Lincoln City 1889

Lincoln City — 1889

John O’Gaunts Ground

This print depicts Lincoln City Football Club as photographed at John O’Gaunts ground, Lincoln, on 23 November 1889, during the formative years of organised league football in England. It captures the club at a time when professionalism was still taking shape and regional football identities were being firmly established.

The image shows the team posed in their distinctive red-and-white striped shirts, with a mixture of white and black shorts reflecting the practical realities of late-Victorian football kit rather than strict uniformity. Several players in the front row wear brown leather shin pads, an important period detail that underlines the physical nature of the game in the 1880s. An official, dressed formally in a dark suit, stands among the players—typical of the era, when administrators and trainers were often included in team portraits.

Behind the group rises the unmistakable backdrop of John O’Gaunts Church, anchoring the photograph firmly in its local setting and reinforcing football’s deep connection with community life. In the distance, spectators line the touchline, offering a glimpse of how early matches were watched long before enclosed stadiums became the norm.

This image is more than a team photograph; it is a visual record of English football in transition—when clubs like Lincoln City were helping to shape the structures, customs, and visual identity of the modern game. Presented here as a carefully researched and produced print, it offers the opportunity to collect a tangible artefact from football’s late-Victorian past.

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