Lincoln City FC - Reinstate the Stacey West Please!

Now. I am not a fan of locating myself in the Stacey West stand at Sincil Bank. For me the view is not what I am looking for but for many that is not the case.

The Stacey West Stand pre-match

The Stacey West, remember it is named after Bill Stacey and Jim West two life-long Imps fans who tragically lost their lives in the horrific Bradford fire, has always been viewed as a "home-stand" and should be regarded as just that. In my mind it has always been a rather perverse idea that it should be used for away fans and I know that I am far from alone in that belief.

When the decision to give the stand to the "away fans" was made the major effect was to move the "617 Squadron" into the upper tier of the Co-Op despite the resistance of many to the decision. "617" have never really sat, or should I say stood, comfortably there and there have been problems. Thankfully, these problems have been overcome but the feeling still remains that the Co-Op is not their proper home. Love them or not they are the noise generators and the atmosphere generators in the ground and having them tucked away in their present location does detract from their efforts, in my opinion. I am certain that if they were given the opportunity to return "home" to the Stacey West then hands would be bitten off!

There should be little difficulty housing away fans somewhere else within Sincil Bank, especially given the very small numbers in the majority of cases, that teams in the National League bring with them. The song fondly sung by "617" "You should have come in a taxi", bares witness to that. Do we really need the whole of the Stacey West to house, with very few exceptions, 30 or 50 away fans?

"617 Sqn" in full cry

My understanding of the decision to change the use of the stand was financial. It would save money on stewarding costs. When that decision was made I personally accepted it because of the financial position of the club which was, let us say, fairly fragile but that is no longer the case.

With the arrival of our new management duo there appears to be an uplift in positivity around the club and there is expected to be an uplift in attendance figures at the ground, which admittedly, have been less than one would like to see over the last few seasons. A deal of positivity would be added to the upswell if the Stacey West was returned to its natural use.

There seems to be little reason for the Stacey West not to be returned to the home fans, so come on Lincoln City. Let's see a sensible decision that will please a majority of your supporters, especially among the younger element who are the lifeblood of the club going forward.

"STACEY WEST FOR HOME SUPPORTERS IN 2016/17"