“Goalkeeper Trevor Carson, who joined Lincoln on 21 January 2011 and was supposed to be on loan for the rest of the season. However, Sunderland recalled him on 23 March and loaned him to Brentford the following day. How many games did he play for Brentford? One.”
We’re raising money for the Bradford Burns Unit this month and our target is £500.00. There are many ways you can help us reach this target. One of those ways is to have a go at our quizzes because they generate page views. Once you have had a go, share your results on Social Media, increasing the reach and page views!
If you haven’t already had a go at the quizzes, they can be found here: Quiz No.1, Quiz No.2, Quiz No.3, Quiz No.4, Quiz No.5, Quiz No.6, Quiz No.7 and Quiz No.8. I know the answers for Quiz No.5 are available below, but if you haven’t had a go, don’t read the answers and give it a go!
1. Which unfortunate club record is held by defender Bob Jackson?
a) The most dismissals in a single season
b) The most penalty misses in a season
c) The most appearances by an outfield player without scoring
d) The most appearances as a substitute
Bob played 251 games for City without scoring. To be fair, defenders were supposed to defend in those days and were not expected to score goals.
2. Which player twice missed out on a Conference/National League hat-trick through missing a penalty?
a) Sean Newton
b) Ben Tomlinson
c) Alan Power
d) Matt Rhead
Rhead of course, whose record from the spot was far from convincing despite his insistence on taking them. Rhead scored one penalty at Altrincham in a 3-3 draw on 13 February 2016, but then missed another to finish with a brace; he repeated exactly the same feat in the 3-1 opening day win at Woking on 6 August 2016, the first game of the Cowley era.
3. The unexpected recall of which loan player in 2010-11 led to City making a complaint to Sunderland?
a) Trevor Carson
b) Stephen Hunt
c) Gavin Hoyte
d) Ashley Grimes
Goalkeeper Trevor Carson, who joined Lincoln on 21 January 2011 and was supposed to be on loan for the rest of the season. However, Sunderland recalled him on 23 March and loaned him to Brentford the following day. How many games did he play for Brentford? One.
Many fans believe City would have stayed up, had Carson stayed. The setback was compounded by ‘manager’ Steve Tilson, who refused to play Joe Anyon after falling out with him. Instead, he signed 20-year-old Elliot Parish who was the goalkeeping equivalent of a rabbit in the headlights, and the rest is history.
4. Which ex-City player has the extraordinary record of having been relegated from the top five divisions with five different clubs?
a) Jimmy Gilligan
b) Simeon Hodson
c) John McGinley
d) Bob Latchford
Jonah Hodson’s incredible record reads:
Relegated from the first tier: Notts County 1983-84
Relegated from the second tier: West Brom 1990-91
Relegated from the third tier: Lincoln 1985-86
Relegated from the fourth tier: Lincoln 1986-87
Relegated from the fifth tier: Altrincham 1999-2000
He also played for Notts County when they were relegated from the second tier in 1984-85, although he left before the end of the season. That essentially means he was relegated from the top four tiers in his first four seasons as a professional player, and spookily in numerical order. Furthermore, he made 34 appearances for Newport when they were relegated from the Fourth Division in 1987-88 which gave him five relegations in his first five seasons including the first two clubs to be relegated automatically from the Football League. He then had two seasons off before being relegated again in 1991.
5. When Allan Hall set a new club record with 41 league goals in 1931-32, whose record did he beat?
a) Hugh Robertson
b) Billy Dinsdale
c) Harold Andrews
d) Billy Langham
Dinsdale scored 26 in 1927-28, therefore holding the record for just four years. By contrast, Hall has now held the record for 88 years, although his total was revised from 42 to 41 a few years ago. It took him just 23 games of that 1931-32 championship season to overtake Dinsdale’s total.
6. What unique feat was achieved by former Imp Jamie Hand during 2011-12 season?
a) He was suspended six times
b) He signed for six different clubs during the season and failed to appear for any of them
c) He made 37 appearances during the season, all as a substitute
d) He appeared at Sincil Bank for two different clubs and was sent off in both games
Hand was sent off playing on loan for Luton on 6 December 2011 (one of two Luton players dismissed – City still couldn’t win), and again playing for his own club Hayes & Yeading on 21 April 2012 (incredibly, City managed to lose that one). He was fined a week’s wages by Hayes and refused to play for them again.
