Its Arsenal v Man City in the semi final of the FA Cup as the Road to Wembley from Scotland reaches Wembley!

Last night in the last quarter final to be played in the FA Cup season 2016-17 Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 at Stamford Bridge. So the four teams who are left in the world’s most famous football competition are Chelsea, Spurs, Manchester City and my new team on the Road to Wembley from Scotland – Arsenal. The draw was made and the pairings are Chelsea v Spurs and Arsenal v Manchester City. So the die is cast and on the weekend of the 22/23 April I will finally arrive at Wembley Stadium for the match between the Gunners and City.

Arch rivals Arsenal and Man City will match up at Wembley in April

After all the controversy in the earlier rounds relating to some of the bigger clubs fielding weakened teams in this iconic football competition it is interesting that now we have reached the business end of the tournament that the four semi finalists are four of the top five teams in the Premier League. The winner of the 2016-17 FA Cup is going to be one of English football’s royalty.

As regular readers will know I always look for links between the competing teams and Bonny Scotland. The links between Arsenal and Bella Caledonia have been previously reported and an early couple of clicks on google confirm that Manchester City also have strong links historically with God’s chosen country. In the Times ‘Top 50 Manchester City players of all time’ we find Scotsmen Dave Ewing, Willie Donnachie, Denis Law and Asa Hartford. The club were also managed by Scottish football icon Billy ‘Ceasar’ McNeil in the 1980s. More about all these famous ‘City Scots’ in a later post.

There are no Scots in the current Man City squad and I was racking my brain to think who was the last Scot to play for City. I am pretty sure that someone from north of the border must have donned the famous sky blue shirt within the last 10 years but the name that sprung to mind was Paul Dickov.

Paul Dickov: Former Scotland international who has played for both Arsenal and Man City

Former Scottish international Paul, from West Lothian, interestingly also played for Arsenal. He had two spells at Manchester City (initially from 1996-2002 and later from 2006-2008). He spent his last few months with City on loan at Blackpool and hence played for Man City for the last time in 2007. His big moment with City was in the Division Two play off final at Wembley in 1999 when his powerful shot in the 6^th minute of stoppage time from just inside the area helped Man City beat Gillingham and hence end their exile in the third tier of English football. The Gillingham goalie, Vince Bartram, on that fateful day in 1999 was later to become the best man at Pul Dickov’s wedding.

Dickov scores at Wembley and Man City escape from Division Two in 1999

That feeling of scoring a big goal at Wembley

This goal was voted City’s greatest ever goal in a 2005 fans survey conducted by Manchester City. I have a feeling that the ‘Aguerro moment’ in 2012 might have relegated Dickov’s achievement into second place!

Over the next few weeks I will be doing some more investigation into the links between Man City and Scotland. Jumping back to the present day I note that I will have an early opportunity to assess Man City’s current form as they play Monaco in the second leg of a ‘round of last 16’ Champions League tie on BT Sport tomorrow night. Meanwhile the Gunners, now out of Europe, have a chance to put their feet up before they take on West Brom at the weekend.

Will the Sky Blues Skelp Monaco? Will there be any more ‘Wenger Out’ nonsense from the Arsenal supporters? Was Paul Dickov really the last Scot to play for Man City? Come back here on Thursday to find out … and … keep reading!

The Imps shot down by The Gunners as Arsenal head for Wembley

Saturday the 11^th March 2017

FA Cup Round Six

Arsenal 5 Lincoln City 0

Yesterday evening in north London reality came sharply back in to focus as the hordes of Lincoln City fans finally woke up from the Imp-possible dream. At the Emirates Stadium the gallant Imps finally ran out of puff and ran out of luck. The Lincoln Loco ran out of steam and the Imps are out of the FA Cup. The Gunners were worthy winners against the gallant Imps and after a nervous first half when they were unsettled by a combative Lincoln City outfit the Arsenal artisans turned on the style.

Its all over: Vanquished heroic Imps salute their fans at the end of the game

 Thanks to my good friend Kevin Oliver and his nephew Alan I was able to sit amongst the 9000 Lincoln City fans who made the match a very special occasion. This is how the day panned out.

