Lincoln City Football Club

Lincoln City were founded in 1884 and have played at Sincil Bank — now the LNER Stadium — for their entire history. The Imps' story in the modern era is one of the most compelling in English football: after dropping out of the Football League in 2011, Lincoln became a national sensation in 2017 when Danny and Nicky Cowley led them to the FA Cup quarter-finals as a non-league club, the first team from outside the top four divisions to reach that stage since 1914. That same season, Lincoln won the National League title and returned to the Football League.

The momentum continued under the Cowleys, who won the League Two title in 2018-19 and took Lincoln to League One for the first time in over two decades. Michael Appleton succeeded them and reached the League One play-offs in 2020-21, losing to Blackpool in the semi-finals. Since then, Lincoln have consolidated as a League One club, now in their seventh consecutive season in the third tier — the longest sustained spell at this level in the club's history.

Under manager Michael Skubala, who signed a contract extension through 2027-28, Lincoln have been competitive in the upper half of League One. The club's ownership structure shifted significantly in early 2026 when former San Diego Padres co-owner Ron Fowler took a controlling stake and replaced long-serving chairman Clive Nates, who had overseen the club's renaissance from 2016 onwards. The LNER Stadium, with its capacity of approximately 10,000, provides a tight and atmospheric setting in the shadow of Lincoln Cathedral — one of English football's most distinctive backdrops.