Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Ben House obliged against Northampton Town. 1‑0 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Lincoln City.
Sonny Bradley was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Lincoln City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Millenic Alli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Reeco Hackett was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Millenic Alli falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The deal that would have taken Jamie Pardington to Stevenage has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Lincoln City with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lincoln City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sonny Bradley, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Lincoln City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ivan Varfolomeev is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lincoln City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Lincoln City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jack Moylan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Pharrell Brown and Lincoln City agree another 5 years.
The offer from Sheffield United for Sonny Bradley was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Lincoln City, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lincoln City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at Lincoln City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Adam Reach is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The phone has started ringing about Sonny Bradley again, and this time the name on the line is Sheffield United. Lincoln City are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lincoln City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Adam Jackson, and the manager let it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
5 new faces, and Lincoln City are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
Supporters make their feelings known about Sonny Bradley
The speculation has reached the stands, and the stands have answered. Lincoln City would like this settled before it becomes the only thing anybody asks about.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Lincoln City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Lincoln City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tendayi Darikwa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
He is 14, and nobody at Lincoln City signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” James Collins and Lincoln City agree another 2 years.
Sonny Bradley was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.