theBlackPrince

Season 8 Preview - Vanarama National League North Our third season the VNN and we just scraped into the play-off's last season only to lose at the first hurdle. With the main bulk of the team staying the same, including keeping Myles Piercewright (L) here for another few seasons, hopes are high to push on and get back to the play-offs once more. On paper, it looks like we are still lagging behind with many players still on the cusp of Regional Football to National League North standards and the struggle to develop our own players (due to terrible facilities) with just 2 from our youth academy in the first team squad. Are we able to play football the way we want this season and challenge at the top? Or are we still a year or two away from that? With wages increasing (£4,500 to £5,800 per week) to keep players and new blood from the academy not improving the team, it may be another season of frustration for the Yellowbellies!

Season 7 - 2028/29 Vanarama National North Season Update We stuttered a little bit at the end but we made it into the play-offs, just to be beaten away from home to a good Scarborough Athletic side. We would go ahead 2 times in the game with Freddie Draper (L) doing what we wanted him to do, but we shipped in many at the back and that was that. Not too disappointed as I don't think we could have won promotion this season with the teams left to face. We would however have the chance to offer Myles Piercewright (L) a new deal, on a higher wage than we wanted but we had to get him signed up along with Draper deciding to stay with us. Our wage bill is now much larger. We would end the season in a Transfer Embargo as the current chairman looks to step aside. We have had no news who might be looking to take over but that puts us in a disadvantage with signing new players who will be out of contract at the end of the season. I cannot see a huge influx of money coming in but please let us upgrade some facilities whoever it is taking over. Squad Stats We would once again be blessed with Charlie Burden-Whittleton (L) scoring 34 goals and Myles Piercewright (L) chipping in with another 29. The most complete performance would be from our own Matthew Holmes 24 who lead the team with 17 assists and chipped in with 12 goals. Stopping so many going in the other end will be the key for a promotion push next year! Overall Career Progression 7 seasons gone with 2 promotions and 1 cup win to show so far. A third season in the VNN and hopefully another play-off position will be ours.

Season 7 - 2028/29 Vanarama National North Update - Updated Table and Huge Signing With 8 games to go we find ourselves in 6th place on 65 points, currently 5 points ahead of Brackley Town who are in 8th. Darlington if they win would move to 61 points also, giving us just a 4 point cushion. Catching anyone above us but York will be impossible so just trying to secure a play-off place would be huge at this point and for the team. The update comes about as star striker Myles Piercewright (L) after 5 seasons as a Yellowbelly, will be looking at other options at the end of his contract. The only possible way to keep him may be a promotion and bring in stronger players. We saved some money when keeper Patrick Boyes (GT) was not happy playing second string and we sold him for £1,000 to Milton Keynes, where he has sat on the bench, no surprises there. Always searching for players without a club who may want to join the fight at the end of the season was ex-Lincoln City player, Freddie Drapper (L). His wage was more than we could afford but with some large scoring incentives, we managed to secure his services for the end of the season in a push for promotion ahead of some much larger teams. A rather great signing for the club as he has played as high as the Championship and scored foals from the National League to Championship. With just a deal to the end of the season, we will not put ourselves in a bad position money wise if it does not work out!

2029 Lincolnshire FC Youth Intake We have some more international Interest this year with a Brazilian and a Grenadian player, along with 10 from Lincolnshire. As always, we have several who are high potential but can we develop them is always the question, and the answer so far has been no with just 2 youth academy players in the first team and just 1 of them starting. Leon Daniel 29e and Dave Hemsley 29e both look to be close to the starting line-up already, so hopefully in the next couple of season's we may be able to bring them along and get them into the first team. We will sign everyone up on youth contracts to keep the under 18's full and see if we can develop some.

