Here to help

Yesterday (Saturday 18th) saw a full house at Sincil Bank and what a magnificent sight it was. In a predominantly rural county, gatherings of nearly 10,000 people are a relative rarity and yet here in our fair city we are getting close to 9000 or more every other week. There will be people reading this who probably have an interest in football (even if only a small one) but for whatever reason they are simply unable or perhaps just not motivated enough to make it to games. In 2017 and although not completely eradicated, problems at football are increasingly rare. For 99.9% of people attending, men women and families, games at Lincoln City are for good, decent, honest folk. If you are thinking about it but are unsure in attending a game just message or email us we are here to help and support you along with a huge family of Imps.

In considering the amazing scenes on Saturday it’s fantastic to see people from every imaginable background come together as one; the phrase ‘We are all imps aren’t we!’ springs to mind! The community of Lincoln City is something to celebrate as it grows and evolves for the benefit of the club. When L.I.S.A was formed back in March it looked to encourage more women to games, not to change what was there, just to add to it. It was not done on the basis that women were any more or less deserving but because quite simply it was clear that the diversity of our thriving city wasn’t being properly reflected in our stadium. Some people may think that this isn’t an issue and they are right, it is not an issue, it is actually an opportunity and the club are clearly embracing it.

The concept of L.I.S.A isn’t complicated, it is as simple as bringing people together, not just women but also men and families and it even goes beyond that. One lady recently wrote how her son who is disabled had found enjoyment and enhanced support for the Imps in a safe and friendly environment through L.I.S.A and its events, and he isn’t the only one. When you consider why we do it and why we give up our time the reasons are clear, just this one example makes it incredibly worthwhile. Diversity is not something to be wary of, it doesn’t take away from the great efforts of others that have done good things for many years. The invention of L.I.S.A was to encourage ladies but of course in turn this encourages families. It encourages women bringing other women, women bringing men, men bringing women and a wonderful bonus of now becoming a place to enhance the experience of and encourage fans with disabilities.

It is a difficult path to walk in trying to make our beautiful game more inclusive. There are many examples of groups for fan minorities that are doing great but often difficult work in tackling historic and engrained prejudices. In that context we have been extremely fortunate, not without challenges as we educate our intentions, but we have been welcomed by most, especially by the club. We are now two weeks or so away from the bonkers notion that we are attending a national football awards ceremony held by the FSF in London. We are incredibly proud of the women and men of Lincolnshire and beyond who have helped and supported us. In ‘Stuart Little’ style we head for the capital from sleepy Lincolnshire with no expectation other than to make new friends and be educated further.

In our regular L.I.S.A and day job juggling act we are busy in preparing for a joint Junior Imps / L.I.S.A event for Christmas and a Spring L.I.S.A Night event is already in the planning, more news when we have it. There are other things on the horizon working with the club and other organisations that are on the drawing board but are incredibly exciting, just too early and in planning for us to give firm details yet. In signing off, just to say thank you as always for your support. Just like Lincoln City FC, it means everything to us.