Pre Match Communications: Some time ago I joined a couple of Lincoln City facebook fans forums. I now feel quite at home in these ‘banter’ pages. I have ‘met’ a number of Imps fans who have helped me with this project and I intend to keep in touch. My contact through the ether with Arsenal fans has been less prolific but I have enjoyed some dialogue with the Arsenal Scotland (@ArsenalScotland) twitter feed 6/10

Pre Match Pint: There is a local hostelry called the Drayton Park very near to the Emirates Stadium that is ‘away fans friendly’

Take courage to enter here! The Drayton Park pub next to the Emirates

This is a good facility and affords the visiting fan the chance to enjoy a small libation before the match. The pub was packed but the service was good with loads of bar staff on. The beer was pretty poor though with plastic glasses and keg beer de rigeur. I opted for the Guinness but even this had been overly chilled to within an inch of its life. You can also get a pint inside the ground before the match but the prices are inflated and the choice of beers very limited. 6/10

Programme: The programme is excellent. At £3.50 it is the most expensive matchday mag that I have picked up on the ‘The Road’ but it does contain a load of good stuff and despite being a bit pricey it is value for money.

 The pull out eight page stats section is an absolute joy for an old football anorak like me. This section includes Arsenal’s full FA Cup record from season 1889-90 to the present day. Indeed a good feature of this publication is that they have made a real effort to make it FA Cup focussed. There is a great 'text and pics' 7 page treatment of Arsenal’s 12 FA Cup wins 9/10

Ground: The ground is quite simply magnificent. The Emirates is a 60000 all seater stadium where every seat offers a great view of the action. We were ‘up in the gods’ in the Clock End of the Stadium and had a terrific vantage point.

Great stadium: Our view from high up in the Clock End at the Emirates

The pitch looked great. One thing I did notice about the playing surface is that it was well watered. In a move I have never seen before Arsenal turned on 8 huge sprinklers at half time to add a bit of zip to the grass.

Sprinklers on at HT: The Emirates ground staff grease up the surface for their superstars

Presumably Arsene Wenger insists on this additional watering so that his team, known for their slick passing play, can move the ball quickly on a slightly greasy surface 10/10

Atmosphere: The Atmosphere in the Clock End, where the Imps fans were housed, was rocking. Lincoln City had been allocated 9000 tickets for this fixture and they sold like hot cakes. The visitors from Lincolnshire were determined to enjoy their day out in London and were singing throughout the match. The shipping of goals in the second half did not dampen their enthusiasm and the tunes and chants continued to belted out with great gusto. I have been watching football for well over 50 years but I only have two matches to compare this game with in my frame of reference. In 2006 I was among 5000 Hearts fans who travelled to Prague to see if Hearts could miraculously overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg of a UEFA Cup tie away at Sparta. Last Summer (see blog post dated 23^rd June 2016) I was with the Ulstermen in Paris to see if Northern Ireland could somehow fashion a result against World Cup Champions Germany in the Euros. Neither Hearts or Northern Ireland succeeded and neither were expected to - so both sets of fans were there for the party and the occasion. This is exactly how it felt yesterday. The Imps were given a ‘one in a thousand’ chance by their own manager. Arsenal are habitually in the top four of the Premier League and for the last six seasons Lincoln City have been playing non league football. The chances of Lincoln City winning were remote. The fans travelled in hope rather than expectation. However, with the pressure of achieving a result off everyone could have a great day out and a good old fashioned bevy up. The match kicking off at 5.30 pm also helped the atmosphere in my opinion in that it allowed the Lincoln City fans a full afternoon of sampling the local brews before the game started.

More sprinklers? Imps fans take a comfort break on the way to the Emirates

On social media today there are loads of great pictures of the Lincoln fans carousing in central London but the best photo I found is the one above. On such a day it is essential that the drinking starts early … and then the inevitable happens and you just have to stop the car when nature calls. Whoever these guys in the photo are I salute you.    10/10

Scottishness: As has been reported on this blog, Arsenal do not have any Scots in their squad and have not selected a Scot to play for their team for 19 years. Hence not much Scottishness in their ranks. Lincoln City do not have any jocks in their squad at the moment either but they do have a number of Scots fans.

Montrose based Imps fan Darren Crosby holds the FA Cup aloft!  

One of their Caledonian massive is Darren Crosby from Montrose. Imps fanatic Darren has seen the Imps several times on this historic cup run and travelled even further than I did to see Lincoln City’s gallant effort at the Emirates. I was hoping to meet up with Darren yesterday but unfortunately it did not happen. We have resolved to meet up to go to the Gateshead v Lincoln City league match on Easter Monday. I reckon I have one more journey on the Lincoln Loco this season left in me! 4/10

Entertainment:

