Gary Hutchinson

On Saturday Lincoln City secured a return to the Football League with a 2-1 against Macclesfield Town in front of over 10,000 fans. So, what is next for a club that has made the city proud once again?

There were joyous scenes across the city as jubilant fans celebrated an end to the club’s six-year exile in the National League. Their title win caps off a marvellous season in which they faced Premier League giants Arsenal in the FA Cup Quarter Final and reached the last four of the FA Trophy.

However, despite securing the title, there are still two more games to play in the league. A 100-point finish is still within reach, with trips to Maidstone on Tuesday and Southport on Saturday.

The Southport trip will be particularly poignant for fans, as it was Haig Road that hosted their first match in the fifth tier, and it will host the last as well. Some 2,000 fans are expected to travel as the Imps bid a ‘fond’ farewell to the non-league scene.

After that, expect a short spell of celebrations. The FA Cup run alone prompted talk of an open-top bus parade, and with the league title also in the bag, that has been confirmed. The date that has been provisionally mentioned is Tuesday May 2^nd, and Lincoln may well come to a stand-still as the City salutes its footballing heroes.

The club’s board will be meeting on Monday to discuss the future direction of the club too. As well as success on the pitch, much has been achieved off it. The balance sheet has never looked as healthy and City are expected to have a competitive budget for the coming season.

There will be much talk of fresh training facilities as chairman Bob Dorrian and the board look to match the lofty ambitions of the highly-rated management duo.

Once the celebrations die down it will be up to manager Danny Cowley and brother Nicky to sort out the retained list. It is likely some of the players who enjoyed such a wonderful day yesterday will not be kept at the club, such is the harsh world of professional sports.

The reality of returning to the Football League becomes finalised on June 21^st, which is the day the fixtures are announced for the new season. Fans will be filling their calendars with matches against local rivals Grimsby Town and Notts County, as well as a mouth-watering trip to 1988 FA Cup winners Coventry City.

After that there will be new players coming in too; high priority will be a striker which is perhaps one of the areas the team has looked under strength this season. Strong rumours link Peterborough loan player Lee Angol with a permanent move. July 1st is the official opening of the transfer window, and as well as adding to his ranks, Danny will be trying to keep his key players at the club.

Then it is on to the weekend of August 5^th, and the beginning of the 2017/18 season, where we start all over again. It is almost six years since Lincoln lost their league status to Aldershot, but in just over two months they will, at long last, be able to re-join football’s elite.

After six long years, Lincoln City have finally regained their rightful place in the Football League in front of a sell-out Sincil Bank this afternoon.

The BT Sport cameras were filming the Imps for a record 12^th time this season, and they captured euphoric scenes as City finally secured the National League title.

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Lincoln City 2 – 1 Macclesfield Town

Goals:

• Lincoln City – Terry Hawkridge (29′minutes, 76′minutes)
• Macclesfield Town: Mitch Hancox (23′ minutes)

Referee: Tom Nield
Attendance: 10,031

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A little under 12 months ago manager Danny Cowley gave up his role as a PE teacher to manage Lincoln full time, bring his brother Nicky with him as assistant.

A semi-final appearance in the FA Trophy would usually be the highlight of a National League team’s season, but for Lincoln their two-legged defeat at the hands of York City is merely a subplot to a much grander story.

They captured the hearts of the nation with a record breaking FA Cup run that saw no less than four acts of giant-killing culminating in an historic win at Premier League Burnley, the club’s reward for that was a trip to one of Europe’s finest stadiums to face Arsenal.

Away from the glitz and the glamour there has been a much bigger task on the go, one that would ultimately reinstate the Imps pride and dignity. Since miserably slipping out of the Football League six years ago they have been forced to battle along in what must be one of the most competitive leagues in the world.

They’ve chased just one automatic promotion spot this season, only by finishing top could they achieve the dream of league football once again. In mid-November, they trailed Forest Green Rovers by nine points, but a great run of form saw them claim the top spot by January.

Since then they’ve held off a valiant challenge from Tranmere Rovers, and in recent weeks they have delivered some iconic moments for fans to savour. On Good Friday, they trailed Torquay 1-0 with just five minutes to play but went on to win 2-1.

On Easter Monday, they trailed Gateshead 1-0 with the full 90 minutes having been played, but once again they staged an unbelievable come back to win that match 2-1 also. That set up the clash this afternoon that meant a win would take Lincoln back to the football league.

As they have all season they stuck to a game plan and delivered the result that means next season they will once again kick-off as one of the 92 members of England’s professional league.