Roger Hunt, who scored an 84th minute consolation for Liverpool in the Second Division game on 14 November 1959.
Time for the answers. Thanks to a last-ditch tackle (of Q7) by Merthyr, all 10 questions have been answered correctly this week.
1. Who is the only member of England’s 1966 World Cup winning team to have scored at Sincil Bank?
Roger Hunt, who scored an 84th minute consolation for Liverpool in the Second Division game on 14 November 1959. Lincoln won 4-2 with goals from Andy Graver (2), John McClelland and Bert Linnecor, the other Liverpool goal coming from Dave Hickson in front of 10,799. Hunt returned on 8 October 1960 and scored both goals in Liverpool’s 2-1 win, Lincoln’s solitary response coming from Derek Hawksworth in front of 7,699.
2. Who scored 3 hat-tricks in 1980?
Mick Harford: 3 v Wigan on 29 February; 3 v Hull in the League Cup on 9 August; and 3 v Torquay on 12 November. Harford was to play just one more game for City before his £180,000 transfer to Newcastle on 22 December.
3. Which City winger went on to win three Scottish League championships, three successive Scottish FA Cups, two Scottish League Cups, the treble, and a Scotland cap?
Wartime guest Eddie Rutherford, all with Glasgow Rangers. Rutherford was posted to Lincolnshire with the RAF and played 16 games for City in 1944, scoring 4 goals.
Rangers won the Scottish FA Cup three successive seasons between 1948 and 1950. To see him in action, here are Pathe highlights of the 1950 final – all three Rangers goals come from Rutherford crosses:
4. It last happened on 18 December 1982. What?
Two City players scored a hat-trick in the same match – Derek Bell and Gordon Hobson in the 9-0 win over Bournemouth at Sincil Bank. It was the fifth time it has been done, the previous occasion being on 3 March 1951 when Andy Graver and Johnny Garvie hit hat-tricks in the 9-1 win over Accrington.
It is also the last time City have scored 9 in a match.
5. ‘Perhaps we could play the game in Dublin.’ Who said this, and what was he talking about?
Coventry manager Jimmy Hill, who was referring to his side’s FA Cup third round tie at Lincoln, originally scheduled for 5 January 1963.
The worst winter since 1740 had covered much of the country in 15 feet of snow and ice, causing many matches to be postponed numerous times. The FA was so concerned by the backlog of matches that permission was given for games to be played on any neutral ground possible; for some strange reason, Ireland had not been affected by the terrible weather, leading Hill to make his (entirely serious) suggestion. The Lincoln v Coventry tie was postponed 15 times before it eventually took place on 6 March, with Coventry taking the honours to the tune of 5-1 in front of 7,440. Brian Punter had a mixed day: his poor back pass straight to John Sillett – later to lead Coventry to their FA Cup win in 1987 – enabled the visitors to take the lead after just 14 seconds before he later made amends with City’s only goal.
The FA Cup third round took an amazing 66 days to complete, with the final match not decided until 11 March.
6. Whose last ever home match in the Football League was against Lincoln, watched by a crowd of just 100 (one hundred)?
Loughborough. City won the match 1-0 on 23 April 1900. The crowd of 100 is believed to be the lowest ever attendance at a Second Division match played under normal conditions.
Founded in 1886, Loughborough entered the Football League in 1895 in place of Walsall Town Swifts. For some unknown reason, they are shown as ‘Loughborough Town’ in many records, although that was never their name. They were voted out of the League after 5 very unsuccessful Second Division seasons and folded immediately, so this was also their last ever home match.
Their ground – the Athletic Ground – was located behind the Greyhound Hotel on Nottingham Road, which is still there today. The ground stood derelict for several years before being demolished in 1908 to make way for housing. It stood where Hudson Street, Bishop Street and Salisbury Street now stand.
7. Which City midfielder had the distinction of being the Football League’s youngest ever manager?
The classy Paul Ward, who made 39 League appearances for the Imps between March 1991 and August 1992, when his career was ended by a serious knee injury against Doncaster. Earlier in his career, Ward had been appointed player-manager of Third Division Darlington on 23 March 1987 at the age of just 23 years 189 days. His reign lasted just 13 games as Darlington were relegated to the Fourth Division at the end of the season.
8. How did City beat two teams from Stockport in season 1911-12?
We played Stockport County Reserves in the Central League (won 8-0 at home and 3-1 away) and also beat Stockport’s first team (who were in the Second Division) 2-0 in the FA Cup first round on 13 January 1912.
9. Which City assistant manager holds the record for the most matches as a manager by an Englishman?
John Still, current manager of NL rivals Dagenham & Redbridge, who was City’s assistant under John Beck for a short period in 1996. As at the end of the 2015-16 season, Still has been in charge of 1,706 matches.
Only Sir Alex Ferguson, the world record holder, has managed more games anywhere in the world with 2,131.
There will be a full profile of John Still on Vital Lincoln shortly as part of a look at all 24 National League managers ahead of the new season.
10. In which season did Lincoln travel to Muntz Street, The Chuckery, Cobridge Athletic Grounds, Peel Croft, Drill Field, Barley Bank, Alexandra Recreation Ground, Abbey Park, Hawthorne Road and Hyde Road?
1892-93, our first ever season in the Football League.
Muntz Street was the original home of Small Heath, later to become Birmingham City; Lincoln were the second ever visitors there for a FL game, a 4-1 defeat on 24 September 1892 in front of 2,500. They moved to St Andrews in 1906.
The Chuckery was the home of Walsall Town Swifts for just that one season; City lost there too, 2-1 on 8 October 1892 in front of 2,000.
Cobridge Athletic Grounds was the original home of (Burslem) Port Vale; this was the site of Lincoln’s first ever away win in the Football League: 2-1 on 3 December 1892 in front of 1,000.
Peel Croft was the home of Burton Swifts, the first of four clubs from Burton to feature in the Football League. City lost 4-2 here on 17 December.
Drill Field was the home of Northwich Victoria until 2002. Lost 2-1 here.
Barley Bank belonged to Darwen; another defeat – 3-1.
No prizes for guessing that Alexandra Recreation Ground was the original home of Crewe Alexandra. No prizes either for guessing that we lost here too (4-1).
Abbey Park was the first piece of land polluted by Grimsby Town; if Blundell Park was an improvement on it, Abbey Park must have been an incredible dump. We actually drew here, 2-2.
Hyde Road was home to Ardwick, who became Manchester City. We lost the final game of the season here, 3-1 in front of 2,000. That was a great result compared to what happened there two years later.
Finally, Lincoln were the last ever FL visitors to Hawthorne Road, Bootle. Having been enthusiastic founder members of the Second Division at the start of the season, they were forced to resign from the League due to financial problems. The match took place on 15 April 1893, a 4-1 win for the home side.
Ten more on Monday.
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