Season 7 - 2028/29 Vanarama National North Mid Season Review We have had one great cup run which has seen the finances take a jump forward, but not enough for the board to improve facilities. We managed to secure home games for each round and getting into the main draw, we secured a huge victory over League Two Cambridge United Infront of a full crowd. A second League Two side was drawn in Colchester United and once again infront of a capacity crowd, we secured a draw at home to force the away leg in which we held on but would lose to a late goal. A brave effort and a deep cup run which really has helped money into the club. In the League we have remained in that pretty steady 8th to 12 position with a few weeks in the play-off spots. But the league is tough and at this point it looks like anyone in the top 10 may have a chance for the play-off places. Attendances are down from last year which is a surprise, but hopefully we can pick them up as we push on to play-off spot (hopefully) in the second half of the season.

Season 7 - 2028/29 Vanarama National North Preview With a 13th place finish last season, pressure was ramped up to try and finish in or around the play-off places. We saw some new faces come in to try and strengthen the team as we are still struggling to bring our youth players into the first team with just Alex Bremner 27e and Matthew Holmes 24 making the grade so far. Holmes is a regular starter but Bremner will probably struggle to make an impact this season with other players brought in. We now have 8 players who are graded out at this level which is up from 3 last year and more importantly, we have 10 players who look like they could continue the journey up another league or two. We have a genuine battle for the #1 jersey as new signing Josh Murtagh (SU) came in on a free transfer after his release from Scunthorpe United. He is not far off the pace of Patrick Boyes (GT) who is in his 5th season with the Yellowbellies, but commands a huge wage for her services. We will see if he can keep his spot and if not, will he be happy to ride the bench or look for more playing time elsewhere? Calum Mitchell (L) was a Liverpool academy player who moved to Rotherham but as yet, has no senior appearances. He looks to be the pick of the new defenders and will look to cement as starting spot with either of the on loan Ben Pike (SU) or Phil Hall (L). Jacob Cousins (SU) joins from Rushall Olympic and looks to have the left full back slot to himself at the minute. Aaron McCartney (BU) might just be the best player at the club and can play any one of 3 positions at a high level, his versatility may well be needed this season. Sisa Tuntulwana (GT) should be struggling at this level but he continues to play above his level, will this continue for another season? In midfield we have Ben Ashley (L) as probably the best player on paper, but everyone is at a similar level not far behind him. Steve Giddings (L) is another who looks like they could play at a higher level. The youthful Louie Milton (L) comes in from Chertsey and Pogiso Mokgothu (L) from Sheffield Wednesday and they will both be looking to mak an impact and break into the starting lineup. Matthew Holmes 24 will be a starter on the left but Jake Brown (L) will push him all season. It is the regular names up front, the goal scoring duo of Charlie Burden-Whittleton (L) and Myles Piercewright (L) who have 279 goals between them so far. We were struggling to hold onto Myles last year and it is not looking likely he will sign a new deal with us unless we get promoted. Finding a team to pay money for him has been tough so may be a season where we take the goals and he leaves at the end but with no future reward. Jack Peddle (L) comes in from Lincoln City and could be a direct replacement next season for Myles if he leaves.

Berwick Rangers - Scottish Season 1 Up to Scotland (well technically England) we go with a Berwick Rangers save. I started this save months ago and got half a season in before it fell on the back burner but now, have the time to commit to Berwick and make them the greatest English Scottish Team in the Nation! With a squad of 21 players including 8 youth players, we have no issues getting a team out and Lewis Allan, who I've used before in previous Berwick saves is a goal scoring machine at this level! Onwards and upwards for today, we march north to Scotland! We are expected to head straight back down and I will keep it fairly simple with a 4-4-2 formation as I expect to ship goals in both ends, so making sure we can keep scoring more will be key. Securing all senior players on longer term deals will be a first priority, making sure we have a playing squad for a few years until youth academy players can make an impact!

Lincolnshire FC - The story so far This is probably as much for me as everyone else to remind me of the team! 6 season, 2 promotions with an Integero Cup victory is where we find ourselves currently. Money is stable but our facilities are now not at the standard they need to be to move the club on. A second season in the Vanarama National League North awaits us. Sisa Tuntulwana (GT) leads all with 252 appearances with striker Charlie Whittleton (L) on top with 164 goals. Our own academy prospect Matthew Holmes 24 leads all with 40 assists. He is also the only academy player to feature in any of the top lists and features in all 3, some achievement for the young winger!

