Lincoln 1-3 Portsmouth as Sincil Bank hosts Championship football again after 65 years
Lincoln City lost 3-1 to Portsmouth at Sincil Bank on Saturday as the club made its first appearance in the second tier since 1961. The match, marking their return to the Championship, drew a crowd of 10,545, the club’s biggest attendance at Sincil Bank in more than 40 years.
Sincil Bank sits beneath the city’s cathedral and the return of second-tier football rekindled a rare civic occasion; Yuri Gagarin had only just returned from space when Lincoln last hosted this level, a 2-0 win over Leyton Orient in 1961. The Imps reached the Championship after winning League One last season with more than 100 points, a rise that has reshaped both the club and the stadium.
Despite the defeat, the mood among supporters remained largely upbeat and many fans stayed until the end, gathering afterwards in the new fan village. Portsmouth inflicted a second consecutive defeat on the hosts to start the season, and Ebou Adams’s strike in the 69th minute secured Portsmouth’s first win of the campaign.
Lincoln might have celebrated had Ben House converted an early chance, but Portsmouth took control when Ryan Kavuma-McQueen and Adrian Segecic struck to make it 2-0. Reeco Hackett’s penalty before the interval reduced the deficit and offered hope for the hosts, but Adams’s later goal put the result beyond doubt.
Off the field, the club has invested £10m over the summer on stadium improvements including a new fan village, a big screen and upgrades to the stands, which were all-but sold out for the return to the second tier. There has also been a change in the dugout: Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw have taken over jointly from Michael Skubala, while matchday traditions such as the air raid siren remain and the team continue to set up in a traditional 4-4-2.
“It’s been an amazing day for the club,” Shaw said. “The atmosphere was fantastic at the start of the game and it all aligned lovely until the goal. “People have waited a long time to have a Championship football match here and I desperately hope we can have some good results here. But the ball moves around a bit quicker at this level, the quality increases so we’ve got to be a bit more alive to certain situations.”
The club’s recent trajectory is used as an example within the article of an alternative route to success in the EFL, noting Lincoln’s climb from non-league to the Championship in 10 years and arguing that aggressive overspending is not the only path. The renovated Stacey West Stand bears the names of two fans who died in the Bradford fire disaster of 1985, family zones were packed for the afternoon and the piece recalls that Lincoln were not expected to win League Two in 2019 or to lift last season’s League One title with a mid-table budget in a division that included Cardiff, Luton and Bolton.
Given how far they have come, it will take more than two defeats to steer this club off course; they may not beat the odds this time, but with the spirit of togetherness behind them they will give it a thoroughly good go.