New Manager announced at Lincoln United
Lincoln United have announced that Sam Wilkinson has been appointed manager for the 2020/21 season.
Having been appointed as interim manager to ensure the club completed the 2019/20 season, the new exec-board decided that Wilkinson was the right man to take the club forward on a permanent basis.
Much of Wilkinson’s playing and managerial career has been spent at Lincoln United, making over 200 appearances and scoring 67 goals for the club. He was also assistant manager to now-Frickley Athletic boss Dave Frecklington during his three-year tenure at the club before taking the main seat in the pre-season of the 2016/17.
The Northern South East Division side released this statement on their website;
Lincoln United Football Club is delighted to officially announce that Sam Wilkinson has been appointed as the men’s first team manager for the forthcoming 2020/21 season. Having been appointed as interim-manager to ensure the club completed the 2019/20 season, the new exec-board decided that Sam was the right man to take the club forward into the new-era on a permanent basis.
Much of Sam’s playing and managerial career has been spent at Lincoln United, making over 200 appearances and scoring 67 goals for the club. Sam was also Assistant Manager to now Frickley Athletic boss, Dave Frecklington, during his three-year tenure at the club before taking the main seat in the pre-season of the 2016/17. Sam’s first stint as Lincoln United FC’s gaffer was cut short due to his resignation in the 2018/19 season, however, Sam returned to the dugout for what would have been the final 10 games of the 2019/20 season to support the club during difficult times.
Stuart Reddington will join Sam in the dugout as first team assistant manager. Similarly, to Sam, Stuart will be a familiar face to the Lincoln United faithful having made over 300 appearances for the club. Redders or Reddo as he’s known to many, has played football at the highest level boasting the likes of Chelsea and other football league clubs on his CV.
The remainder of Sam’s management team will see the return of Lincoln United stalwart, Martin Burnett, who will take his place in the dugout as first team coach. Finally, ex Lincoln United, Boston Town and Grantham Town player, James Morgan has agreed to become the club’s first team goalkeeper coach.
The newly appointed gaffer had this to say “I’m delighted to be back at Lincoln United, the club that gave me the opportunity to play and manage at a good level of football. It’s a club very close to my heart for obvious reasons; coinciding with the new board and direction the club’s future is taking, I jumped at the opportunity to come back and manage the first team. I’m excited to get going whenever that may be, and I hope to see many familiar and new faces down at the Sun-Hat Villas stadium to support the team in the new season.”
Director of Football, Chris Funnell, confirmed the club’s position “We’re extremely pleased Sam has agreed to accept the offer as men’s first team manager. Sam’s holistic experience of managing at this level, alongside a genuine care of the overall club and its stature was a key factor in this decision. We’re working hard behind the scenes to ensure we give Sam, his management team and the players the best environment and opportunity to thrive when we can start-up for the 2020/21 season. To echo Sam’s comments, we hope to see as many people, new or existing supporters down at the Sun-Hat Villas stadium to cheer us on in the forthcoming season.”
The club would like to wish Sam and his management team well for the forthcoming season, we look forward to getting back into action, as and when that happens to be. In the meantime, the club, in conjunction with the Social Club and Hartsholme Cricket Club, is running a ‘crowdfunder’ to support all entities down at Ashby Avenue with fixed running costs during this lockdown period – any support you can give will be very much appreciated:
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ashbyavenueassemble
Finally, from all at Lincoln United FC, continue to follow government guidelines and stay safe. We look forward to seeing you all soon cheering on #TheWhites.