List of Lincoln City F.C. seasons

For details of the current season, see 2023–24 Lincoln City F.C. season.

Eleven young men in striped shirts and plain shorts and one older man wearing a suit pose for a team photo. Three sit on the floor, two cross-legged. Four sit on chairs behind, each in a different, casual pose. One has his foot on a football. At the back, the older man and the remaining young men stand, hands on hips or resting on the chairs.
The Lincoln City F.C. team of 1889–90, founder members of the Midland League

Lincoln City Football Club, an English association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, was founded in 1884. The club's first team won the major regional trophy, the Lincolnshire Senior Cup, in the 1886–87 season, and reached the last 16 of the FA Cup in the same year.[1] In 1888, the club joined the Combination, a league set up to provide organised football for those clubs not invited to join the Football League which was to start the same year. However, the Combination was not well organised and folded in April 1889 with many fixtures still outstanding.[2] Lincoln then became founder members of the Midland League, and won the inaugural league title.[3] After two seasons the club turned professional[1] and joined the Football Alliance; the following year they were elected to the newly formed Second Division of the Football League.[3] Their highest finishing position – fifth in the Second Division – was achieved in 1901–02, and in the same season they reached the last 16 of the FA Cup for the third time.[1] Lincoln failed to gain re-election to the League three times between 1909 and 1920; on each occasion, they won the championship of the league to which they had been demoted, either the Midland League or, in 1912, the Central League, and made an immediate return to the Football League.[1][3]

In 1921, Lincoln were founder members of the Football League Third Division North, and ten seasons later won the division title, thus gaining promotion to the Second Division, though for one season only.[4] In 1947–48, Lincoln again won the Third Division North title, and again suffered immediate relegation from the Second. On regaining Second Division status three years later they remained in the division until the 1960–61 season, but then suffered consecutive relegations.[3] The club website rates 1975–76 as "by far the most successful season in the club's history".[5] They won the Fourth Division title with a record points total for any division before the introduction of three points for a win, set new Fourth Division records for most wins and fewest defeats, and were undefeated at home, with 21 wins and 2 draws.[5][6][7]

For many years, teams finishing at the bottom of the Football League had to apply for re-election to the League for the following season – Lincoln made eleven successful applications[8] – but in the 1986–87 season, automatic promotion and relegation was introduced between the Football Conference, the fifth tier of English football, and the Football League Fourth Division.[9] Lincoln finished bottom of the 1986–87 Fourth Division and thus became the first club automatically relegated from the League.[5] They made an immediate return as Conference champions, and until 2011 spent all but one season in the bottom League division.[3] Lincoln reached the promotion play-offs in five consecutive seasons, between 2003 and 2007, but were unsuccessful on each occasion.[3] The 2006–07 season marked Lincoln's 100th season in the Football League; they were the first club to reach that milestone without ever playing in the top division of the League.[8] After a return of only two points from Lincoln's last 11 games of the 2010–11 season allowed Barnet to overturn an 11-point deficit, they returned to non-League football.[10] Five successive bottom-half finishes in the Conference (renamed the National League for 2015–16) preceded Lincoln's return to the Football League as champions.[11] They combined it with an FA Cup run in which they eliminated three Football League teams, including Championship runners-up Brighton & Hove Albion, before a 1–0 win away to Premier League club Burnley made them the first non-league club since 1913–14 to reach the quarter-finals;[12] in the quarter-final, they lost 5–0 away to Arsenal.[13] In their first season back, they made their first competitive trip to Wembley Stadium, where they beat Shrewsbury Town 1–0 to win the EFL Trophy,[14] and reached the play-offs, in which they lost to Exeter City.[15] They achieved promotion the following season as champions, and two years later reached but lost in the play-off final.[16]

Since their election to the Football League in 1892, Lincoln have spent 36 seasons in the second tier, 35 in the third, 40 in the fourth, and 10 seasons in non-League football.[3] The table details Lincoln City's achievements in senior first-team competition from their first appearance in the FA Cup in 1884–85 to the end of the most recently completed season.

  1. ^ a b c d "The Early Years: 1884–1919". Lincoln City F.C. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Comb was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Lincoln City". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Between the wars: 1919–1945". Lincoln City F.C. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  5. ^ a b c "Record breakers & makers: 1967–1987". Lincoln City F.C. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Wins". The Football League. Archived from the original on 14 December 2009. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  7. ^ "Lincoln City league performance history". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 2 October 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2024. Access specific content required via dropdown menus.
  8. ^ a b ""City's Centenary"". Lincoln City F.C. 28 July 2007. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010.
  9. ^ "History of The Football League". The Football League. 22 September 2010. Archived from the original on 2 February 2013.
  10. ^ "League Two table after close of play on 12 March 2011". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
    "Lincoln City 0–3 Aldershot". BBC Sport. 7 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  11. ^ Aloia, Andrew (22 April 2017). "Lincoln City 2–1 Macclesfield Town". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  12. ^ Lofthouse, Amy (18 February 2017). "Burnley 0–1 Lincoln City". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
    Hunter, Andy (18 January 2017). "Lincoln City topple Burnley as Sean Raggett seals historic FA Cup shock". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  13. ^ Rose, Gary (11 March 2017). "Arsenal 5–0 Lincoln City". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  14. ^ Scott, Ged (8 April 2018). "Lincoln City 1–0 Shrewsbury Town". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  15. ^ Pilnick, Brent (17 May 2018). "Exeter City 3–1 Lincoln City". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2018.
  16. ^ Freeman, Jay (30 May 2021). "League One play-off final – Blackpool 2–1 Lincoln City". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 30 May 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.