The FPA guests for Tuesday's home game against Barnsley are host Gavin Gordon, Tony Cunningham and Derek Bell, plus former Barnsley player Tommy Graham and Terry Curran, whose former teams included Nottingham Forest, both Sheffield clubs and Everton.
Gavin Gordon
Gavin Gordon was a striker who made his senior debut for Hull City just two months after his 16th birthday and went on to make regular first team appearances for the Tigers before he was sold to the Imps in November 1997 when he was still just 18-years-old.
In his first season, he helped City win promotion and was a first team regular. In 2000-01 he scored 10 goals by early December and was then sold to Cardiff City for a six-figure fee. He later played for Notts County. Gavin is chairman of the Former Players Association.
Lincoln City record:
Debut: vs Swansea City, away 8 November 1997
Football League: 87 appearances plus 12 as substitute, 28 goals
FA Cup: 9 appearances, 2 goals
Football League Cup: 2 appearances, 1 goal
Other: 4 appearances plus 1 as substitute
Tony Cunningham
Tony Cunningham was a powerful striker who was brought to Lincoln by Colin Murphy from non-league club Stourbridge in May 1979.
He made an instant impact on his debut in a League Cup tie against Barnsley when he was up against the former England defender Norman Hunter. Tony had too much pace and power for the ex-England man and marked his first City game with a goal.
Tony remained a regular first team player during his three full seasons at Sincil Bank and finished as leading scorer with 15 league and cup goals in 1981-82 when the Imps narrowly missed out on promotion to second tier football.
He was sold to Barnsley in September 1982 and and made 40 league appearances for the Reds scoring 11 goals before joining Sheffield Wednesday in November 1983.
Tony later played for clubs including Manchester City and Newcastle United making a total of almost 500 senior appearances before ending his career with Wycombe Wanderers. One of his sons Karl later also played for the Imps.
Lincoln City record
Debut: vs Barnsley, home (Football League Cup) 11 August 1979
Football League: 111 appearances plus 12 as substitute, 32 goals
FA Cup: 5 appearances plus 1 as substitute
Football League Cup: 13 appearances, 8 goals
Other: 6 appearances, 2 goals
Derek Bell
Derek was a prolific scorer in local football netting over 200 goals in 1971-72 as a 15-year-old playing in schools football, on Saturday afternoons in the Boston League and Sundays in the Lindsey and Kesteven Youth League before joining Derby County as an apprentice.
He moved on to play for Halifax Town and Barnsley before he was signed by City in November scoring on his debut in a 3-0 home win over Hartlepool. Derek spent four years at Sincil Bank and continued to score regularly despite the fact that his appearances were restricted by injury. He was leading scorer in 1982-83 with 29 league and cup goals including three hat-tricks.
He left Sincil Bank in the summer of 1983 and went on to play for Chesterfield and Scunthorpe.
Lincoln City record
Debut: vs Hartlepool United, home 30 November 1979
Football League: 69 appearances plus 14 as substitute, 33 goals
FA Cup: 2 appearances plus 1 as substitute
Football League Cup: 10 appearances plus 2 as substitute, 4 goals
Other: 3 appearances, 3 goals
Tommy Graham
Tommy Graham was a forward who signed for Barnsley from Aston Villa in 1978 and made 38 appearances for the Reds before moving on to join Halifax Town.
He went on to play for Doncaster, Scunthorpe and Scarborough before finishing back at Halifax making almost 400 Football League appearances during his career.
Terry Curran
Terry Curran was an attacking player who mainly appeared as a winger during his lengthy football career. He began with Doncaster before moving to Nottingham Forest. In total he played for 12 Football League clubs including Everton, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, making over 400 Football League appearances.
