3/1 To Win
The 24 teams that will take part in Sky Bet League One in the 2023/24 season were confirmed at the end of May.
Here, dcfc.co.uk will take a look at each one in focus ahead of the new campaign getting underway at the start of August.
In this instalment, we take a closer look at Lincoln City.
Fact File
Established: 1884
Nickname: The Imps
Home: Sincil Bank (10,780 capacity)
Manager: Mark Kennedy
2022/23 finish: 11th (Sky Bet League One)
Club History
Established in 1884, Lincoln City have played at their home of Sincil Bank since 1895.
Their nickname, ‘The Imps,’ comes from the old legend of the Lincoln Imp.
Between the years of 1972 and 1977 they were managed by the late Graham Taylor OBE and won the Fourth Division title under him in 1975/76.
The highest position the club have ever achieved came way back in 1902 when they finished fifth in the second tier.
In 2016/17 whilst playing in the National League, they reached the FA Cup Quarter Finals, becoming the first side at that level to reach that stage in 103 years.
A year later in 2017/18, their first season back in the league, they won the EFL Trophy after a 1-0 victory over Shrewsbury Town in the Final at Wembley Stadium.
Played For Both
Shane Nicholson
Left-back Nicholson started his career with the Imps before making the move to Derbyshire in the early 1990s.
He made his first-team debut for Lincoln in 1986 and became the youngest ever player to play for Lincoln in the league at 16 years and 172 days.
'Shinner' stayed with the Imps until 1992 when he made the move to the Rams and made almost 100 appearances before moving on to West Bromwich Albion in 1996.
Jason Shackell
After two spells with Derby, the first in 2011/12 and then again between 2015 and 2018, defender Shackell joined Lincoln in 2018.
He made over 111 appearances in total for the Rams before making the move to the Imps.
The centre-back stayed at Sincil Bank for two years before leaving in 2020.
Luke Plange
A product of the Arsenal academy, Plange moved to the Rams in 2021 as an Under-21s player and fast saw himself as part of the first-team reckoning.
He was with the Rams for less than a year before being signed by Crystal Palace in January 2022, though he was loaned back to Derby for the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign. He made 27 appearances and scored four goals for the Rams in total.
In January 2023 he joined the Imps on loan from Palace for the remainder of the season but he failed to find the net in 18 appearances.
2022/23 Season
After a disappointing 2021/22 season, which saw them finish 17th in League One following a Play-Off campaign in the previous year, the Imps certainly improved in 2022/23.
In what was their fourth consecutive year in the division, they finished comfortably in 11th place.
Striker Ben House finished top scorer with 13 goals in all competitions.
Record Against The Rams
Derby have an extremely impressive record against the Imps over the years.
The Rams have 22 wins to Lincoln City’s four in all competitions with six other games ending in draws.
Last season’s four points picked up by the Imps was the best return they have ever achieved against Derby.
Prior to last year’s early-season game at Sincil Bank which ended in a 2-0 victory for Lincoln, the Imps’ last win over the Rams was way back in 1959. A 1-1 draw at Pride Park Stadium followed in the second half of the season with Conor Hourihane on target for Derby.
