A year has passed | Vital Football

A year has passed

SAToffeeImp

SAToffeeImp

Vital Youth Team
An amazing year has passed since Rob Makepeace identified me as the new investor and I agreed to do a Q&A on Vitals. A lot has changed over the past year but some things haven't. Just like last year we have a weekend without a game, then because of bad weather, this year because of strange happenings at the lower levels of the English football pyramid.

It's great to see the continued progress the club has made over this period. There have been fantastic wins in recent months against Tranmere, Forest Green and Wrexham but the game on Monday night has elevated us to another level. Although the performance and the result against a team two tiers above us was excellent in itself, it was the attendance of more than 6,500 Imps fans on a cold winter night for a televised game that was truly extraordinary and highlighted the enormous potential that the club can harness. How amazing to see the Co-op stand packed and the 617 squadron in full voice. The publicity the club received from the Oldham game has been significant and I am confident that it will be the catalyst for further investment and opportunities.

It doesn't happen often that the planets align and everything comes together but that happened when we had a small window of opportunity to sign up Danny and Nicky. We might not have hired the Special One (in any case I don't think he is that special anymore) but we have managed to get a very special management team. We can all see the incredible work that Danny and Nicky have done in the very short time they have been with us, both on and off the field, to lift the club and create the enthusiasm and belief that was so much in evidence on Monday night.

Momentum is such a powerful force and it is up to us all, from the Board to the fans, to ensure that we keep the club heading in the right direction and capitalise on that. There is still a long way to go to achieve our immediate objective of promotion back to the Football League but the foundation has been laid and we have the right management and players to attain that for us. It won't be easy with a number of other teams pushing hard for that same prize but I know, as a Board, we will do our very best to support the team as much as possible.

Form a personal level it has been an incredible journey so far. When I first contemplated the investment there were a few people involved in football who suggested I should be looking to do better than Lincoln City. Emotion was always going to win but I think I was really sold on the club from that first night in Lincoln when Bob dragged me around the city from The Strugglers to dinner at the Wig & Mitre to a another pub with Irish music and finally the Rock Haven. If I could survive a long night with Bob, Glynise and their friends I felt I was ready for anything that the club was going to throw at me. Seriously, I am enormously grateful for the hospitality and welcome I have received from so many and especially from Bob, Kevin and Roger and their partners/wives. That personal connection is so important in any partnership. I am also thankful for having been able to interact with some of the fans and many others involved or connected with the club and that has made this year so much more exciting and meaningful.

UTI
 
Clive, thanks for your post. Not very often a fans forum would get this input from a major stake holder in a club.

By the way, do you believe in astrology and star signs as indicted in your post, or is it just our time to make it good and retun to the FL?
 
A thousand thanks for caring about us, Clive, you kick-started all of this and continue to underpin the sense of optimism you helped create. I had a lengthy chat with Bob a couple of weeks ago and he made it perfectly clear that the Cowleys would not be here without you. I hope you feel rightly proud of what you have achieved here.
 
Great post Clive. its fantastic that you interact with us fans and are so approachable. What a great decision you made and so thankful that you did. Heres to year 2 being even better!
 
SalfordImp - 10/12/2016 17:04

Clive, thanks for your post. Not very often a fans forum would get this input from a major stake holder in a club.

By the way, do you believe in astrology and star signs as indicted in your post, or is it just our time to make it good and retun to the FL?
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No, I don't know much about astrology and wasn't trying to suggest that. It's just that at very rare times in my life I have been amazed how everything comes together and it provides you with an amazing opportunity. Getting the Cowleys was one of those times. A few weeks either side of that and the opportunity probably wouldn't have been there.
 
SAToffeeImp - 10/12/2016 17:15

SalfordImp - 10/12/2016 17:04

Clive, thanks for your post. Not very often a fans forum would get this input from a major stake holder in a club.

By the way, do you believe in astrology and star signs as indicted in your post, or is it just our time to make it good and retun to the FL?
Click to expand...

No, I don't know much about astrology and wasn't trying to suggest that. It's just that at very rare times in my life I have been amazed how everything comes together and it provides you with an amazing opportunity. Getting the Cowleys was one of those times. A few weeks either side of that and the opportunity probably wouldn't have been there.
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Thanks for your reply. I hope your prediction for the Imps is pessimistic in the where will they finish comp. :oops:
 
Clive, whilst we've never met and may never do, I'll be forever grateful that you cared enough to get on board.

Your contribution has been much more than financial alone. Your engagement with the fans is to your enormous credit, keeping us involved and informed whilst maintaining professionalism at all times is fantastic.

Also your obvious expertise have brought a much more professional and competent feel to the club. That's not to denigrate Bob, just to credit your input.

