The FPA guests for Saturday’s game against Reading are Terry Fleming, Gavin Gordon, Ron Harbertson, John Kennedy and Trevor Swinburne.
Terry Fleming
Terry Fleming was a midfield player who made over 200 first-team appearances for City during his five years with the club. Terry was signed by manager John Beck from Preston North End in December 1995 and was a key player for the Imps during his time at the club. He missed only a handful of games in 1997/98 when City clinched promotion on the final day of the season defeating Brighton 2-1, with Terry scoring the opening goal. He moved on in the summer of 2000 when he signed for Plymouth Argyle and later played for Cambridge United and Grimsby Town before appearing for several non-league clubs including Lincoln United.
Debut vs Plymouth Argyle, home 16 December 1995
Lincoln City record
Football League: 175 appearances plus eight as substitute, eight goals
FA Cup: 11 appearances, two goals
Football League Cup: 11 appearances plus one as substitute two goals
Other: four appearances
Gavin Gordon
Gavin Gordon was a striker who signed for the Imps as an 18-year-old in November 1997 from Hull City. In his first season at Sincil Bank he helped City gain promotion from Division Three and continued to feature regularly in the team during his time with the club. In the first half of the 2000/01 he scored regularly and was leading scorer netting 10 goals before being sold to Cardiff City for a reported six-figure fee. Gavin, who had made his senior debut for Hull at the age of 16, later played for Notts County and Crawley Town.
Debut vs Swansea City away, 8 November 1997
Lincoln City record:
Football League: 87 appearances plus 12 as substitute, 28 goals
FA Cup: 9 appearances, two goals
Football League Cup: two appearances, one goal
Other: four appearances plus one as substitute
Ron Harbertson
Ron Harbertson, at 93 years of age, is one of the oldest former Imps players. Ron was a forward whose career began at Newcastle United and he went to play for clubs including Bradford City, Brighton, Grimsby and Darlington before joining City in March 1958 when the club looked certain for relegation into the Third Division. However the Imps had a dramatic change of form winning the final six games of the season to avoid the drop, with Ron scoring in each of the matches. He was a regular in the City team before departing to play for Wrexham in March 1960. Ron then had a short spell with Darlington before returning to Sincil Bank for the 1961/62 season.
Debut vs Liverpool, away 15 March 1958
Lincoln City record
Football League: 86 appearances, 25 goals
FA Cup: five appearances, one goal
Football League Cup: one appearance, two goals
John Kennedy
John Kennedy made over 250 appearances in goal for City after signing for the Imps in July 1967. John’s career began in his native Northern Ireland with the Distillery club. During his time there he played for the Northern Ireland and Great Britain amateur international teams, and for the Irish League representative team. In 1965 he signed for Celtic where he played most of his football in the reserves before moving to Sincil Bank in the summer of 1967. He was first choice goalkeeper throughout his seven seasons with City and was the first player to win the Player of the Season award when it started in 1969/70. John was one of the last part-time players to feature regularly for the Imps combining his football career with teaching. John left Sincil Bank in the summer of 1974 and had a couple of seasons with Lincoln United before retiring.
Debut vs Aldershot, home 19 August 1967
Lincoln City record
Football League: 251 appearances
FA Cup: 10 appearances
Football League Cup: 16 appearances
Other: One appearance
Trevor Swinburne
Trevor Swinburne began his long goalkeeping career as an apprentice with Sunderland in the late 1960s and finished it with the Imps 20 years later. He was in the Sunderland team which won the FA Youth Cup in 1968/69 when they defeated West Bromwich Albion, despite losing the first leg 3-0. The Black Cats won the second leg 6-0 in a remarkable turnaround. During his time at Sunderland, he was under study to the great Jim Montgomery whose form restricted Trevor's first-team appearances. He then played for Brentford and Leeds United before signing for City in February 1986 as a replacement for Stuart Naylor. Trevor made regular appearances for the Imps until retiring in the summer of 1987. He was the first chairman of the Lincoln City Former Players Association when it was formed in 2017 and was the driving force in developing the organisation before stepping down from his role.
Lincoln City record:
Football League: 34 appearances
Football League Cup: three appearances
Football League Trophy: three appearances
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