I always find the approach each club takes towards pre-season interesting.
Many managers (and fans) believe it is largely about minutes.
Most will use 'friendlies' to practice tactics and formations, look at trialists, and especially practice their excuses when they get gubbed by non-league sides.
One or two believe these matches should be competitive affairs. Here's a question for you: last August, which League One manager said he wanted to win every pre-season game because it engendered a winning mentality? You can find the answer at the foot of this post.
Back to this season. Crewe manager David Artell believed his side played too many friendlies during the 2020 pre-season (12 games), so reduced it to 8 this summer. But is 8 still too many?
How many games have Lincoln's rivals played, and how have they got on?
All will be revealed in the Season Preview, but here are some interesting ones.
The prize for the worst pre-season campaign must go to AFC Wimbledon with this outstanding set of results:
17/7 BRENTFORD H 0-1
20/7 Kingstonian A 0-2
20/7 Metropolitan Police A 1-0 Robinson (p)
23/7 Hampton & Richmond A 1-1 McCormick
24/7 Dartford A 0-1
27/7 Woking A 0-1
31/7 SCUNTHORPE UNITED H 1-2 Palmer (p)
Despite spending enough money to sink a League One battleship, Ipswich have hardly set Suffolk alight:
10/7 Dartford A 1-0 Chirewa
13/7 Bury Town A 1-1 Humphreys
24/7 CRYSTAL PALACE H 0-1
27/7 Colchester United A 3-3 Pigott, Bonne, Burns
31/7 MILLWALL H 0-3
Charlton selected some challenging games, and all away from home:
10/7 Glasgow Celtic N 1-2 Washington (at Dragon Park, Newport
13/7 Welling United A 3-0 Jaiyesimi, Clayden, Henry
17/7 Dartford A 2-1 Jaiyesimi, Davison
24/7 Reading A 1-1 Ghandour
27/7 Crystal Palace A 2-2 Stockley, Davison
31/7 Fulham A 0-1
Sunderland have hardly been ambitious with their choice of opposition:
3/7 Spennymoor Town A 2-2 O’Brien, Taylor
17/7 Heart of Midlothian A 2-0 McGeady 2
21/7 York City A 1-1 Neil
24/7 Harrogate Town A 4-0 Embleton 2, Winchester, Taylor
27/7 Tranmere Rovers A 0-0
30/7 HULL CITY H 2-1 Stewart, Grigg
Oxford did what they always do, and chose to slaughter some vastly inferior non-league sides:
16/7 Oxford City A 3-2 Agyei, Taylor, Gorrin
17/7 SALFORD CITY H 6-1 O’Donkor 3, Taylor 2, Smith
20/7 Hayes & Yeading N 9-0 Taylor 4, Cooper 2, Elechi, Goodrham, Yaw
21/7 Banbury United A 3-0 O’Donkor, Yaw, Goodrham
28/7 PETERBOROUGH UNITED (1) H 2-2 Forde, Agyei
28/7 PETERBOROUGH UNITED (2) H 2-2 Sykes (p), Winnall
31/7 Bristol Rovers A 2-3 Seddon, Henry
A small number of clubs have hardly bothered with pre-season friendlies at all:
Wycombe:
17/7 Stevenage N 1-0 Kashket
28/7 LEICESTER CITY H 1-0 Horgan
Shrewsbury:
13/7 AFC Telford United A 3-2 Bowman 2, Udoh
20/7 Hereford A 2-1 Whalley, Udoh
31/7 Exeter City A 2-0 Udoh 2
And Doncaster decided to field a trialist or seven:
10/7 Rossington Main A 4-0 Trialist One 3, Trialist Three
17/7 Bradford City A 0-2
20/7 Wakefield AFC A 6-0 Trialist Two 2, Trialist One, Close, Williams, Trialist Seven
23/7 NEWCASTLE UNITED H 2-3 Rowe, Bogle
28/7 SHEFFIELD UNITED H 0-4
Quite how much bearing any of this may have on the next nine months is anyone's guess, but some clubs are clearly not in a good place.
And the answer to which League One manager said he wanted to win every pre-season game because it engendered a winning mentality?
Neil Critchley.