The first half was a very interesting football contest. Lincoln City competed well with Arsenal on all fronts. The Imps were passing the ball well but also diligent with their ‘off-the-ball’ work closing opponents down quickly when Arsenal had the ball. Some good defending and a couple of good saves from Imps keeper Farman kept Lincoln City in the match. It has been widely reported that Arsene Wenger is under pressure and with his job on the line he selected a virtual full strength team. The only ‘first choice’ omission was Mesut Ozil. It was a measure of how worried Wenger was becoming when he introduced Ozil into the action and substituted Oxlade-Chamberlain after only 27 minutes. The German world cup winner Ozil was eventually instrumental in turning around the Gunners’ fortunes. Arsenal took the lead on the stroke of half time when Theo Walcott netted from the edge of the box with the aid of a deflection. Before that came the moment when all Lincoln City fans held their breath and wondered for a split second if the ‘one in a thousand’ occurrence could happen. The Imps’ Nathan Arnold slalomed his way into the Arsenal penalty box. He then carefully placed a decent shot wide of the keeper’s body …. GOAL ???? … unfortunately not. The Arsenal keeper is the huge and athletic Petr Cech and the legendary custodian stuck out a big right hand and parried the ball to safety. An opening goal for the visitors at that stage would really have made the alarm bells ring. Half time Arsenal 1 Lincoln City 0

If only if only ..... Imps Nathan Arnold almost opens the scoring

The second half was a lot more comfortable for the mighty Arsenal. They have a reputation for playing so many short passes that it looks like they are trying to walk the ball into the net. On two occasions in the second period yesterday (the goals from Giroud and Ramsey) they did virtually walk the ball into the net. An own goal from Imps’ captain Waterfall and a wonder strike from the scarily impressive Sanchez completed the rout.

A truly iconic great manager shaking hands with some guy in a black suit

Lincoln City can be quite a physical team and in Woods, Hawkridge, Power and Rhead they have players who can ‘dish it out’. I did think that their best chance would be to get in a few meaty challenges to unnerve their famous opponents. The truth of the matter was that in the second half the Lincoln City players just could not get close enough to the Arsenal lads to foul them! Final Score Arsenal 5 Lincoln City 0 8/10

Match Day Catering: The pies on offer inside The Emirates included ‘The Gunners Steak and Ale Pie’. At £3.70 the culinary item was expensive. One bite into the pastry and the pie virtually disintegrated. Hot gravy leaking in all directions – not an edifying sight in any sense. Not particularly tasty either. 4/10

Value for Money: The admission price of £36.50. This was by a long way the most expensive ticket on ‘The Road’ so far. However, this was London, this was The Emirates and this was the quarter final of the FA Cup. So the price can be considered reasonable 8/10

The je ne sais quoi factor: A recurring theme in this category is meeting up with old friends. For the third match in a row I met up with my good pal and ex colleague Kevin Oliver. Great to meet up with Kev, his nephew Alan and indeed all of their travelling party from Lincolnshire yesterday.

The old pals re-united by 'The Road'. Me and Imps fanatic Kevin Oliver

Kev, Alan and their fellow travellers arriving at The Emirates

A day out in the big smoke is always a treat and yesterday to have the privilege of spending the day amongst the 9000 travelling fans from Lincolnshire was awesome. 9/10

Overall Road to Wembley from Scotland Rating 75/100

At this point I have to bid farewell to Lincoln City. I have really enjoyed my journey aboard the Lincoln Loco. The Imps have been such a big part of my life ever since the evening back in January when they beat Ipswich in a round 3 replay to ensure that Sincil Bank would be a stop on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. It will however be au revoir rather than goodbye. I have already committed to attending their Vanarama National League fixture in Gateshead on Easter Monday so I hope to catch up with Kevin and Alan again then. In any event I will be looking out for their results for some time to come and before the season is over I expect that they will reach Wembley in the FA Trophy and secure promotion back into the football league. Their future is in safe hands. With Danny Cowley at the helm the Imps are guided by possibly the most talented young manager in the British game. I just wish that my beloved Hearts would offer him the top job at Tynecastle!

So, the mighty Arsenal are now my team on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. In seven weeks time I will be seeing Arsenal again – at Wembley. The semi finals of the FA Cup are now played at the national stadium. The draw for the semi finals will be made at about 10.00 pm tomorrow night. Who will the Gunners play in the last four? Come back here on Tuesday to find out … and … keep reading.

Miles on the clock for this match  830

Total Miles on the Road to Wembley from Scotland so far 7733

Imps Brilliant in Braintree: Gunners gunned down by Bayern: Next up for both is the FA Cup tie on Saturday

Last night Arsenal and Lincoln City were both in action for the last time before their much anticipated clash at The Emirates Stadium on Saturday on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. While the Imps were winning in some style the Gunners slumped to an embarrassing heavy defeat.

