Students boost attendance as Lincoln City draw with Gateshead

544 students from the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grossteste University were present at Sincil Bank last night as Lincoln drew with Gateshead.

The students were taking advantage of an offer they received during their Fresher’s Fayres to watch the match for free in the Co-Operative stand.

The scheme, which was also ran last year and saw 462 students attend, saw an improvement in numbers as 544 students took up the offer of a free ticket for the match.

The students from the City watched the Vanrama Conference match from the Co-op stand at Sincil Bank.

The attendance for the match, which ended in a 1-1 draw, was 2,394, more than their last home game when 2,265 turned out to watch a 2-0 win against Macclesfield on Saturday.

Jake Mead, a first-year Law student at the University of Lincoln expressed his delight at his first Lincoln City game:

“The stadium has a really good atmosphere, it’s great being so close to the action,” he said.

When asked if he would return in the future, Jake answered enthusiastically, “Yeah, I would, it’s close to the University and it’s great fun to support the local team!”

The club are offering a special deal for students between the age of 18 and 21, which equates to £5 per fixture, but with season tickets being priced over £100, time will tell if students from around Lincoln will be attracted to the offer.

Jamie Powell, a first-year history student, explained how going to a match offers himself and his friends an alternative to a night out, “It’s nice to come with your flatmates and it’s something different than a night out!”

One player who caught Jamie’s eye was Lincoln City’s number 12, Arnaud Mendy, “He’s aggressive, he’s great to watch and he seems to be a fan favourite because he works really hard!”

However despite having a good evening watching his local side, Jamie did have one complaint, “my sausage roll was really cold! Print that!”

Lincoln City’s General Manager, John Vickers, was pleased with how the night went.

“It was well worth the time and effort that went in.”

“Second half came to life, the first half was a bit of a non-event, as it tends to be sometimes both teams cancelling each other out but I’d like to think everybody went away, especially the neutrals in the ground, having seen a decent game of football.”

He is also hopeful that with the new reduced student ticket prices, more students may be encouraged to head back to Sincil Bank in the future.

“It’s about trying to put bums on seats, try and tap into the student population we’ve got, which is a considerable amount in the city, and it’s key to get them to come down and spend their money with us.

“At the same time we know we need to make things as affordable as possible.”

With the success of the night, he also hinted that there may be more to come in the way of student offers.

“Watch this space on that one. It’s been a success so we will look at the fixtures and see what we can come up with for future games.”

By Danyal Khan

• Did you enjoy the match and are interested in returning to Sincil Bank? Details on how you can buy tickets are available on the Lincoln City website.