Credit Graham Burrell
Our promotion to the Championship might seem to be the stuff of dreams, but if we were to achieve another promotion, it wouldn’t just be headline news around the country, but the world.
Even getting into the Championship feels a million miles away from the bright lights and VAR of the Premier League, but in truth, we’re one good season away from the best division in the world. We might be a lot of work, investment and luck away, but it is just one good season.
Nobody is saying it’s going to happen, but the Imps’ Strategic Advisor, Landon Donovan, capped 157 times by the USMNT, was pretty emphatic when asked on GOALS’ The Rondo podcast whether Lincoln City could ever be a Premier League team.
“Sure, why not? Why not? I mean, you need the investment in the Championship, for sure,” said Landon, in an interview I’d deem as a must-watch for City supporters.
Of course, nobody is imagining we’re going to be challenging in our first season, and the immediate aim will be to avoid dropping into the bottom three in our first season. However, while that has to be the goal, we proved when we got into League One that consolidation is a great thing, and gives you a solid base for more.
We also need a solid base of investment, and that is also something on Landon’s radar for the Imps.
“I think the immediate term future is to stay in the Championship and become a staple in the Championship, the way Lincoln City has been in League One. Then you can start dreaming, right?
“And crazy things happen, things are possible. You make the right signings like this year, and you have a year like this year, you end up in the Premier League.”
It is typical of a football fan to be looking even further up so soon after a success, and we should absolutely drink this in, but promotion is never ‘happily ever after’. There is always an after, and ours is a spot in the 10th-best league in the world, as ranked by Opta. In just nine seasons, we have gone from the league ranked 194th to 10th.
Why not from the 10th to the 1st in the same timeframe? Anything is possible.
It’s advised that you give the interview with Landon a watch. He doesn’t need me to wax lyrical about him; he’s got a host of awards and accolades far greater than a Lincoln City site could lavish, but he speaks with real clarity and honesty about the Imps, and it’s really good to listen to.