In an astute piece of business the clever management  team at Lincoln City signed Lee Angol, a young striker from Peterborough United, on loan on Monday. Last night in the Vanarama National League match at Braintree the 22 year old Angol made his debut. Everything the Cowleys touch at the moment turns into gold and the young loanee scored a hat-trick as Lincoln City won comfortably by 4 goals to nil.

An Angol of no mercy! Imps debutante (right) is congratulated by full back Wood

Angol will be ineligible to play against Arsenal and hence the fully rested cult hero Matt Rhead will return to the Lincoln City starting line up. Nathan Arnold was also on the scorecard for the Imps last night who have now gone 10 games undefeated in all competitions. Indeed Lincoln City have only been beaten twice since September.

It was a different story for this coming weekend’s other protagonists. Arsenal were already down 5-1 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League when they lined up face the Germans in the second leg in north London last night. At half time they were 1-0 up on the night and as they sat down during the interval they were dreaming of winning the tie 4-0 and going through to the quarter finals of the Champions League on the away goals rule. Arsenal’s Giroud missed a good chance early in the second half. Had that gone in and Arsenal continued to press forward then the headlines may have looked a lot different this morning. As it transpired the Germans got a dodgy penalty after 54 minutes and in the same incident Laurent Koscielny the Arsenal centre back was sent off. Bayern went on to win the match 5-1 and the tie 10-2 on aggregate.

Even the polite Arsenal fans are calling for a change

Arsenal fans with short memories and a graceless approach to supporting your football team were demonstrating outside the ground after the match chanting ‘Wenger must go’. I often think that football fans should be careful what they wish for. Arsene Wenger has known almost uninterrupted success, including 3 League titles and 6 FA Cups, in 21 magnificent years in charge of the Gunners. Additionally their style of play has been admired and applauded by the purists. However even the ex Arsenal player Charlie Nicholas, the last Scot to play more than 100 times for the Gunners and now the spoonerisms king of Sky Sports punditry, was foaming at the mouth on the telly last night: “It’s broken – Arsenal is broken. Wenger can’t fix it – he does not have the ammunition!”.

Happier times: Wenger lifts the FA Cup acclaimed by adoring fans who are now calling for his head

The outpouring of grief has continued on the football phone in programmes on the radio. The consensus seems to be that the great Arsene ‘The Professor’ Wenger is past his sell buy date and can’t cut it any more. I can’t go along with this. I can’t feel sorry for Arsenal fans who are distraught with their team still likely to qualify for the Champions League next season and poised to reach the semi finals of the FA Cup. Supporters of (for example) Coventry City and Charlton Athletic would love to have to tolerate this degree of failure.

So, it would appear that the Arsenal v Lincoln City match on Saturday might be historic for a number of reasons. Whether I agree with it or not, I am 100% convinced that if Lincoln City win then the Professor will be given his jotters. Could the canny Cowleys be responsible for the end of one of the most illustrious management careers in modern football history?

The FA Cup records of the two clubs couldn’t be more contrasting. Arsenal have the best FA Cup record with 12 wins, 19 Finals and 28 Semi-Final appearances (beating Manchester United into second place by virtue of having one more Quarter Final appearance; 43 versus 42). Lincoln are appearing in the FA Cup Quarter Finals for the first time ever, becoming the 188th different club to make the last eight and the first Non-League Quarter Finalist since Queens Park Rangers in 1914. The Imps have also equalled the record of most League clubs beaten by a Non-League side in one FA Cup run, matching Telford United who defeated four League clubs in 1985. Tottenham Hotspur are the only other Non-League club to achieve this feat on their way to lifting the Trophy in 1901.

The match is stop number 15 on the Road to Wembley from Scotland and already it is a total sell out with 60000 fans ready to turn up at the Emirates on Saturday. I will be in there amongst them. Will Arsene Wenger lift his Gunners and oversee a victory to take the Aresnal into the semi finals of the FA Cup for a 29^th time? Will the Lincoln City pull off the greatest cup upset of all time on Saturday? Will Charlie Nicholas find the words to describe this historic football match? Come back here on Sunday to find out .. and … keep reading.

Imps draw and Gunners lose as the build up to the big match continues

Next Saturday it is the big one at The Emirates Stadium in north London. Arsenal will play Lincoln City in the quarter final of the FA Cup in match 15 on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. Yesterday the two protagonists both played important league fixtures away from home. Lincoln City eked out a valuable point in Aldershot while Arsenal lost to Liverpool on Merseyside.

