Lincoln was one of a few cities where football was known to be played during the early 1860s. Lincoln FC, as they were then known, before becoming Lindum FC. The Lincoln City of the 1860s bears no relation to the present Lincoln City we know today, who were formed in 1884, after the disbanding of Lincoln Rovers, formerly known as Lincoln Recreation FC. The new club that arose from Lincoln Rovers turned professional in 1891/92, and moved to their home of Sencil Bank in 1895, after sharing the previous grounds with cows at Cowpaddle, and horses at John O’Gaunts, with both lots of animals grazing on the pitch. Today the pitch is slightly south of the old one. The ground is located in the same place as the one they moved to way back in 1895. It holds 10,120 footy fans and for sponsorship reasons is now known as the LNER Stadium. Local rivals are Mansfield Town, Peterborough United, Hull City and Grimsby Town. If they were to build a bonfire then you would hear them singing: “put Boston in the middle and Scunthorpe on the top”. Lincoln’s coats of arms provide the club’s shirts with their badge. (PIC 1)
The arms date back to the 14th Century, and is comprised of a simple shield with a cross, believed to derive from the Diocese of Lincoln. (a diocese is a district in which a Bishop has authority). The Fleur-de-Lys in the centre is the symbol for St Mary the patron saint of the city. The Latin motto is “CIVITAS LINCOLNIA”, and no prizes for guessing it means Lincoln City. The shield is red and silver but the club’s colours are red and white and that is how the shield appears on the shirts. (PIC 2) The club’s name appears on the scroll beneath. This was updated with the fleur-de-lis being replaced by the club’s nickname “The Imps”, and the image of an Imp. The club’s name remains in the scroll beneath. (PIC 3) Recently this was changed again and the Imp alone now adorns the shirt with the club’s name in the scroll beneath, now in red, the club’s colours. (PIC 4)
There is an interesting story attached to the Lincoln Imp, as it is known, and how it came to be. High up on top of one of the columns in the Angel Choir of Lincoln Cathedral, sits a gargoyle. He sits there with one leg crossed over the other, laughing mischievously as if frozen in the middle of some prank. Legend has it that Satan the Devil sent out his little Demon or Imp to get up to no good, do his evil work, and cause as much mayhem as it could wherever it went, in and around Lincoln. Suddenly a gust of wind picked up the Imp and blew it into Lincoln Cathedral where it went about the Devil’s bidding, breaking furniture whilst dancing on the altar, and after spotting the Bishop it set about him, tripping him up before turning his attention to the choir. It was while the imp was teasing the choir that the Cathedral’s guardian angel appeared and ordered the Imp to stop its mischief at once. The Imp replied by hurling anything it could get its hands on at the angel, laughing at it as it did so. The angel as a punishment, immediately turned the Imp into stone, mid-laugh right where it sat on top of the column in the Angel Choir where it still sits today. (PIC 5) The Imp has been adopted as the unofficial symbol of the city, as well as the football club’s nickname.
Lincoln was called Lindum Colonia by the Romans, derived from the Welsh Celtic word lindo meaning, lake or pool and the Latin Colonia for a colony. So if you are from Lincoln, then you are living in a large group by the pool. If you want to unearth any more on Lincoln City then be a devil and laugh all the way to www.weareimps.com
