering the Scottish games on that channel. Every time his angular ugly coupon appears on the screen it amazes me how a guy who was given a good chance to shine in management and blew it big style can be so critical of the current Scottish managers trying to ply their trade in an unforgiving environment.

Thanks again to all the face-booking Lincoln City fans who have helped me with the links between their club and Bella Caledonia. There are no Scots in the current Lincoln City squad but the transfer window is still open and maybe a tartan clad footballer will head for Sincil Bank before the end of the transfer window.

Tonight the Imps play host to Dover Athletic in a Vanarama National League fixture. The match is being shown on BT Sport and I hope to catch most of it. Maybe not all of it because also on TV tonight the Sky TV fixture is Brighton and Hove Albion v Sheffield Wednesday and I want to keep tabs on the Seagulls as they too gear up for the big match in Lincoln on Saturday the 28^th January. One thing for sure, the remote is going to take some punishment this evening.

Will The Imps continue their impressive form and rip the soul out of Dover? Will the Seagulls shit on Wednesday on a Friday? Come back here over the weekend to find out how the protagonists on the next stop on the Road to Wembley from Scotland got on in their preparatory league fixtures. Keep reading …