Another big Vanarama League crowd gathered to watch the Lincoln Loco roll into town. Over 3500 were inside the Recreation Ground in Aldershot to see the home team take on the all conquering Imps yesterday. The match finished 0-0 and both clubs appear to be happy with a draw.

A Power struggle in Aldershot. Imps Alan Power in typical midfield action

Aldershot have extended their unbeaten run to 11 games while the Lincoln City manager Danny Cowley has described the result as a ‘good point’. On a day when Imps skipper Luke Waterfall could have won the match had he taken one of the two half decent chances that came his way Cowley concluded: “We're pleased with the way we defended and with the chances we created but a little bit critical that we didn't take one of those chances.”

Up at Anfield the Gunners were beaten 3-1 by Liverpool. Under fire Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger chose to rest his star player Alexis Sanchez for this important Premier League match.

Gunners wings clipped by Klopp: Did Wenger make an Arse of himself?

The 67 year old Wenger has been manager of Arsenal for over 20 years and under his stewardship they have built a fantastic new stadium financed by his canny transfer dealings and enjoyed great success – although not so much in recent years. He has helped the Gunners win 3 league titles and an incredible 6 FA Cups. Football supporters all over the world are fickle and have short memories. The ‘Gooners’ are frustrated with the lack of recent league success and point to the fact that the last time that Wenger led them to the Premier League title was in 2004. Yesterday his team selection was pilloried. On BT Sport during the coverage of the match Steven Gerrard described Arsenal as a squad full of very good players with one world class player – Sanchez. I can go with this synopsis. To leave Sanchez out for this game was a surprise but the astute Wenger, a devotee of Sports Science research, believes that a player can not play in every game during a hectic schedule. With crunch games coming up in the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Premier League Wenger decided to rest Sanchez yesterday. The decision clearly backfired and the Gunners found themselves 2 goals down at half time. The proud and stubborn Wenger surprisingly back-tracked on his original decision and brought on Sanchez as a half time substitute. Arsenal were more like their normal selves in the second period and competed well in an entertaining contest. On the hour mark the inspirational Sanchez provided an assist for Welbeck to halve the deficit. In the dying minutes with Arsenal committed to attack in search of an equaliser, Liverpool broke clear and scored a killer third goal.

The two protagonists both have one more game to play before they meet head on at The Emirates next Saturday. The Imps have an emotional league fixture to fulfill on Tuesday. The Cowley brothers will take their team to Cressing Road in Essex to take on Braintree Town. The Cowleys’ success as the management team at Braintree prompted an approach from Lincoln City last summer and the rest is history. On the same night The Gunners will play host to Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of the last 16. It is mission impossible for Arsenal as they are 5-1 down from the first leg. Of course if Arsenal were to beat the German champions 5-0 then Arsene Wenger would be in the good books of the Arsenal fans again. My advice to Arsene Wenger is sign a few Scots to add a bit of Caledonian flare to your squad. I think that going on for so long without any Scots in the squad maybe explains the recent lack of success at The Emirates.

Will the Arsenal regain some pride by beating Bayern? Will the Lincoln Loco breeze through Braintree on the way to the Emirates? Come back here on Wednesday to find out … and keep reading.

Scott Marshall: The last Scot to play for Arsenal - also Imps in midweek action

At the end of my last post I posed the question who was the last Scotsman to play for the Arsenal first team? I was not really expecting to have to go back nearly 20 years, but it has been almost that long. While I was involved in research this midweek the gallant Lincoln City were involved in high octane Vanarama National League action. Arsenal and Lincoln City will get it on at the Emirates Stadium in eight days time on the next stop on the Road to Wembley from Scotland.

Scott Marshall: A Gunner in the nineties and the last Scot to play for Arsenal

The last Scot to play for Arsenal was Scott Marshall in 1998. Scott comes from a famous Edinburgh footballing family. His dad and his brother are both called Gordon and both were famous goalkeepers. His father played for my beloved Hearts in the all conquering Hearts team of the 1950s. After a barren trophy-less period at Tynecastle lasting almost 50 years, Hearts acquired silverware in the late fifties like a house-breaker on speed. Four league cups, two league championships and a Scottish FA Cup were all won with Gordon Marshall Snr between the sticks. Gordon Snr then went on to forge a successful career with Newcastle United.

Scott's dad Gordon Marshall Snr: A Hearts legend now 77 and still as fit as a fiddle

Scott’s brother Gordon Jnr was also a goalie of some repute. He played for Celtic 100 times and played for Scotland once. When he started his career at Falkirk he was a part time footballer and his main source of income was working in the family hairdressing shop in Haymarket Edinburgh. When he was having a bad game for Falkirk the Bairns’ fans would cruelly refer to him as ‘Mr Teasy-Weasy’.

