Lincoln and Macclesfield, the siamese twins of League Two
By Nathan Jackson
May 4 2010
With the final game of a difficult season both on and off the field, it seems almost appropriate that our opponents are Macclesfield Town. The clubs have been heavily connected since the Silkmen won promotion in 1997 and now we examine why the clubs have been more than just rivals in a division, ranging from sharing players, managers and more aptly this season, grief.
Although the Imps and the Silkmen have only been playing each other for 13 years, you're unlikely to find any other two teams that have had as much interaction with each other in the same time period. They have played each other in every season since 1997/8, shared players, managers, coaches, been promoted and relegated together, faced each other in the Playoffs and various other little things.
The Silkmen were promoted as Conference Champions in 1997 and Sammy McIlroy's side impressed many during their debut season. The first meeting between the two clubs came in November 1997 as the clubs drew 1-1.....Macclesfield would lose at home in the FA Cup the following week by a scoreline of 7-0. However, the most memorable incident of that season for both clubs of came towards the end of the season.
Macclesfield were still unbeaten in the League at home when City visited on April 4th and following a challenge on Barry Richardson by a Macclesfield attacker, a 22 man brawl broke out that saw Richardson sent off for City and Ben Sedgemore for Macclesfield, Sedgemore himself would go on to move to Lincoln two years later. Jon Whitney replaced Richardson but conceded an 86th minute winner.
It was a good season for both though as the two sides secured promotion in May. The Imps went up with just eleven defeats, Macclesfield's away record was poor but 19 wins from 23 home games was what secured it for the Silkmen.
It wouldn't be long before the clubs met in the next season and it came at Moss Ross, it wasn't quite as ferocious as the previous year's game had been, with the clubs drawing 0-0. The return game on Boxing Day saw City's first ever League win over the Silkmen. Both sides were relegated that season and finished in the bottom two.
A 1-1 draw at Moss Ross came early in the following season and the scoreline was repeated at Sincil Bank as both teams finished 1999/2000 in midtable. The following season saw the first direct transfers between the clubs as Ben Sedgemore and Tony Bullock joined the Imps from the Silkmen. 2000/1 would also be the only season in which Macclesfield would record a double over the Imps. Whitehead's brace at Moss Rose was followed by goals for Tinson and Askey at Sincil Bank in wins of 2-0 and 2-1.
City's first double came in the following season as Jason Barnett scored the last minute winner at Moss Rose and Tony Battersby got the winner from the spot at Sincil Bank. That first double became two the next season as the muchly redesigned City destroyed Macclesfield 3-0 at Sincil Bank and then Gain scored the winner at Moss Rose. City's good set of results against Maccesfield continued as Francis Green's 92nd minute goal secured an October 2003 win over the Silkmen, however the run stopped with a 0-0 draw.
Mark Bailey became the first in a long line of Imps to leave Lincoln for Macclesfield after he moved to Moss Rose. He cited more money for his family as the main reason, and joined a Macclesfield side that were turning into a dangerous outfit.
Macclesfield's first win over the Imps since 2002 came in December 2004 when Jon Parkin's late double secured the points. By this time Simon Weaver was on loan at Macclesfield from City after being phased out through the purchases of McAuley and McCombe. City's side at this time also contained former Silkman Martin Carruther, whom had joined from Boston United in a swap deal for Dean West.
Ci
ty would gain revenge for that aforementioned defeat with a comfortable 2-0 win at Sincil Bank later on in the season, and the clubs would meet each other in the Playoffs. McAuley (seem right celebrating after the second leg) scored the winner in the first leg for City before doubling City's aggregate lead in the second. Harsley pulled one back for the hosts but it was City who would go on to the Playoff Final.
Kevin Sandwith became the second Imp in two summers to make the move directly from the Imps to the Silkmen. Marcus Richardson would also go onto join Macclesfield during the following season. That season saw the clubs interact quite often. The two League games resulted in draws, but the main talking points of the season between the clubs were over Jon Parkin. The big striker had proven to be a good striker at this level and in an attempt to un-piss-off Keith Alexander, the club made a £100,000 bid for Parkin, a bid that was subsequently rejected. City made more bids but the striker eventually went to Hull.
Marvin Robinson was the next to move between the clubs. The official website announced he had agreed a new contract....around about the same time he appeared on the Macclesfield website with their shirt and announcing he was joining them. The two games ended with the home sides winning 2-1, although Macclesfield's win was controversial with the home side winning two penalties, one of which was for a handball five yards outside the box and the other for a "foul". That 2-1 defeat was the last time that Macclesfield didn't lose to the Imps. Both sides had Spencer Weir-Daley on loan that season, former Imp Francis Green joined Macclesfield from Boston and Martin Gritton became the next player to transfer between the sides during the summer.
Both of the 2007/8 meetings came late on and within 10 days of each other. Both ended with City wins, the first of which was a 2-1 win at Moss Rose thanks to goals from N'Guessan and Forrester, whereas those two and LJL secured the win ten days later. Neil Harvey had been on trial at Sincil Bank towards the end of that season, but ended up going to Macclesfield in time for last season.
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eith Alexander was appointed as Macclesfield manager in 2008 and took Gary Simpson with him, the old management team at Sincil Bank during the Playoff years. Keith also went about quickly signing Simon Yeo, Paul Morgan (left, during his City days) and Nat Brown, all former City players. The meeting in October 2008 saw what would turn out to be the only goal Yeo ever scored against City, but Beevers and Frecklington goals won it for City. Patulea scored the winner in the March meeting.
Ben Wright became yet another pre-season Macclesfield signing from City, whereas they also signed Hamza Bencharif, whom had spent several weeks on loan at City during the 2007/8 season. The Imps were also heavily linked with Gareth Evans, but the Macclesfield striker chose to go to Bradford instead. The Imps won 1-0 at Moss Rose in October and Richard Butcher went on loan to Macc from Lincoln a few months ago. He was set to rejoin them on transfer deadline day, but it fell through.
However, despite all of the above, the clubs were eternally bound in March when Keith Alexander, former manager of Lincoln City and the then current Macclesfield manager, died after the Silkmen played away at Notts County. No two clubs felt the impact of Keith's death more than the Imps and Macclesfield and there became a sort of brotherhood between the clubs.
The Silkmen are now managed by City's former assistant manager Gary Simpson.
And just to cement how the clubs are heavily connected, the promotion of Rochdale and relegation of Darlington means that the Imps and the Silkmen will be the joint longest serving sides in the division next season.
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