Lincoln City Football Club are immensely proud to have two crucial links to the local community and fanbase nominated for nationally recognised awards.
Lincoln City’s Supporter Liaison Officer, Alan Long, and the Lady Imps Supporters Association (L.I.S.A) have been invited to attend the Football Supporters Federation awards ceremony at the Tower of London after being nominated for awards for their hard work and dedication over the past 12 months. The winners of the awards will be chosen by a panel of experts in Early December.
Alan Long is nominated in the category of Supporter Liaison Officer (SLO) of the year, alongside representatives from three Premier League Clubs and two from the Championship. The role of Supporter Liaison Officer is to be the conduit between the supporters and the club with the ultimate aim of making the matchday experience as it can be for all supporters, be it supporting The Imps or the visiting side coming to Sincil Bank on a match day.
The Lincoln City SLO team can be found around the ground ahead of kick off, assisting supporters with queries, ticket information and more alongside welcoming visiting supporters straight from the coaches giving them all the information needed from where they can purchase refreshments to how they enter the stadium, where the club shop and ticket office are and generally being a friendly face for any queries supporters may have.
Also, Alan and his team can be found when The Imps are on the road around the country, as Alan says, “It’s about having a friendly face there at the time when support is needed.”
Inside the stadium, the SLO’s have introduced recently a ‘moment of magic’ where they will select a home and away supporter at Sincil Bank who are then brought into the dugouts to witness the warm up pre game, to give them a ‘manager’s eye view’ ahead of kick off.
Alan said of the nomination, “I must say how proud I am to have been nominated for such a prestigious award. This is a great compliment not only to me but also Lincoln City and my matchday SLO team who I couldn’t do my job without. I’m very proud of the relationship myself and the team have with our fans and both home and away I hope we are making a difference.”
The Lady Imps Supporters Association have been nominated for an FSF award for a second consecutive year in the Fans for Diversity category, highlighting their continued good work within the community. L.I.S.A. welcome supporters no matter the gender to join in their encouragement to women to enjoy supporting The Imps. Thus, also providing a social space for women to share their passion and support for the team and the club.
Aside from events in and around the ground, L.I.S.A. also raise money for local charities as well as some chosen by supporters and bringing people together. They do so at events such as Cowley V Cowley, the event earlier which filled one of the City’s largest venues, where 600 people were in attendance to see the ‘Question of Sport’ style panel show where team captains were City manager Danny Cowley and Assistant Manager Nicky Cowley, along with a host of former and current players. The show was recorded and later broadcast on BBC Radio Lincolnshire. All supporter related groups agreed to attend and display at the event including 617 Squadron, RICT & The Stacey West blogger Gary Hutchinson, bringing the City supporting community together.
The event raised more than £7,500 which was shared between three club charities (Imps in the Community (L.I.S.A.’s chosen charity), St Barnabas Hospice and Lincs2Nepal – both chosen by supporters.
At the designated Kick it Out fixture at Lincoln City Football Club in April L.I.S.A were a vital part of a Fans for Diversity funded project where with the support of the club and The Lincoln City Foundation, L.I.S.A arranged a free open evening at Sincil Bank for members of the Eastern European community to find out more about the club on their doorstep, where it was expected only 10-15 people would attend but. In fact, 26 families turned up (over 70 people) with four families winning tickets to attend a fixture.
Everyone at Lincoln City Football Club wishes both Alan and L.I.S.A. all the best ahead of the ceremony as we keep our fingers crossed that they return from the capital with their respective awards, but most of all we thank them for their continued hard work and dedication towards bringing supporters, the community and the club together.
To discover more about what L.I.S.A. have done in the community as well as their other initiatives, please visit their website HERE
#ImpsAsOne
For details on the award ceremony and the respective nominees, please visit the Football Supporters Federation website by clicking HERE
