Nathan Arnold was paid for by crowdfunding Lincoln fans – now the FA Cup heroes are raking it in after he sinks Ipswich to set up fourth-round tie with Brighton
Striker turned down new deal at promoted Grimsby, returned to non league and is helping Imps recreate their glory days of 1976
IN these days of billion-pound TV deals, it is an old cliché for fans to tell players ‘We pay your wages’.
But in the case of Lincoln’s FA Cup hero Nathan Arnold, it is true.
The midfielder would not even be an Imp but for the £30,000 raised by the fans’ crowdfunding scheme.
That cash allowed new boss Danny Cowley to sign the 29-year-old free agent, who had just turned down a new contract at Grimsby.
And Arnold repaid the money and faith with interest on Tuesday night with a last-minute winner against Championship side Ipswich.
His goal was worth around £70,000 to a club that has made the best part of £500,000 on the back of their Cup run so far.
The strike also guaranteed another 9,000-strong sell-out at Sincil Bank for their fourth-round clash with Brighton a week on Saturday.
Imps vice-chairman and managing director Kevin Cooke said: “We cannot thank the fans enough. This is down to them. They put their hands in their pockets and put up the money so we could get Nathan.
“I was in shock when Nathan went round the keeper and scored.”
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Lincoln top the National League and have spent six seasons trying to get back in the Football League.
But they never managed higher than 13th — until the Cowley brothers arrived in May last year. Danny and his No 2 Nicky are hailed as the best thing to happen to the club since they last reached the Cup’s fourth round.
That was in 1976, when they also won the old Fourth Division under the leadership of Graham Taylor.
The former Imps and England boss was honoured before Tuesday’s replay with a minute’s applause.
And that applause turned to delirious cheers as Arnold side-stepped keeper Dean Gerken and rolled the ball into the net.
It was a result he claimed his wife had seen in a dream.
Well, everyone at Sincil Bank is dreaming now — the fans and Arnold have made sure of that.