7. Who was the first former Lincoln City player to win a full England cap?
a) Henry Roberts
b) John Fashanu
c) William Ashurst
d) Mick Harford
Born in Wigan but growing up in Willington, right-back Bill Ashurst started his career with local side Durham City before arriving at Lincoln via the Leeds City player auction on 16 October 1919. After just 24 appearances for Lincoln he was snapped up by Notts County, who had just been relegated from the First Division, on 13 June 1920. After a couple of seasons of mediocrity, County won the Second Division title in 1922-23. Ashurst made his England debut two weeks later on 21 May 1923 in a 4-2 friendly win in Sweden. Although his debut came at the relatively advanced age of 29, Ashurst remained involved with England for two years, the last of his five caps coming in a 2-0 defeat to Scotland at Hampden on 4 April 1925 in front of 92,000. Ashurst had the misfortune to be up against the brilliant young Airdrieonians striker Hughie Gallacher that day; Gallacher scored both goals, and that was the end of Ashurst’s England career. In all, England won four and lost just the one game in which he appeared. Ashurst retired in 1929 and became a coal miner and blacksmith, settling in Bulwell in Nottinghamshire where he died at the age of 52 on 26 January 1947.
Inside-right Henry Roberts was the second ex-City player to win an England cap, which he did in a 4-1 win in Belgium on 16 May 1931, just 11 months after leaving Lincoln; despite the convincing win and scoring England’s fourth goal in the 80th minute, it proved to be his only cap. Sadly, Roberts remained bitter about that for the rest of his life.
Harford won his 2 England caps in 1988 (no goals), with Fashanu picking up his 2 caps (no goals) in 1989.
8. What was John Walker’s claim to Lincoln City fame when he signed for the club in June 1899?
a) He was the club’s first Scottish international
b) He was the club’s first black player
c) He was the club’s first professional player
d) He was the club’s first transfer fee paid
Nicknamed ‘Darkey Walker’, he became possibly the first black player to play professional football in the English and Scottish Football Leagues when he made his City debut on 2 September 1899.
Believed to be the son of a Jamaican seaman and docker, flying winger Walker signed for top Scottish club Hearts from Second Division Leith Athletic in October 1898 and enjoyed a great start with a goal on his debut as Hearts won 5-1 at neighbours Hibs. In and out of the side thereafter, he made 6 appearances for Hearts before his move to Lincoln in June 1899. The move did not work out for either party, with City winning only one of his six games. There was a reason for that: he was in the early stages of consumption (tuberculosis) and returned to Scotland in January 1900. He died on 1 August 1900 at the age of 22.
Although clearly a talented player in his own right, there was a belief at the time that Lincoln might have signed the wrong John Walker. Another John Walker had won two Scottish League titles and the Scottish FA Cup with Hearts around the same time before joining Liverpool. He was a full Scottish international too: is it possible that Lincoln signed the wrong one?
9. Which former City player umpired the 1975 Cricket World Cup Final with Dickie Bird?
a) Tom Spencer
b) Arthur Jepson
c) Leon Boullemier
d) Fred Trueman
Winger Tom Spencer, who was better known as a first-class cricketer with Kent between 1935 and 1946. Signed from Fulham for whom he never made an appearance, his football career was restricted largely to amateur clubs in his native Kent, his only experience of League football coming in his 4 appearances for City (1 goal) in 1936-37. He also made 3 guest appearances for Watford in wartime football in 1943-44 and 1944-45. He became an umpire thereafter, standing in his first test match in 1954 and his last in 1978. He was awarded the OBE in 1976 for services to cricket.
All four were all involved in cricket in some way. Jepson was the bait, of course: he was also well-known as a cricketer (21 years with Notts) and as a distinguished umpire (26 years including four test matches). Jepson also officiated in three matches at the 1975 World Cup, giving the Imps a unique double.
‘Frenchy’ Boullemier was the scorer for Northamptonshire for 50 years, while Trueman held the world record for test dismissals for 13 years until overtaken by Lance Gibbs in his final first-class match on 31 January 1976.
10. And a quirky one to finish – how many children did former City striker Mike Tracey have?
a) Five
b) Eight
c) Ten
d) Thirteen
One can only assume he led an extremely busy life.
Writer: Scotimp
"Many fans believe City would have stayed up, had Carson stayed.":https://t.co/mKjo01pGYA#ImpsAsOne #ProudToBeImps #SAFC pic.twitter.com/aVqe4vVQMu
— Vital Lincoln City (@VitalLincoln) April 23, 2020
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