JP Trophy Draw Date Announced

Lincoln City will find out who their Johnstone's Paint Trophy opponents will be when the draw is made on August 14th. City have gone out at the first attempt every year since 2003/4 and will be hoping to repeat the runs of the 2000/1 and 2003/4 seasons.

Last year the Imps were drawn away at Darlington in the first round and it turned out to be Peter Jackson's last every game in charge of the Imps. Lee Thorpe scored the only goal in a game where City rarely threatened.

The FA and Football League have often given a strange drawing system in terms of cup competitions. For example, Nottingham Forest have often been drawn in the northern section of draws with Notts County in the southern draw, even though County are further north than Forest.

City had been given byes to the second round in the 2007/8 and 2008/9 seasons but have lost both times, losing out 5-2 to Hartlepool and on penalties to Leicester City. Infact, you'd have to go back to 2003 to find the last time that the Imps got beyond the first hurdle of this competition, a 3-1 victory over Telford United (back before they were AFC Telford), beating Chesterfield in the next round on the Silver Goal Rule (bet you'd forgotten about that) before going out to Halifax, Kevin Sandwith scoring the only goal in a game that convinced Keith Alexander to sign him.

However, City's best run in recent times was during the 2000/1 season when Phil Stant guided the Imps to the Northern Final, beating Morecambe, Blackpool, Hartlepool and Chesterfield to reach that stage. Stant left and Buckley took over, unable to prevent Port Vale winning 2-0 on aggregate before they beat Brentford at the Millennium Stadium.

The draw is likely to be seeded again with the Imps going into the North Eastern section. Last season our potential opponents before the allocation of byes were Bradford City, Burton Albion, Chesterfield, Darlington, Grimsby Town, Hartlepool, Huddersfield Town, Leeds United, Notts County Rochdale and Rotherham United. Other than Leeds, Grimsby and Darlington, who are no longer eligible for the competion due to their subsequent promotions and relegations, our opponents are likely to come from that list.

The first round will be played the week beginning August 30th. There is the possibility that City will have to travel to Chesterfield twice in a week, as the Imps play away at Chesterfield's B2Net Stadium on the following Saturday.