Most important game in history? | Page 2 | Vital Football

Most important game in history?

I would argue that it is the most important.

There is more to gain financially than any other game we have played (including the FA Cup quarter final). There is also a glass ceiling to break if we are ever to regard ourselves as anything other than a lower league football club.

Of course the downside of losing is not as dire as in the National League tainted years (both times) and to some degree it can be damped down with the phrase "it is a free hit", but the upside is so huge it has to be the biggest game we have played. It is bigger than 1982 because the prize is so much bigger. It is bigger because it is now 60 years, not 20 years since we were in the second tier.

Don't make the mistake of thinking our team next season will necessarily be as good as the one we have had this year. We will be losing Palmer, TJ, Johnson and Rogers. We may even lose Grant if (depending on what his contract says) and then of course there are potential bids for Montsma, Edun, and/or McGrandles. There is no guaranteed 'gradual improvement' in performances or results - Sunderland, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich, Charlton, Oxford, Portsmouth, Rotherham, Bolton er al. will see to that.

Make no mistake, this game is huge. It is era defining.

Carpe Diem, Carpe Diem, Carpe Diem.
Why do you think we can’t replace the loanees with better. Wherever we finish tomorrow, we are better placed than we were at the beginning of last season, when the loanees agreed to sign. And at Christmas Rogers was another step up in quality of loanee. I see no reason why we can’t keep improving the quality of our loanees.
 
Why do you think we can’t replace the loanees with better. Wherever we finish tomorrow, we are better placed than we were at the beginning of last season, when the loanees agreed to sign. And at Christmas Rogers was another step up in quality of loanee. I see no reason why we can’t keep improving the quality of our loanees.
A lot of that is to do with our manager and his connections. So much can change in such a little time. Who knows?
 
But any talk of it being the most important game ever are pretty ridiculous. With a 137-year history there have been hundreds of most important game evers already, and will be dozen more in the future, because with hindsight there have been a huge number of turning points and sliding doors moments. Those things can only be assessed later.

I think this question needs to be divided into two categories - the biggest games when progression was at stake, and the biggest games when we stared into the abyss. They're very different.

Given tomorrow is about progression, I can definitely say this feels bigger than the day before we clinched the GMVC, bigger than the day before we were promoted from League Two, bigger than the day before we faced Arsenal and, much, much, much bigger than the day before our Pizza Cup victory.

Getting back in the league compares, perhaps. Massively important. But tomorrow is a one-off match with so much riding on it, lending a sense of occasion and the promise of a journey into uncharted territory for most of us. The most important one-off game of my life.
 
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Why do you think we can’t replace the loanees with better. Wherever we finish tomorrow, we are better placed than we were at the beginning of last season, when the loanees agreed to sign. And at Christmas Rogers was another step up in quality of loanee. I see no reason why we can’t keep improving the quality of our loanees.

I see no reason why we can guarantee the loanees we sign will be as influential as those we have signed this year. I think signing better loanees will be hard, obviously not impossible but hard. Soule, Morton and Gotts didn't come off in the same way as those mentioned above, and we will still be in League 1, so we will still be competing for players that Premiership/Championships want to test in League 1.

I am not arguing that we won't be a capable League 1 side, or that we will somehow fall of a cliff. I am arguing that the prize is so huge and that the chance to take it comes around rarely and that alone makes this the biggest game we have played. Ever.
 
Today is a massive game. A win and the club progresses on to another level. Suddenly we are a promotion away from dreamland and untold riches. Championship football would bring bigger teams, bigger crowds, and discussions over ground developments. Lincoln City would also be able to tap more into a huge catchment area, and draw new supporters in from further afield. I see no reason why Lincoln wouldnt be able to follow the Norwich City model of drawing supporters in from the county, and in turn the club builds.

It certainly isnt a life or death game and we should all be incredibly proud of what the club has achieved this season, and also since the Cowleys turned the tide in the National League. However, I see this as a match of opportunity that could rocket propel the club to a different level. Lincoln City v Nottingham Forest certainly has a better ring to it than North Ferriby.

Play well City. Dreams are what keep us going in life. UTI
 
I can't subscribe to that idea, what is the schedule? There is no guarantee a Lincoln City team will ever finish a league campaign this high again. This may be as good as it gets.

Having said that, if it ends in a Blackpool win my disappointment will be quickly tempered by it having been an excellent season in all respects, and there will still be lots of hope going into the next one.

But any talk of it being the most important game ever are pretty ridiculous. With a 137-year history there have been hundreds of most important game evers already, and will be dozen more in the future, because with hindsight there have been a huge number of turning points and sliding doors moments. Those things can only be assessed later.

Yeovil beat Brentford in the 2013 L1 Play off Final. Bearing in mind what happened today, who did better out of that if we look at things eight years on?

the bosses schedule

look at the squad the setup the investment etc it is good now but will get better
 
Might have to rephrase the title to "Most VALUABLE game in history".