Season 6 - 2027/28 Vanarama National North Season Review I'll be totally honest, I finished this season in early March and haven't really got on the laptop much since then as the other half has been playing Harry Potter non stop since. The season was a fairly stable one where we ended up safe in out first season in the Vanarama National League North Division. Surviving was the aim and we managed that, but the finances are not much healthier to improving the training facilities, which we desperately need to do may still have to wait a while. Attendances are up to over the 1,000 mark per game which is great and puts us in a strong place to hopefully start gaining some more gate money in the near future if we can continue to grow each season. We saw a small squad of just 20 players have any meaningful playing time. Once again it was the duo of Myles Piercewright (L) and Charlie Burden-Whittleton (L) scored 51 goals between them, with no-one else in double figures. The assist's were more spread out with Steve Giddings (L) and Josh Robertson (SU) on 9 with wing-back Sisa Tuntulwana (GT) chipping in with 8. Patrick Boyes (GT) in goal would share he highest average rating and would play the most minutes, which is to be expected as the squads highest earning player. The squad has proven that it is strong enough to survive in the league but can it be a promotion chasing side or do we need to go out and push the wage structure to secure some bigger signings?

Youth Intake - 2028 These are usually a time of joy and wonder each season but so far we have only had 2 players crack the first team consistently and that doesn't look to be changing anytime soon. The Under 21's are full of players brought in from other clubs and many players have great potential, we just cannot bring it out them with being part time and poor facilities. With that in mind, another year of players who may struggle to ever play first team football for us. The number of elite players are dropping once more and all the local Lincolnshire born players are now at the lower end of the scale.

Season 6 - 2027/28 Vanarama National North Mid-Season Review We haven't struggled as many suggested and we have some good wins under our belt but the top teams are far superior to us and we just have to keep picking up the points and stay away from the bottom teams this season. It seems a good gap to the bottom 4 but 13 points in the league is just one bad run and we are down there. Attendances are up over the 1,000 mark average from around 800 last year to go with the 100+ jump in season tickets. This has not seen an increase in overall finances as the wages have increased at the same time so we still seem miles away from improving facilities. We keep plugging away this year and start to build for the new season as we have some players who maybe are at the limit of their ability.

Season 6 2027/28 - Lincolnshire FC - Vanarama National League North We have made it to the VNN and now will really be tested with the young squad if we have what it takes to stay at this level and eventually look to keep moving up the Leagues. There was not a flurry of signings as we still are struggling to attract more seasoned players to the team as they just want bank breaking wages. We did pick up a reserve keeper on a non-contract in Tom Collins (SU) which is perfect. Josh Robertson (SU) joined on a permanent deal as a loan spell with us in the 2023/24 season. The season preview has us 22nd from the 24 teams which puts us as one of the favorite's for the drop. We may be able to pick up some more depth and quality from loan signings as the season kicks off, but for now, we rely mostly on last years team to keep us up. The 27/28 first team squad sits at just 22 players as we left several of our youth academy players in the under 21's as we look to loan them out to get game time. No major changes from last years squad which means they all have to step up once more at a higher level. Most of the squad grade out at Regional Premier Division level so we need the exposure at the next level to help bring their development along. Still is a disappointment that we only have a couple of our own youth players in the first squad as we just have failed to develop the players we have with the current facilities on offer. I would love to bring more into the 1st squad but they lack the ability and would be too risky for this season when survival is the only goal.

