Imps and Hatters share the spoils

2nd September 2017

Lincoln City 0 Luton Town 0

9,332 (Luton 1,268)

Ground number 92 of the current 92 for me.

Somehow my football education was lacking in that I'd never been to Sincil Bank, Lincoln and that is despite Leeds United having been here six times in all. In my defence only one of those visits has been during my lifetime - a 2 - 3 win for Leeds in December 1960 when I was 3 years old!

What a lovely setting for a football ground! Parking on the South Common, just a short walk from the ground, Sincil Bank appears around the corner with the magnificent Cathedral up on the hill in the distance. There can't be too many grounds with quite such a backdrop - it it reminiscent of the cricket ground in Worcester, New Road, in this respect, a city I know well.

Sincil Bank has been home to the Imps since 1895 but the stands are all far more modern than that. My seat was right at the back - but don't get ideas of grandeur there are only 5 rows! - of the Bridge McFarland Stand at one end of the ground and above the Stacey-West Stand opposite I had a perpetual but frustrating view of the top half of the cathedral while to the left of it I could see most of Lincoln Castle; if only the roof of the Stacey-West Stand had been built three feet lower I'd have had a perfect view. As it was, no doubt the perfect view of both Castle and Cathedral was had by the customers in the hospitality suites that were situated above my head.

The ground can only hold 10,130 these days but today there were 9,332 in there and with segregation that must be pretty much the actual limit - the Hatters of Luton brought a magnificent 1,268.

The weather today was perfect and in those conditions the ground looked excellent - even the quirky Selenity Stand that straddles the one touchline looked

perfectly quaint in the sunshine. As for the game, well both these sides were just too similar and hence the nil-nil scoreline. It wasn't the worst nil-nil I've ever seen and is only the sixth goalless game I have included in my current list of 92 but there were not too many clear cut chances and no major talking points. My guess is both sides will have a decent season though as there was some neat and pacey football played by them both at times.

My only miscalculation was that Lincoln in the sun is of course a tourist trap and hence the final four miles in towards the ground took me 45 minutes in the car. Thankfully, it was a lot quicker coming away.

So that's it for another season, all the current 92 ticked off once again. Here's to next season.