Position: striker.

Lincoln City career: 4+(1) appearances in February 2001.

Previous clubs: Halifax, Bolton, Lincoln City, Bradford City and Gainsborough Trinity.

Gareth Grant, who was an England Under-21 International at the time, was a surprise loan signing for Lincoln City FC in February 2001.

Quick and skilful, he made an immediate impact at Lincoln with many supporters wishing that he would sign permanently. That seemed very optimistic at the time but a year later, Bradford unexpectedly released him due to financial reasons.

Grant rejoined Lincoln City on trial but financial reasons, this time at Lincoln, prevented him from signing permanently. Instead, he joined Gainsborough Trinity where, not surprising for a player of his ability, he became a regular goal scorer as well as a fans' favourite.

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Position: left midfield.

Lincoln City career: 23+(18) appearances, scoring 1 goal between July 2001 - May 2003.

Previous clubs: West Bromwich Albion, Grimsby Town and Lincoln City.

Current club: Stamford.

One certain thing about Alan Buckley's appointment as Lincoln City manager was that his son Adam would also join. However, there was a problem as Adam had two years of his Grimsby Town contract remaining and Lincoln City FC had no money to buy new players.

Suddenly in late July 2001, we were told that Grimsby had decided to cancel Adam's contract meaning that they would have to pay up on his remaining two years' wages. Adam was then a free agent and able to sign for Lincoln City on a free transfer. Amazing how conveniently these things work out!

Adam arrived at Lincoln with his father saying that he had been unfairly picked on at both West Bromwich Albion and Grimsby, simply because he was the manager's son. Both sets of supporters disagreed and said it was because he was not suitable for the first team. Happily, Buckley Sr said that Adam would not be singled out at Sincil Bank because Lincoln's fans are not like that. That was an incorrect prediction, as a minority immediately booed him every time he went near the ball.

He began his career at West Bromwich Albion as a trainee; the manager who gave Adam his big break was of course Alan Buckley. Buckley Sr was quickly re-appointed as Grimsby Town boss after he left West Brom. Soon afterwards, Adam followed his father to Grimsby where he made a handful of appearances until once again, his father was sacked. Adam was relegated to the reserves, where it seemed that he would see out the remaining two years of his contract - that was until Grimsby conveniently decided to cancel his contract.

Buckley Sr left Lincoln City at the end of the 2001/02 season; afterwards, Adam hardly appeared in the first team again. He was released in May 2003, just weeks after serious off-the-field allegations had been made about him. After leaving Lincoln City, Adam continues to drift around the non-league clubs of Lincolnshire.

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Position: striker.

Lincoln City career: 9+(12) appearances, scoring 1 goal between November 2002 and May 2004.

Previous clubs: Barnsley, Lincoln City and Bradford Park Avenue.

Allen Pearce came to England in December 1999 to join Barnsley on a three year scholarship. During the 2001/02 season, he featured in several of Barnsley's reserves fixtures and Barnsley originally had high hopes of Pearce but he had still to make his Football League debut when he joined Lincoln City in November 2002.

Imps' manager Keith Alexander had been trailing Pearce since August 2002 and had made previous enquiries about a permanent deal. However, they agreed to release Pearce in October 2002 following their decline into administration, just two months short of his scholarship's expiry date.

Pearce, despite the optimism of a fresh start, struggled to break into Lincoln City's first team squad. Lincoln City's supporters openly questioned why Pearce, a former Under-17 New Zealand International, was failing to make a first team appearance despite scoring regularly in the reserves and pre-season friendlies.

Thankfully for Pearce, his lack of first team football did not harm his international opportunities as he was called-up to New Zealand's Under-23 squad in May 2003. However, following another season on the fringe of Lincoln City's first team, Pearce was released in May 2004. He subsequently joined non-league Bradford Park Avenue.

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