1982

[hulloutpost]

Sad material to view which re-opens the wounds of some deep disappointment regarding how it worked out for that squad but still great to see them and the old SB in glorious Technicolor.

 

[57harry]

My take on this was that we should have speculated to accumulate given the quality of the side we had. The near term risk of insolvency was solved by the sale and leaseback of the ground of £225,000 to Lincoln City Council in the summer of 82. The cost cutting went too far IMO-the squad was reduced to 15 at the start of the 82-83 season and on top of that Cunningham was sold to Barnsley for £80,000 reducing it to 14 players.With that backdrop it's surprising we did as well as we did. Reames and Co took over in March 83 with a £125,000 takeover but by then it was too late-momentum had been lost. If this had been done at the start of the season things may well have been different.We would not have sold Cunningham-I,m sure of that.And the squad would have been at more realistic levels.

I felt the Board could have taken more action on the revenue side-there was no public appeal for new fund raising,no drive to raise capital from existing shareholders or recruit new ones.And there is sponsorship-generally that was as well developed as today-a more go-ahead Board back then may have pushed that hard.

A missed opportunity.

 

[The-slippery-greek]

My memory as a child was Blades was a baddy. Murph was not been given money to buy players as our squad had injuries. Not sure Blades' house should have been vandalised but feelings ran high.
On reflection this was the best Lincoln side in my lifetime but faltered after Christmas and subsequently the dream was over as they moved on and some ended up in the top league directly or later in the their careers. The programme is a lifetime ago however the themes still exist. New threats of break away leagues and increasing moves to watching football on a screen/not at the match emerge. Old ones of agents fees and failure to redistribute monies to grass routes and lower leagues. What is funny is seeing Cockerill, Peake, Thommo and Carr dissenting on TV however Thommo obviously was management material back then with his attempt at diplomacy!? Despite the perm.

If i remember correctly Blades house being vandalised was headlines on the back of the daily mirror.

 

[Davidimp]

Blades was just same in the courtroom my dad said as he was as chairman, arrogant.
Crowds went up that season too, around 500, would have been more but they after the boardroom upheaval that cost us promotion.

 

[NorthNottsImp]

I think Blades lived on Burton Road on the edge of the city. Recall it being a monstrosity. Is he still alive?

 

[buckielugger]

We really were so so close to getting back to Div2 that season.
And it's such a shame that Colin Murphy didn't get the backing he needed at the time.
Two more players, maybe even one more might have just been enough. We will never know.
But the anger and dismay at the time was real and totally understandable.

Fortunately we've done better with subsequent chairmen. John Reames gave full backing to Murphy, as well as overseeing the full rebuild of Sincil Bank.
Rob Bradley saw us through some very low times.
And of course Bob has seen us through some even lower times and led us into the current wonder years.

And now it's Clive's turn at the helm and it would be brilliant if that missed chance of all those years back is finally exorcised and we make a very long awaited return to Div2/Championship.