Season 5 - National Premier League Premier Division 2026/27 Champions We did it and in fine style, League and Cup double for our most successful season as a football club. The season started strong and continued all the way through and the chance taken on a couple of higher salaries really paid off, especially with keeper Patrick Boyes (GT). Thankfully he signed a 2 year deal and we will struggle to find anyone else of his level I feel. But we lost Billy Brooks (LC) to a large contract to play in Ireland as he had no interest in re-signing for us but the part he played in Lincolnshire FC gaining promotion to the Vanarama National North/South cannot be under-estimated. Our Integro Cup success was not just a pleasing result but a high quality game (second half) in which we played some of our best football to erase the terrible first half. We have the luxury now to evaluate all players and see who can continue on the journey with us and who may have to leave due to talent levels or demanding wages/playing time above their stations. 5 seasons, 2 promotions and 1 cup success is a wonderful return to date. We have advanced on and off the field but cannot make the finances to increase the training and youth facilities at this stage which will be needed down the road to improve the players coming into the club and our youth players moving on to first team football. Patrick Boyes (GT) played in 60 games, every single game of the season. It would be an incredible year for Charlie Burden-Whittleton (L) who scored 56 goals in 52 games with a +/- on the xG at +21.11!! Myles Piercewright (L) chipped in with another 31 which in another season would be raved about much more than it is. Steve Giddings (L) came into the squad in the newly used Shadow Striker role for the AMC and he would have a double-double, 13 goals and 13 assists. He would share the assists title with Matthew Holmes 24 but Holmes 24 played more games and minutes to get them. Edwin Essel (L), the almost forgotten striker came off the bench for 25 of his 39 appearances and still scored 17 goals on the season which was a huge return and minute for minute, better than Myles Piercewright (L). Lewis Norvock (L) still holds the most appearances for the Yellowbellies with 213 and he ended the season still starting games and impressing despite their being better options on paper. He is at the stage where his first team opportunities may be limited moving forward but hopefully we can come to an arrangement to keep him and his experience for the younger players. Sisa Tuntulwana (GT) only a few appearances behind Lewis now and looks set to continue starting as the right wing back. Another 7 assists to his name on the season, the highest from a defensive player. We chucked Alex Bremner 27e in the mix at the end of the season despite being under 16 and he played well with a 7.1 average rating and scored his first goal for the team as well. Lee Male (L) still struggles to make an impact with a 40 appearances but just a 6.6 average rating and just 3 assists to his name. At the huge wage he will need to drop this to continue to stay in the team.

2026/27 Integro League Cup Final An away trip for our first ever cup final on the back of a League winning season would give us the chance of doing the double. Curzon Ashton would have the best of the first half and dominated from the 5th minute onwards and would go ahead after a stunning long range strike from Luke Young, his first goal of the season. Lincolnshire FC were not at the races and didn't register a shot on target heading into the half 0-1 down and looking well off the pace. The second half was something different and a stunning display of non-league football. It was a brave move taking Myles Piercewright (L) off early in the second half but Edwin Essel (L) was inspired and his work rate created the first goal. Chasing down the ball he would lay the pass off to Matthew Holmes 24 to play a stunning ball through to Jake Brown (L) who pull his defender wide. He squared the ball across the box for a 6 yard tap-in from Charlie Burden-Whittleton (L) to equalise. Less than 5 minutes had gone before Lincolnshire FC would take the lead. Charlie Burden-Whittledon (L) turned provider with a delicious header back into the box, defenders nowhere near Edwin Essel (L) who powered from from close range. The game would head into the 80th minute and Lincolnshire FC were looking to take the lead to the end of the game but it was not to be as a slick move down the right hand side saw the ball across the box for Emmanuel Ilesamni to slot home and looked to prolonge the game. Yellowbellies were straight back on the attack, a deep ball into the box from Aaron McCartney (BU) found Edwin Essel (L) who pulled two defenders out to him, squaring the ball across the 6 yard box to Charlie Burden-Whittledon (L) to slot home a remarkable 56th goal of the season. Edwin Essel (L) would put the ball in the back of the next twice more but he would stray off-side both times but it killed time and Lincolnshire FC had held on. A cracking second half and the Yellowbellies had done the double. What a season for the players and the fans this was.

Semi Final's Split - Away Day Draw for Final We went 50% in our semi finals and that's about how we saw it playing out before hand. Scunthorpe United were too good for us on the day but they only managed to put one past us so was in the game until the final whistle which will make Vakama2619 happy also! They could be doing their own double with league title and cup victory! We won easily in the Integro League Cup Semi-Final despite an early bath for Sisa Tuntulwana (GT) just before the half. We had not needed to worry as Charlie Burden-Whittleton (L) would bang in a hat-trick and go over 50 goals in the season to secure a final vs Curzon Ashton who won their game 3-1. It's only gone and been an away game on the luck of the draw, that is disappointing. They have a 2-1 advantage when playing at their place so this makes it tougher than a neutral venue but we want the double....