 

Scott's brother Gordon Marshall Jnr - ooh! love that 'just off centre' parting

 Scott Marshall left Edinburgh in 1991 at the age of 17 to sign for Arsenal. In 7 seasons at Highbury he only made 23 appearances for the Gunners. He spent much of this time on loan and Rotherham, Oxford United and Sheffield United all benefited from his contribution. It was at the time when Arsenal had Lee Dixon at right back and Nigel Winterburn at left back and these two played for the Gunners for over a decade, rarely got injured and never suffered a dip in form. Young Scott was a promising full back but his way into the first team on a regular basis was blocked. He made his last Arsenal first team appearance in April 1998 and left to sign for Southampton. Nineteen years later I can report that no Scot has played for the Arsenal first team since Scott Marshall. No wonder they are finding it difficult to win trophies these days! Since leaving Arsenal Scott played for Southampton, Brentford and Wycombe Wanderers, eventually hanging up his boots in 2004. For the last dozen years he has worked as a coach most notably as a member of the management team at Aston Villa. He is currently between jobs.

Scott Marshall on the bench at Aston Villa in 2015

The modern Scot-less Arsenal return to action tomorrow after a two week break. They travel to Anfield to play Liverpool in an iconic Premier League fixture. On May the 26^th 1989 Arsenal won the last league match of the entire season 2-0 in Liverpool in the most dramatic finish to a league championship season. Arsenal needed to win by two goals otherwise the hosts Liverpool would be crowned champions. Michael Thomas scored the Arsenal second goal in the final minute of the football season. The triumph was masterminded by Scots manager George Graham. With no Caledonian influence available to the Gunners tomorrow I fear for them.

Meanwhile, back in Lincolnshire, the Imps are preparing for a visit to Aldershot tomorrow to fulfil a Vanarama National League fixture. They were also in action in midweek when York City visited Sincil Bank. Almost 7000 fans crammed into the Imps home ground as the Lincoln City season continues to fascinate the public. Perhaps with the upcoming visit to The Emirates Stadium on their minds the Imps were not quite on their A game. They trailed 1-0 at half time. With fifteen minutes left on the clock a cross was headed down by cult figure Matt Rhead into the path of Alan Power who netted from close range

The Imps have the Power. Irishman Alan scores at a packed Sincil Bank on Tuesday

Also in midweek, I got the news from my good friend and ex colleague and Lincoln City season ticket holder Kevin Oliver that my ticket for the big match on the 11^th March in London is booked. I am looking forward to the match with great anticipation.Thanks very much to Kevin and it will be great to be in with the Lincoln City supporters for this historic football match. Before that the Imps travel to Aldershot and the Gunners travel to Liverpool. Will the protagonists demonstrate good form in advance of their clash on the Road to Wembley from Scotland? Come back here on Sunday to find out … and keep reading.

Heady halcyon days at Highbury: Scots McLintock, Wilson and Graham lead the Gunners to glory in the sixties and seventies

As regular readers will know, the unique feature of this ‘Road to Wembley’ is that for each of the competing teams I try to discover and report a Scottish connection. My next match on ‘The Road’ is Arsenal v Lincoln City on the 11^th March. On the 24^th January, when I first hooked up with the Imps, I reported Lincoln City’s rich Scots heritage. Arsenal have been influenced by many Scots over the years and within my lifetime the names of Frank McLintock, Bob Wilson and George Graham spring readily to mind. All three Arsenal legends are now in their seventies and all are still thriving.

Frank McLintock is a Glaswegian who played all of his professional football in England. In 1956 at the age of 17 he signed for Leicester City and served the Foxes with great distinction, playing 168 games for them before he was sold to Arsenal in 1964 for a then Arsenal club record fee of £80000.

