HISTORY CORNER: Conference Winners 1988 – Lincoln City

Murphy took the Imps back up by winning the GM Vauxhall Conference title but it certainly wasn't easy, and the standard of football surprised him, his Board of Directors and fans.

He said after winning the title by just two points: “The top six or seven Conference sides would handle the Fourth Division with ease.

“It would be very interesting to throw a few League sides in with them and see how they fared.”

That Lincoln won the title came as little surprise as, after being relegated from the Third Division the previous season, they had only ended up bottom of the Fourth Division on a dramatic final day of the 1986/87 season.

They didn't exactly endear themselves to the Conference and its followers with some of their comments after being relegated after they became the first to suffer the automatic drop.

But the major factor behind their ultimate successful promotion campaign was in remaining full-time and backing Murphy with a good deal of money for signings and improving the club's stadium at Sincil Bank.

It didn't start well for the Imps or Murphy, however, as they were made to 'eat their words' after suffering back-to-back opening away defeats at Barnet and Weymouth.

But it was another month before they lost again after four wins and a draw settled them down in their new surroundings.

Murphy suddenly had an extra £85,000 in his coffers after goalkeeper Lee Butler was sold to Aston Villa, and he invested £48,000 of it by setting a new non-League record on Port Vale striker Paul Smith.

And by September, Murphy had spent £139,000 on strengthening his squad – making it extremely difficult for other clubs in the division to compete with that spending power.

However, Lincoln couldn't shake off Barnet, but a 2-1 Sincil Bank victory over the Bees in front of the biggest crowd of the season to date, 4,624, ended Barry Fry's side's run run of 29 away games without defeat.

Fry attempted to out-do Murphy on the signing front too, and it looked like the big-money purchases of Noel Ashford, Garry Abbott, Andy Lomas and Nicky Bissett was going to pay off.

But Lincoln kept going and the crowds certainly responded – home and away – as their away following boosted most attendances on their travels.

Attendances rose by a massive 86 per cent and a new Conference record 12,500 crowd paid £30,000 to watch the Imps clinch the title in their final game of the season against Wycombe Wanderers.

However, with ten games remaining, Lincoln found themselves five points adrift of leaders Barnet.

Kettering Town had been on a great run and had moved back into contention as outsiders but had played three games more than Lincoln.

The Imps had to go to Rockingham Road in April which, on paper, was the most difficult of their remaining games.

And in front of an all-ticket crowd of 4,135 at Rockingham Road, the Poppies drew level on points with Lincoln after a 2-0 win with goals from Paul Richardson and Andy Tilson.

But Kettering were surprisingly beaten 2-0 at Enfield and were soon out of the race, leaving it a straight contest between Barnet and Lincoln.

Ironically, it was a player who would go on to become a firm favourite with Kettering fans for over five years, Phil Brown, who bagged the decisive second goal as the Imps overcame Wycombe on the final day

Barnet had won 2-0 at Welling United with a Dave Sansom penalty and a Ray Burgess own goal, but it was too little too late for them after a poor run of just nine points from their last nine games ultimately cost them the title.