National Premier League Premier Division - 2026/27 Champions The first trophy for the Lincolnshire FC team comes in Season 5 (Correction as I had said 6) after winning promotion to the National League North/South. A dream season which started with a bang and has the title wrapped up with 4 games to spare and a 100 point total on the table, but unlikely. With 2 cups still in the running all focus moves to these and putting together/keeping the team together for the next season. We cannot celebrate for long with the 2 cups games up next and we fight to do at least a double this season. Full season review at the end of the year and a shame we had to win it on the road, but we will get all rock and roll on the coach back to the stadium to celebrate with the fans. #UpTheYellowbellies

Youth Intake - Class of 2027 I got that caught up in cup fever I forgot about the youth intake but looks like we have a cracking young Centre-Back in Alex Bremner 27e who looks like he could play first team football already. We have a third promising keeper in Ashley Smith 27e. We are starting to see once more less elite talents and those local players are starting to lack the long term potential that may be required to play higher up the levels. If they will sign £5 youth deals we will keep as many as we can as our scouting is not world class. We seem to lack size and determination/personality in the intakes, but with only Lincolnshire based staff, finding a new Head of Youth Development may also prove tricky. We have struggled to improve players enough to make it into the first team at this stage despite much promise. At this point if we can move 1 or 2 players up a season that will be a result.

Isuzu Trophy - Quarter Final It was not a classic and we had our spell of domination at the end of the first half as we matched them fairly well in the game. We scored against the run of play before going to a more defensive formation which meant we absorbed more pressure and shots at the end of the game, but nothing of note to trouble the keeper. Just the one goal sealed the game and we can hold our heads held high to come away with the victory and now we face a local Lincolnshire team, Scunthorpe United. It would have made a cracking final this but least Lincolnshire will be represented in the final. The home tie really helps as we play better at home and already have several scalps from the competition. Scunthorpe United are run-away leaders in the Vanarama National League so won't need to rest players, they should bet too much for us but we keep dreaming!

Season 6 - December 26 to March 27 Update When you are flying high at the top of the league and everyone is chanting your name, you have to push your luck with the board. They still won't budge on training facilities which we really need to start developing players but we got a double-dip for both youth recruitment and junior coaching. Not sure the recruitment will help for this year or even next, but hopefully this will help improve the players coming in each year as we have players with high potential, we just cant get them there. We can't even get them into the first team.... The gamble to increase wages has, at this point, paid off. Probably helps that we are top but we have seen a large increase in home attendance. The last two games almost broke the 900 marker and averaging 768 compared to 629 last season. We may go over the 800 average if attendances stay the same. At the end of November we had a 5 point lead and now a 9 point lead but that does not tell the full story. Against Marske we were 0-1 down heading into the final minute when we scored 2 goals to win the game. Against Marine we scored in the 92nd minute to earn a draw and once again Farsey Celtic we were down in the 80th minute and scored 2 goals to win. Extra time goals have been the difference in a large gap or fighting within a few points of each other. With only one automatic slot, we need to not ease up the pressure until we have the title confirmed and cannot be caught. A few easy games would be nice with the cup games to go. Speaking of cup games, somehow we have beaten Vanarama National League Port Vale (They got a red card after 30 minutes which helped) and then demolished Dagenham and Redbridge who are currently 1st in the National League South in the Isuzu Trophy. It looks like D&R played a weakened team with the title race being close but we will take it. The Quarter Final of the Isuzu Trophy now has another National League Team in Bromley heading to the Yellowbelly Stadium in another game which we should have no chance but they are in a play-off spot in 4th and may again see players rested. It is the Integro League Cup in which we are pinning our hopes of our first Cup Trophy as we have a peach of a draw against Sunderland RCA who are in the League below. Both Buxton and Curzon Ashton are formidable opponents if we get to the final but we fancy ourselves against all 3 of these teams. This is after we have had to come through 3 penalty shoot-outs to get to this stage as we have been fairly poor in all of those games when they have all been at home! Hopefully we can seal up the league so we can rest players ready for all cup games and see if we can do a double this season....

Season 6 - 2026/27 November Update To say we carried on from our strong start is an understatement as we end November still sitting pretty at the top of the table. Marine AFC have been pushing us every step of the way and were just 3 points behind us, but we have managed to open the gap slightly after a solid 3 months with 11 wins from 15 games. The impressive part is 5 from 8 away from home which has been our issue the past few season's. Now is not the time to get complacent as we do always go on a bad run at some point when the goals dry up. With that in mind we bolster the ranks with Jake Brown (L) who we see as another AMC to give us options at that position. He has a promotion extension clause which works for both of us and limits the costs if we falter from here. Team Leaders so far What can you say when Charlie Burden-Whittledon (L) already has 34 goals (24+2 appearances) and leads the League with 28 goals, 7 more than the next best. This is 1.48 goals every 90 minutes in the league. He has been on fire and we have secured his name on a longer term contract. Myles Piercewright (L) had a slower start to the year but is now starting to find his shooting boots once more. New signing Steve Giddings (L) is proving a hit in the new AMC shadow striker role and adding a large number of goals. Matthew Holmes 24 playing in a new wide playmaker role has taken to this well and has the most assists on the season so far, which is pleasing and he could go on to beat the teams record. Michalis Ioannou (GT) has only started 13 games, on as a sub for 7 and he already has 6 assists, he is currently playing all over the midfield. Behind these we have many players on 4 assists which is showing a great team effort and that we are putting people into scoring opportunities from all over the pitch. Goals - Charlie Burden-Whittledon (L) -34 Myles Piercewright (L) - 16 Steve Giddings (L) - 9 Assists - Matthew Holmes 24 - 7 Michalis Ioannou (GT) - 6 Myles Piercewright (L) - 6 In the cup we had a triple header with Hitching Town and came out with a Win, Loss and Draw. They would knock us out of the FA Cup at the Third Qualifying Round but we would take revenge 4 days later as we sent them packing in the Isuzu Trophy Third Qualifying Round. We remain in two competitions and a have two games against teams in our division. If we gain promotion we may not get another chance at the Integro League Cup so we will be putting everything into that to take the title, including beating local Lincolnshire Rivals Grantham Town in the Fourth Round. All to play for at this point in what looks a busy December.

Promotion, Relegation and now looking to go back up again and should as they are battering all but 1 team in the National League. Could do with them to keep moving on up the Leagues for players mind you!

Don't jinx him now.......

Season 6 - Big Match Alert - Lincolnshire Derby - 1st vs 2nd In an all Lincolnshire Derby, Grantham Town would travel to The Yellowbelly Stadium in 2nd place, hoping to close the gap to 1st place. With just 1 loss so far and all points won at home, Lincolnshire FC were confident. Charlie Burden-Whittleton (L) would open the scoring after a prolonged period of pressure where Lincolnshire FC had 10 shots but it needed an error from their keeper to get ahead. Then in a moment of madness, Myles Piercewright (L) was sent off after 37 minutes for a lunging 2 footed tackle, the ref was not amused and a straight red. Lincolnshire FC survived until the half, leaving just 1 up front. It was all one way traffic an then as if the ref had money on the game, he sent Lewis Norvock (L) off with another straight red card, his one looked harsh but it didn't change the outcome. Lincolnshire FC down to 9 men and still 32 minutes + stoppages to go. In a rare attack, it would be Matthew Holmes 24 who would slot home from a hopeful Sisa Tuntulwana (GT) cross that was for a second time, fumbled by the keeper for an easy finish. Grantham Town would get one back and put the ball in the net a second time, luckily the player was about 3 yards off-side. Yellowbellies hold on for the victory in what might be a huge result later on in the season against a fellow title challengers.

Season 6 - 2026/27 - August Update I was not planning on doing an update so soon but it may be a long time before we start like this once more. 5 games, 5 wins, 17 goals and 4 clean sheets to go with that. Pretty much perfection as 2 of those games were against those in the top 5 currently. It is a long season and games at this point are Saturday, Tuesday and Saturday and then cups to add in. If we continue on this form, we may have to play a weakened team in cups and put everything on the line for promotion. Charlie Burden-Whittleton (L) leads all with 6 goals including one hat-trick (2 penalties). Sisa Tuntulwana (GT) is enjoy the freedom on the right side of the pitch with 3 assists and has almost doubled the next player in open play cross attempted in 90 minutes. and all the starting players are over 7.00 average rating. Patrick Boyes (GT) is proving that a top keeper at this level is vital as he leads in several categories at this stage of the season. It was a large loss for August, hopefully we can regain some of that back in September with a large number of fixtures to be played. We are also showing the tactic which we are using so far. The main focus was to get the best players on the pitch, which gives us a lob sided look with the right open for runs from the attacking wing back. We have less of a threat from the left wing back as we have a wide playmaker in front of them to create opportunities. We have not played with an AMC before but but adds another attacking minded player down the middle rather than out on the right wing. We are still changing the instructions to get what fits best for the team but for now, it is working well. We play more cautious when away from home.

Season 5 - Lincolnshire FC 2026/27 - Northern Premier League Premier Division Season Preview - 15 / 22 An off-season with a twist as we finally managed to attract a couple of players well above the rest of the team, finally. That does mean we had to stretch our wage bill which will really impact our finances if we do not have a good cup run and/or get more people through the gate each week. We would also smash the previous transfer record of £0 as we splashed out £1,000 to bring keeper Patrick Boyes (GT) back to The Yellowbellies! We have some youth keepers who will be fine in years to come but we need that proven shot stopped to help sure up our defense. His wages at £400 per week and £200 per clean sheet are steep, but might just help us in a push for the play-offs. We would also be able to secure the signing of talented central midfielder Billy Brooks (LC). The Irish player started his career with Lincoln City but with them heading to the Championship, he would find himself released. Another wage structure broken with £300 per week but a real focal point in the midfield to build around. We were able to use Boston United once more to find some more promising 17 year old's who had not made the grade in Steve Giddings (L) and Ben Ashley (L). Both look set to move into the first team and could play from day one. What to expect from this season? Hopefully we can fight for a top 5 spot to have a chance for promotion. With only 1 automatics place up for grabs, it really is a lottery after that point in the play-offs. 2026/27 Lincolnshire FC Squad I had to revert back to the stars to showcase this as the gulf in class from the top players, Patrick Boyes (GT), Aaron McCartney (BU) and Billy Brooks (LC) is huge. There is only one other player who grades out at over 3 stars compared to them which is Myles Piercewright (L). We still have plenty of players with great potential, those who could improve a lot, but development at this level seems to be slow unless we find those high developing players who train well. Some of the key things to pick out from below. Aleix Monteagudo 25e, the huge 198cm tall keeper looks like he is almost playing at this full potential which is a real, real shame. I had high hopes for his long term future. Lee Male (L) commands a high wage so we need to see a much improved season from him to make sure of another contract. Lewis Norvock (L) is the leader of the team but he may struggle to see playing time this year. However we need his leadership ability despite his wages. Aaron McCartney (BU) is by far the best defender on the team, we need to secure him long term. He may be unhappy and will not sign a new deal but Aaron Braithwaite (L) continues to stay at the club. Billy Brooks (LC) is the heartbeat of the midfield, we need to build around him and his strengths. Steve Giddings (L) is mainly an AMC, a role we have not used until now. We lack depth for wide players currently, but much stronger in the middle. We may need to move away from a 2 winger system to bring more bodies in the middle. Saying that, we will want to see Matthew Holmes 24 start and contribute from the left wing. He has developed well and want that to continue. Edwin Essel (L) is the unlucky man to not be a starter, but he takes is opportunities when they arise and is great cover for injuries. Average age for the team is still only 20 and 8 of the squad could play at a higher level if they develop as they can.