Frank by name - frank by nature: Outspoken McLintock in his playing days

It was at Highbury that Frank’s career really flourished. Over the next 9 years he played an incredible 314 times for the Gunners. He was rarely injured and never dropped. It was during his time with Arsenal that he won most of his 9 Scotland caps. He was regarded as a natural leader and an inspirational character. He was club captain for four years between 1968 and 1972. During this time McLintock led Arsenal to victories in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup in 1970 and a League and FA Cup double in season 1970-71. The erudite McLintock was becoming a spokesman for the club and after their fantastic achievement in 1971 he articulately observed that: “The words used to describe us during the 1970–71 season – dull, sterile, unimaginative – reflect the generally dismissive tone levelled at us. Even the compliments we got – well organised, highly efficient, powerful – had the whiff of back-handed tributes”. McLintock was also able to accurately describe why he only played for Scotland 9 times: “The majority of the Scottish press had disappeared so far up the Old Firm’s arses that they could never be objective about English-based players and the Scottish Football Association (SFA) often treated us like the shit on their shoes”. With such a way with words the stylish Frank was destined for a subsequent career in football punditry. Before that however, he completed his playing career with short spells with QPR and Brentford. He also briefly tried his hand at management and bossed Leicester City and Brentford in the seventies and eighties. He arrived at Sky Sports via a dabble with sports agency management work in the nineties.

Frank the erudite pundit: Charlie Nicholas should book lessons from this guy

McLintock also undertook some punditry for the BBC and is highly regarded on the after dinner speaking circuit. These days, at the age of 77, he is tapering down his media and commercial activities.

Bob Wilson is a former Scottish international goalkeeper who played for Arsenal 234 times between 1963 and 1974. Hence, like Frank McLintock, he also won the Inter Cities Fairs Cup in 1970 and a League and FA Cup double in season 1970-71.

Custodian of the Gunners onion bag in the sixties and seventies: Anglo Scot Bob Wilson 

Wilson became the first player born in England to represent Scotland. He became eligible to play for Scotland when the rules were changed in 1970 to allow players to play for their parents' countries of origin, if they had not already played for their own country. Wilson was selected by Scotland manager, Tommy Docherty for his first match in charge, against Portugal on 13 October 1971. His name is writ large in the history of Scottish football as the original ‘Anglo-Scot’. Despite being unfortunate enough to be born in England, Wilson is a very patriotic Scotsman and continues to support the country of his father’s birth. After hanging up his boots, Bob Wilson became the presenter of the long running BBC Saturday lunchtime football show ‘Football Focus’. He anchored this iconic show from 1974 through until 1994.

Wilson still makes occasional appearances on television, on the BBC's Football Focus and Match of the Day 2, as well as occasional work on documentary programmes for Sky Sports. These days the septuagenarian Wilson is best known for his charity work. In February 1994, his daughter Anna was diagnosed with malignant schwannoma, a cancer of the nerve sheath. After a long fight, she died on 1 December 1998, six days before her 32nd birthday. The "Willow Foundation" was set up in her memory in 1999 and operated locally, mainly in Hertfordshire. Wilson relaunched the charity in 2005 with a national remit. The organisation was established in Anna's memory and now helps some of the estimated 12,500 people in the UK, aged 16–40, who are diagnosed every year with a life-threatening illness. In 2007, Wilson was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire(OBE) for his charity work.

Like both McLintock and Wilson, George Graham was also a member of the all conquering Arsenal team of the late sixties and early seventies. The man from Bargeddie in North Lanarkshire played for Arsenal 227 times between 1966 and 1972 scoring 60 goals. As with his Caledonian teammates McLintock and Wilson, Graham too was a Scotland international donning the famous dark blue jersey on 12 occasions, netting 3 times for the Scots.

George Graham: One of the most successful Arsenal managers in their history

 However, George Graham is more readily remembered by the Arsenal faithful for his very successful spell as Arsenal manager. He managed the club between 1986 and 1995. During his spell in the hot seat The Gunners won 2 League titles, The FA Cup and 2 League Cups. Halcyon days at Highbury. His place in Arsenal folklore is secure but he will also be remembered for taking on the job as manager of Gunners’ bitter rivals Spurs between 1998 and 2001.

Taking pelters: George Graham pilloried by the Arsenal fans for taking the Spurs job

This is amazing when you consider that George has a brick patio in the shape and design of the Arsenal crest in his back garden! These days Graham does the odd spell as a pundit on Sky TV and he has admitted that the onset of arthritis has ruined his golf and forced him to take up tennis. At 72 ‘Stroller’, as he was known in his playing days, is still going strong.

The Scots had a massive influence on the success of Arsenal in the sixties and seventies and Frank McLintock, Bob Wilson and George Graham were at the heart of it all. More recently the Sky Sports pundit with verbal diarrhea Scot Charlie Nicholas was the last Scotsman to play over 100 games for the Gunners. Champagne Charlie left Arsenal almost 20 years ago. The present cosmopolitan Arsenal squad have no jocks in it. I have a call out to the twitter feed Arsenal Scotland (@ArsenalScotland) to try to find out who the last Scot to play for Arsenal was – so watch this space. It has been a while. 

