The Former Players' Association guests for Saturday’s home Sky Bet League One game against Leyton Orient are host Matt Carmichael, with Paul Ward, Dean West, Tony Cunningham, Ron Harbertson and Trevor Swinburne.
Paul Ward
Paul Ward was a midfield player who appeared for both Leyton Orient and the Imps in a career which saw him play in more than 300 senior games.
He was a youngster with Chelsea before making his Football League debut following a move to Middlesbrough.
He later made over 100 appearances for Darlington before joining Leyton Orient for the 1988-89 season. He helped Orient to promotion via the play-offs and was also selected in the PFA Fourth Division Team of the Year.
Paul moved on to Scunthorpe before signing for City in March 1991. He made 45 league and cup appearances for the Imps before his career was cut short by injury.
Lincoln City record:
Debut: vs Torquay United, home 30 March 1991
Football League: 38 appearances plus 1 as substitute
FA Cup: 1 appearance
Football League Cup: 3 appearances, 1 goal
Other: 2 appearances
Dean West
Dean West made his debut for City in the final game of the 1990-91 season while still a trainee and scored in a 6-2 home win over Carlisle.
Soon afterwards he signed a professional contract and quickly established himself in the first team appearing at right back and in midfield.
Dean moved to Bury in September 1995 and later played for Burnley, completing over 100 first team appearances for both Lancashire clubs as well as for the Imps.
He briefly returned to City as the start of 2004-05 season and later played clubs including Boston United and King’s Lynn.
Lincoln City record:
Debut: vs Carlisle United, home 11 May 1991
Football League: 97 appearances, plus 26 as substitute, 20 goals
FA Cup: 6 appearances, 1 goal
Football League Cup: 11 appearances, 1 goal
Other: 5 appearances plus 2 as substitute, 1 goal
Tony Cunningham
Tony Cunningham was a powerful striker who was brought to Lincoln by Colin Murphy from non-league club Stourbridge in May 1979.
He made an instant impact on his debut in a League Cup tie against Barnsley, marking the occasion with a goal in a 2-1 win.
Tony remained a regular first team player during his three full seasons at Sincil Bank and finished as leading scorer with 15 league and cup goals in 1981-82 when the Imps narrowly missed out on promotion to second tier football.
He was sold to Barnsley in September 1982 and and made 40 league appearances for the Reds, scoring 11 goals before joining Sheffield Wednesday in November 1983.
Tony later played for clubs including Manchester City and Newcastle United making a total of almost 500 senior appearances before ending his career with Wycombe Wanderers. One of his sons Karl later also played for the Imps.
Lincoln City record:
Debut: vs Barnsley, home (Football League Cup) 11 August 1979
Football League: 111 appearances plus 12 as substitute, 32 goals
FA Cup: 5 appearances plus 1 as substitute
Football League Cup: 13 appearances, 8 goals
Other: 6 appearances, 2 goals
Ron Harbertson
Ron Harbertson is one of the oldest former Imps players at the age of 94 and president of the Former Players Association.
Ron was a forward whose career began at Newcastle United and he went to play for clubs including Bradford City, Brighton, Grimsby and Darlington before he joined City in March 1958 when the club looked doomed to be relegated into the Third Division.
However, the Imps had a dramatic change of form, winning the final six games of the season to avoid the drop with Ron scoring in each of the matches.
He was a regular in the City team before departing to play for Wrexham in March 1960. Ron then had a short spell with Darlington before returning to Sincil Bank for the 1961-62 season. He later played for Grantham.
Lincoln City record:
Debut: vs Liverpool, away 15 March 1958
Football League: 86 appearances, 25 goals
FA Cup: 5 appearances, 1 goal
Football League Cup: 1 appearance, 2 goals
Roger Holmes
Roger Holmes signed amateur forms for the Imps in May 1958 when he was just 15-years-old, having previously been playing for Limestone Rangers in the Gainsborough League.
Roger made his reserve team debut four days after his 16th birthday and in September 1959 signed as a professional having already broken into the first team who were then playing in the Second Division (now the Championship).
Roger was a skilful player who appeared in several different positions including winger, inside-forward and right half and made over 300 first team appearances for City.
He featured in every game of the Football League Cup run in 1967-68 when the Imps reached the fourth round and finished the season as leading scorer with 14 league goals, plus another three in the League Cup.
The following season he suffered a serious injury in the home game against York City which put him out of action for a lengthy period. Roger played his final game for the Imps in a 3-2 home win against Peterborough in October 1971. He is involved in our Former Players Association as a committee member.
Lincoln City record
Debut: vs Brighton, away 18 April 1960
Football League: 276 appearances plus 2 as substitute, 36 goals
FA Cup: 13 appearances, 1 goal
Football League Cup: 16 appearances, 3 goals
Terry Cooper
Terry Cooper initially signed for City in December 1971 on loan from Notts County. He went back to Meadow Lane after making three appearances for the Imps but in the summer of 1972 he made a permanent move to Sincil Bank.
Terry, who started out playing in midfield, switched to centre-back with great success and went on to play almost 300 first team games for City.
He was a key member of the 1975-76 team which won the Division Four championship and was twice voted Player of the Season by the supporters.
Terry left Sincil Bank in the summer of 1979 and later played for Bradford City and Rochdale.
Lincoln City record
Debut: vs Stockport County, home 18 December 1971
Football League: 268 appearances plus 2 as substitute, 12 goals
FA Cup: 15 appearances plus 1 as substitute, 1 goal
Football League Cup: 13 appearances
Trevor Swinburne
Trevor Swinburne began his long goalkeeping career as an apprentice with Sunderland in the late 1960s and finished it with the Imps 20 years later.
During his time at Sunderland he was understudy to Jim Montgomery and made several first team appearances before moving on to Carlisle United in the summer of 1977.
Trevor made over 250 first team appearances for Carlisle during his six years with the club and was an ever-present in their team which won promotion to the old Second Division in 1981-82.
He then played for Brentford and Leeds United before signing for City in February 1986 as a replacement for Stuart Naylor. Trevor made regular appearances for the Imps until retiring in the summer of 1987.
He was the first chairman of the Lincoln City Former Players Association when it was formed in 2017, was a key figure in developing the organisation and has recently returned to the committee.
Lincoln City record
Debut: vs Blackpool, away 25 February 1986
Football League: 34 appearances
FA Cup: 3 appearances
Football League Cup: 3 appearances