Most of all from a personal point of view, you were the catalyst for change, and what a change! I haven't enjoyed supporting the club like this for years, I find myself checking for LCFC news through the week, talking to people about the club and the games, and that's before we even get to the weekend. You've restored our pride.

So I suppose what I'm trying to say is. Thank you Clive!
 
Credit is heaped on the Cowleys and rightly so but as APHLCFC mentioned your investment was the initial catalyst which has completed rejuvenated the club. The belief that we are Lincoln City and we should be in the football league is back and I think your guidance behind the scenes is as much to thank as the results on it.

Thanks Clive!
 
Thank you Clive for coming on board. Your research certainly paid off bringing in the cowley s and thanks for your investment. Let's hope this is the start of a long journey back up the leagues. I just hope that you are able to witness many more victories as you seem to be jinxed when you are over watching.
 
I can't remember being so confident of an Imps win every weekend, since the days of Keith, and before that John Beck. Such a joy to see these days.
I'm even making a little, courtesy of the bookies and City.
Long may it continue.
Thanks Clive and everyone else involved.

ps - Any spare cash Clive? Looks like Pep and Manchester City are struggling :rolly:
 
Just thank you Clive, for restoring my pride in the Club and giving us hope for a much brighter future. I no longer have to hide behind the sofa for 'final score' every Saturday, and the odd 200 mile round trip to cheer them on is very rewarding. Brilliant. UTI.
 
Clive, your investment and board level governance has made an enormous contribution to our progress. You are quite right that the club has real potential and the Cowleys together with support from the board and of course the fans can realise it.

It's especially pleasing to see sustainable progress as opposed to that made by the likes of FGR. As an Imp exiled down in the Southwest i'm often humbled to be in the away end at places like FGR, Eastleigh, Woking etc surrounded by hundreds of fellow IMPs that have made an 8 hour round trip to support our club.

Long may this continue and my personal thanks to yourself and the board. Up the IMPs !
 
Binghamimp - 10/12/2016 18:09

Thank you Clive for coming on board. Your research certainly paid off bringing in the cowley s and thanks for your investment. Let's hope this is the start of a long journey back up the leagues. I just hope that you are able to witness many more victories as you seem to be jinxed when you are over watching.
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Thanks Mark for bringing up my bad record when I am over. I thought that Chris had buried that jinx with two successive wins for me in September/October last year but no wins in 2016 has left me with an overall record of two wins in ten games. At least I have been more successful in watching live streaming's here in SA with wins over Torquay, FGR and Oldham. But don't worry, I am only planning to come over at the end of February and Danny and Nicky are doing a good job in burying jinxes in any event.
 
Yes thank you very much for all you're doing Clive. I'm just delighted that I want to forgo that extra pre-match pint to join all those beautiful queues we haven't seen for years.

Queues at Sincil Bank are the only queues I'm happy to be in.

I hope a year down the line, being directly involved in the club we all love is living up to the expectations you had.

#refusetolose
 
The thing I respect most is the fact that you, Clive, have bothered to interact with us mere mortal fans!

I have followed City since my first game in 1963; dad was a massive fan from just after the war until his death in 2003, just before we reached out first ever play-off campaign. My own son, now 26, has been coming with me since 1996; his first game was against Wigan which we lost 2-4 but he got the bug. We have to travel nearly 70 miles each way to a home game, but we have been proud season ticket holders for the last 14 years on and off.

I cannot begin to tell you how we both feel about the current campaign, it is such a delight to be an Imps fan right now. Train tickets for Ipswich already booked and paid for!

Thank you.
 
<b>Now up on the Front Page:</b>
http://www.lincoln.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=471486
 
Taking you to Rock Haven was a risky (to the point of reckless) thing to do. Surprised you did not run for the hills (to paraphrase a song that is played endlessly by the pooe eighties rock cover bands that always play there)
 
Clive, to add to those comments above may I say how grateful I am that you have invested your money in Lincoln City. Likewise, like yourself, I am so happy in the position we find ourselves today compared to a year ago, without your investment we would not be experiencing these happy times. I say that because when City is in your blood the world is a happier place to escape when your're winning. Since 1976 during my time in supporting the Imps success has been limited but have never turned my back on the club I love, spending my limited resources in supporting the team first introduced to me by my Mum & Dad. Thanks also go to Nicky and Danny Cowley, after seeing and listening to them I can say that football management is rocket science. I am grateful to the hard work they have put into Lincoln since their appointment. They too have families and I don't quite know how they manage it all.

Finally Clive, I'm not sure I will ever have the opportunity to shake your hand and let you know how happy and grateful I am. I will raise a glass, it won't be the stuff in those blue or red tins I drank enough of those whilst on Ascension for a year ! A nice glass of red for you Clive, cheers.
 
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