FA Cup could provide Lincoln with cash injection

A potential third round FA Cup clash with Premier League giant and seven-time cup winners Liverpool could be worth up to £200,000 to Lincoln City, according to director David Beck.

The Imps will travel to Field Mill to face Mansfield Town in a second round replay on Wednesday, after the sides played out a thrilling 3-3 draw last Saturday.

Both the replay and the third round tie with Liverpool will be televised, meaning the cup could provide Lincoln with a significant cash injection. Beck said: “The fact that it’s televised next Wednesday, that’s £34,000 to the club straight away. Hopefully there will be a big crowd, we had a decent crowd here on Saturday. So all-in-all, at the moment it probably worth well over £100,000 to the football club, which for a club of our size is a tremendous amount of money.”

“Everyone is talking about the big one, and Mansfield are saying the same. To either Mansfield or ourselves, the game against Liverpool in the third round, you could be talking  over £200,000 there. That is massive, it almost life-changing for a football club like ours.”

Lincoln’s finances took a severe blow when they were relegated from the Football League in the 2010/11 season. As a result, they no longer receive the £650,000 annual payments League Two clubs get, meaning they have had to make cuts to both the playing and back-room staff.

Attendances at The 12th Imp Sincil Bank Stadium have also dropped, costing the club in gate revenue. However, cup fever has swept Lincoln, with over 4,000 supporters at the game with Mansfield, and 2,500 attending Tuesday night’s 2-0 defeat to Woking. The club have also sold over 1,000 tickets for the replay at Mansfield.

Beck hopes the fans continue to come through the turnstiles, and help Lincoln push for promotion back into League Two.

Mansfield Town v Lincoln City will kick off at 19:45 on Wednesday.

Full interview with Lincoln City director David Beck: