History Of Sincil Bank
An Oasis Of Pleasure

The Stacey-West Stand was opened in August 1991 whilst theSouth Park Stand opened in August 1992. Reconstruction of Sincil Bank was complete in March 1995 with a new all-seater stand(right) replacing the open terracing. At the time separate redevelopment of private land outside the ground saw bungalows and flats built on land where an embanked railway line stood. The removal of the built-up railway line has deprived many children and some adults from a free restricted view of a match.

Since John O'Gaunts hosted one of the earliest floodlit matches you would expect Sincil Bank to have been one of the first grounds to install floodlights, however this was the not the case. The locals had to wait until the 31st January 1962 to see their first floodlit match as Lincoln entertained Barnsley under the new lights, purchased from donations by the Lincoln City Supporters Association. These original floodlights are to my knowledge still in use at Spalding United's Athletic Ground. Like all modern football grounds the system of the four cornered floodlights have long since been abandoned in favour of spotlights attached to the individual stands.

Current capacity at the Bank is 10,800 though from the 1999/2000 season the last remaining standing area is to be converted in to seats making Sincil bank an all-seater stadium. 10,800 is lot less than the record attendance of 23,196 people who packed Sincil Bank in November 1967 to watch Derby in a League Cup 4th Round Reply. Crowds now average 3,000 - 3,500 people but in early 1980's during Colin Murphy's era crowds averaged 12,000 plus.

Sincil Bank officially holds the record for the lowest ever attendance in a first-class match, precisely zero. During WWII Lincoln's factories were vital in the production of ammunition and armouries so when Bradford City were scheduled to face Norwich City in an FA Cup 2nd Round Reply at Sincil Bank the Government became worried that the Lincoln workers would skip their jobs to watch the game. Therefore the Government ordered Sincil Bank to be closed to the public to stop workers from being tempted to skip work, hence the official attendance of zero, though around 200 people were unofficially present.

Following the cash crisis in the 1982/83 season the then directors of Lincoln City fearing the club's demise sold Sincil Bank to Lincoln City Council £225,000 and promptly leased the ground back from the council. The lease was for an initial period of 25 years but this has since been increased to 125 years thus saving the club from extinction and removing any threat of being evicted in favour of a supermarket. However in March 2000 John Reames paid Lincoln City Council £175,000 to repurchase the title deeds allowing the club to use the ground as collateral to raise much needed finance. Only time will tell if this was a good idea !

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