To suggest it as important suggests there is an element of risk should we not win it, or a potential cost to the club of not winning.
Aldershot in 2011 was an important game, as our league survival depended on it, and we know how that went. The game against Wycombe in the Conference days - again important as it meant being promoted back to the league.

In terms of chances, then I think it is important in that next year it will be even harder to get out of League 1 the right way, so does that qualify as jeopardy? or Risk? Or consequences should we not win?

But the financial gain for the club, and the prestige that the Championship will bring to the club is massive.
 
Those who think a promotion to the Championship necessarily means the dawning of a new era, or that it somehow means financial security for the club are living in a bit of a fantasy world.

If we were to go up we're almost certain to come straight back down. The best we could hope for is to become a Rotherham-style yo-yo club, which I imagine would be acceptable to most sensible people?

The reason for this is that losses trying to compete in the Championship are enormous. These figures are from the last normal season, 2018-19.

The only club that made a genuine profit, a modest one at that, was Rotherham, and they did it by having the lowest wages by some way, of £7.8m. To put that in perpective Millwall's wage bill was £16.9m.

All these numbers are heavily reliant on player sales, including those clubs making big losses. Brentford and Bristol City both made around £30m on player sales in those years (as did Middlesbrough), Hull's small profit is due to the final PL parachute payment, and Derby and Sheffield Wednesday's profit is a total fiction due to their bogus stadium sales - and not having addressed the underlying issues both those clubs are currently in meltdown.

Burton also managed to make a modest profit for the couple of years they were in it. It's good from a sporting and prestige point of view, but for financial reasons you can forget it - even a £20m wage bill puts you firmly in the bottom quartile.
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Those who think a promotion to the Championship necessarily means the dawning of a new era, or that it somehow means financial security for the club are living in a bit of a fantasy world.

If we were to go up we're almost certain to come straight back down. The best we could hope for is to become a Rotherham-style yo-yo club, which I imagine would be acceptable to most sensible people?

The reason for this is that losses trying to compete in the Championship are enormous. These figures are from the last normal season, 2018-19.

The only club that made a genuine profit, a modest one at that, was Rotherham, and they did it by having the lowest wages by some way, of £7.8m. To put that in perpective Millwall's wage bill was £16.9m.

All these numbers are heavily reliant on player sales, including those clubs making big losses. Brentford and Bristol City both made around £30m on player sales in those years (as did Middlesbrough), Hull's small profit is due to the final PL parachute payment, and Derby and Sheffield Wednesday's profit is a total fiction due to their bogus stadium sales - and not having addressed the underlying issues both those clubs are currently in meltdown.

Burton also managed to make a modest profit for the couple of years they were in it. It's good from a sporting and prestige point of view, but for financial reasons you can forget it - even a £20m wage bill puts you firmly in the bottom quartile.
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Yea, but no but they those clubs did not have @SAToffeeImp at the helm.
 
Those who think a promotion to the Championship necessarily means the dawning of a new era, or that it somehow means financial security for the club are living in a bit of a fantasy world.

If we were to go up we're almost certain to come straight back down. The best we could hope for is to become a Rotherham-style yo-yo club, which I imagine would be acceptable to most sensible people?

The reason for this is that losses trying to compete in the Championship are enormous. These figures are from the last normal season, 2018-19.

The only club that made a genuine profit, a modest one at that, was Rotherham, and they did it by having the lowest wages by some way, of £7.8m. To put that in perpective Millwall's wage bill was £16.9m.

All these numbers are heavily reliant on player sales, including those clubs making big losses. Brentford and Bristol City both made around £30m on player sales in those years (as did Middlesbrough), Hull's small profit is due to the final PL parachute payment, and Derby and Sheffield Wednesday's profit is a total fiction due to their bogus stadium sales - and not having addressed the underlying issues both those clubs are currently in meltdown.

Burton also managed to make a modest profit for the couple of years they were in it. It's good from a sporting and prestige point of view, but for financial reasons you can forget it - even a £20m wage bill puts you firmly in the bottom quartile.

BB, how could you sound so downbeat, on this day of days?

I don't think anyone on this forum thinks we're signing Brazilian wingers for £40k a week if we go up (most of the team we have is contracted for next season for a start). Nor do I think anyone is under any illusions about where we would stand in the pecking order.

But we want today, and we want it badly. It would be a magnificent achievement for a club that was on the bones of its arse five years ago. What comes tomorrow is for tomorrow.
 
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BB, how could you sound so downbeat, on this day of days?

I'm not. I didn't bring that subject up, other people did, because it's all part of the "most important match" theme, which is based on a false premise.

I just think today should be taken for what it is; an opportunity to get a third promotion in five years, this one very much against the odds, and to a level nobody thought possible. In that sense I very much agree with your last paragraph.

That should be a celebration, not something that should be made into an unnecessary pressure situation.
 
To me, Wycombe at home in 88 was the biggest. Failure to win that game and the impact it would have had on the club long term, does not bear thinking about.

And to really rub salt in the wound it would have meant that turd Fatty Fry would have taken Barnet up in Imps place. That does not bear thinking about either.