Wilko Turned Down City!

18th September 2006

First, The Forgotten Imp fails to report any news for a week due to ill health. Now, it is reporting news from June 1977!!! However, this is a news story that is not widely known concerning Howard Wilkinson and Lincoln City FC.

At the time, Wilkinson was in charge of then non-league Boston United, while Lincoln City were searching for a new manager following Graham Taylor's departure to Watford.

According to Howard Wilkinson's autobiography, called "Managing To Succeed - My Life In Football", Wilkinson was given the chance to succeed Taylor as Lincoln City manager.

On page 80, Wilkinson writes: "I attended the interview at Lincoln on a Monday evening and it dragged on long into the night. I eventually arrived home in the early hours only to be awoken a few hours later by a telephone call from the Lincoln Chairman, Mr. Heanage Dove. He said he was offering me the job having spent all night discussing the situation with his wife, who was a great believer in astrology. Given the impression that I made at the interview and his wife's astrological predictions,, based on the data available to her, he expressed, with the certainty of a zealot, that my appointment was the right move for Lincoln."

Unfortunately, Wilkinson rejected the position; he would later carve out a successful managerial career in the Football League including winning the League Title with Leeds United. Meanwhile, Taylor's departure would spark a rapid decline that lasted four years.

Please click the links to view cheap merchandise for Leeds United or Lincoln City football club.