Meanwhile back in Lincoln, the Imps can not stop winning as they get ready for the FA Cup tie on Saturday week. On Saturday they travelled to the outskirts of the big smoke to take on Boreham Wood in the quarter final of the FA Trophy. Genius manager Danny Cowley made several changes and the fringe squad members stepped up to the plate and the Imps won comfortably 2-0. Yhey are now in the last 4 of the Trophy and one tie away from Wembley in two competitions! Tonight the Imps play host to York City in the Vanarama National League and Sincil Bank is expected to be bursting at the seams for this match.

Will Lincoln City win again? Will the ‘Arsenal Scotland’ twitter feed unearth some more Caledonian Gunners legends? Will I finally get my ticket sorted for the match at The Emirates Stadium on the Road to Wembley from Scotland? Come back here later in the week for the answer to these questions and much more .. and .. keep reading.

Its an Imp-vasion at North Ferriby as Lincoln City continue their winning streak

It is just over two weeks to go until I head to the Emirates Stadium in London for the FA Cup 6^th round tie between Arsenal and Lincoln City on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. The two protagonists have had differing weeks since their round 5 victories last weekend. Arsenal did not have a midweek match. Indeed, the Gunners don’t have a fixture this weekend either and this mini break will allow their squad to rest up before a busy end to the season that will see them trying to finish in the top four in the Premier League in addition to attempting to win the FA Cup. The Imps were in action in midweek. Their success in the FA Cup has caused a fixture pile up and they will play four more times before they play Arsenal in a fortnight. On Tuesday they played away at North Ferriby United in a Vanarama National League local derby fixture.

The tiny North Ferriby ground was packed as the FA Cup heros got back to league business. The capacity crowd numbered 2389 and over 2000 of the fans attending were there in support of the Imps. It is nights such as these that sometimes prove pivotal in League Championship campaigns and the big question was could Lincoln City keep the ‘Lincoln Loco’ rolling in much more modest surroundings compared to the Turf Moor stadium in Burnley. The answer was yes … just!

A feature of Lincoln City’s FA Cup campaign has been the innovation and superb execution of their set piece plays. One well worked corner was enough to see off North Ferriby. A well placed corner kick was headed in by the Imps ‘captain courageous’ Luke Waterfall.

As beautiful as Niagra: Waterfall head the Imps winner on Tuesday

The Imps ran out deserved 1-0 winners and tomorrow they visit Boreham Wood in the quarter final of the FA Trophy and who knows they could be visiting Wembley twice in two different competitions. Following the visit to Boreham Wood they then entertain York City in the Vanarama League on Tuesday night in a match which is expected to attract a full house of over 10000 fans to Sincil Bank.

My own week also featured a midweek match. My un-blogged ‘Road to Hampden’ following my beloved Hearts came to sad end when the Jambos lost 3-1 to bitter local rivals Hibs in a Scottish Cup 5^th round replay at Hibs Easter Road ground. Hearts unusually have a 30 year old head coach, Ian Cathro, a man who has never played football at a high level himself. Cathro was appointed when the successful Robbie Neilson left Hearts for Milton Keynes Dons in late November, a move that coincided with my bromance with the MK Dons on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. The fashionable phrase used during young Cathro’s tenure has been that ‘the jury is still out’. On Wednesday night the verdict, in the words of a foul-mouthed Hearts fan two rows behind us, was delivered with some force. With Hearts 2-0 down late in the first half and being comprehensively outplayed by Hibs he bellowed: “Cathro ya cunt. Are you fuckin watching this? Get a fuckin subby oan ya wee knob”. The language may have been more colourful than many of the Hearts supporters would have used but the heckler expressed the collective disdain of the Hearts support. Either my beloved Hearts are heading for troubled times or Ian Cathro will be dismissed soon – or both.

Not got a scooby! Little boy lost Cathro in the Easter Road dugout on Wednesday

Also in midweek I spotted this photo featured on the excellent Non League Magazine twitter feed (@thenonleaguemag). The photo is taken at a non league game somewhere in England I know not where.

It is funny what you find on the web! Non league football is for super-heros

Clearly, as Lincoln City have demonstrated, the non league scene is the environment for super-heros. Will the Imps use their super powers to beat Boreham Wood to reach the semi final of the FA Trophy tomorrow? What will ex-Arsenal Scots pundit Charlie Nicholas say on Soccer Saturday on Sky TV tomorrow? Will I manage to get my ticket for the FA Cup tie at the Emirates sorted. Come back here on Monday for an update and keep reading!