All you need to know ahead of Sincil Bank trip
WHERE? Lincoln, the county town and administrative hub of Lincolnshire of course. A lovely city and well worth a day trip even if there’s no football on. The football club play their home games at the all-seated Sincil Bank stadium.
HOW DO I GET THERE? With difficulty. There are various options open to intrepid travellers. A direct route up the A1 is 119 miles as the crow flies, whilst it’s 121 miles if you travel up the M1, come off at the A46 junction towards Braunstone, Frith and Kirby Muxtoe before following the A46 easterly. Or, keeping it simple, let the sat nav be your guide. The postcode for Sincil Bank is LN5 8LD.
REMEMBER, REMEMBER. Pretty important point this, so don’t forget: it’s a 1pm kick-off at Sincil Bank, at the request of Lincolnshire Police, so make sure you set those alarms two hours earlier!
DON'T FORGET. The game is also all-ticket. Tickets must be purchased from the Luton Town ticket office. Click here for more details.
TRAIN, PLANE OR AUTOMOBILE. The Bobbers Travel Club will, as ever, be making the trip to Sincil Bank. It’s £20 for adults and £17 for concessions. To book your place call 01234 856542. Meanwhile, if you want to take the train, Lincoln central is a 15-minute walk from the ground.
TOURIST TRAIL. If you like, you can forget the football. The earliest origins of Lincoln can be traced to the remains of the Iron Age (thanks Wikipedia). The castle and cathedral draw thousands of visitors each year whilst the university also has a fine reputation.
IMPISH BEHAVIOUR. The Imps – as they are known (why? Because there’s an imp carving the cathedral – there’s the link) – have played their games at Sincil Bank since 1895. In August 2012 this year the club renamed the stadium as the 12th Man Sincil Bank Stadium.
FAMOUS FACES. There are not many grounds in the Conference that can say they’ve had the Queen, the Who and Westlife visit but it’s true of Sincil Bank. Her Majesty paid a visit in 1958; a rock concert in 1966 saw the Who in town; whilst in 2006 Westlife pulled a crowd of 13,000.
MAD ABOUT TOWN. The Hatters will be looking to improve what is an already an excellent record at Sincil Bank. The Hatters may have lost on their first three visits to the Lincolnshire venue between 1887 and 1900 but since have only lost once in the next 15 trips. That defeat was particularly painful. An 8-1 thrashing in December 1966. What made it all the worse was that Lincoln were bottom of the old Fourth Division at the time and the Hatters were directly above them in the table. It’s a story my dad never tires of telling me. Let’s hope there’s no repeat performance next weekend. Jinx.
LAST VISIT. The Town triumphed at Sincil Bank last season with a gritty 2-1 win in early October thanks to an own goal from keeper Paul Farman and a trademark header from Jon Shaw. That was the Hatters’ fifth win in seven away games at the time. The Town, however, failed to back that win up in their next match by losing 3-2 at home to Braintree.
HOW THEY DOING? Lincoln haven’t been in great form of late. The Imps were beaten at home to rivals Grimsby and then were thrashed 5-1 at Halifax. They stopped the rot on New Year’s Day with a 1-1 draw at Grimsby. In fact Gary Simpson’s side have only won three times in their last 17 matches in the Skrill Premier, with those wins coming over Southport – twice – and Hyde.
PATCHED UP. Lincoln are down to the bare bones and have four players suspended for Saturday’s game. Bohan Dixon, Ben Tomlinson, Jake Sheridan and influential midfielder Alan Power are all missing. Simpson, did however strength his ranks with the loan signings of Cambridge duo Sam Delano-Yorke and Mitch Austin on Thursday.
TOWN TEAM NEWS. No fresh injury worries for the Hatters. It is likely to be the same squad that beat Barnet on New Year's Day.
LIVE & DIRECT. We’ll have all the news as it happens from Kenilworth Road. Pre-match build-up, team news, live text and audio commentary, a report, reaction, photographs and interviews. Remember to keep it lutontown.co.uk, Hatters Player and check out our ever-growing Facebook and Twitter feeds. And keep an eye on our Instagram, Vine and YouTube accounts too for good measure #COYH.