Position: striker.

Lincoln City career: 4+(1) appearances in February 2001.

Clubs: Halifax, Bolton, Lincoln City, Bradford City, Gainsborough Trinity, Harrogate Town and Farsley Celtic.

Gareth Grant, who was an England Under-21 International at the time, was a surprise loan signing for Lincoln City FC in February 2001.

Quick and skilful, he made an immediate impact at Lincoln with many supporters wishing that he would sign permanently. That seemed very optimistic at the time but a year later in May 2002, Bradford unexpectedly released him due to financial reasons.

Grant rejoined Lincoln City on trial but financial reasons, this time at Lincoln, prevented him from signing permanently. Instead, he joined Gainsborough Trinity where, not surprising for a player of his ability, he became a regular goal scorer as well as a fans' favourite.

He stayed at Gainsborough until summer 2005 when he moved to Harrogate Town. After scoring ten goals in thirty-four appearances during his one and only season at Harrogate, Grant was on the move again, this time joining Farsley Celtic.

Grant helped Farsley Celtic to win promotion to the Conference National in 2007 but he opted to drop back a division to rejoin Harrogate Town in 2008. This was probably a mistake, as he was released just a matter of weeks later. In March 2009, Grant rejoined Farsley Celtic.

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Position: left midfield.

Lincoln City career: 23+(18) appearances, scoring 1 goal between July 2001 - May 2003.

Clubs: West Bromwich Albion, Grimsby Town, Lincoln City, Brigg Town, Harrowby United, Stamford, Spalding United, Bourne Town, Spalding United, Lincoln Moorlands Railway and Sleaford Town.

One certain thing about Alan Buckley's appointment as Lincoln City manager was that his son Adam would also join. However, there was a problem as Adam had two years of his Grimsby Town contract remaining and Lincoln City FC had no money to buy new players.

Suddenly in late July 2001, we were told that Grimsby had decided to cancel Adam's contract meaning that they would have to pay up on his remaining two years' wages. Adam was then a free agent and able to sign for Lincoln City on a free transfer. Amazing how conveniently these things work out!

Adam arrived at Lincoln with his father saying that he had been unfairly picked on at both West Bromwich Albion and Grimsby, simply because he was the manager's son. Both sets of supporters disagreed and said it was because he was not suitable for the first team. Happily, Buckley Sr said that Adam would not be singled out at Sincil Bank because Lincoln's fans are not like that. That was an incorrect prediction, as a minority immediately booed him every time he went near the ball.

He began his career at West Bromwich Albion as a trainee; the manager who gave Adam his big break was of course Alan Buckley. Buckley Sr was quickly re-appointed as Grimsby Town boss after he left West Brom. Soon afterwards, Adam followed his father to Grimsby where he made a handful of appearances until once again, his father was sacked. Adam was relegated to the reserves, where it seemed that he would see out the remaining two years of his contract - that was until Grimsby conveniently decided to cancel his contract.

Buckley Sr left Lincoln City at the end of the 2001/02 season; afterwards, Adam hardly appeared in the first team again. He was released in May 2003, just weeks after serious off-the-field allegations had been made about him.

After leaving Lincoln City, Adam continues to drift around the non-league clubs of Lincolnshire. His previous clubs include Brigg Town (2003), Harrowby United (2003-2005), Stamford (2005-06), Spalding United (2006), Bourne Town (2006-07), Spalding United (2007-08), Lincoln Moorlands Railway (2008) and Sleaford Town (2008-onwards).

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Position: striker.

Lincoln City career: 9+(12) appearances, scoring 1 goal between November 2002 and May 2004.

Clubs: Barnsley, Lincoln City, Bradford Park Avenue and Waitakere United.

Allan Pearce came to England in December 1999 to join Barnsley on a three year scholarship. During the 2001/02 season, he featured in several of Barnsley's reserves fixtures and Barnsley originally had high hopes of Pearce but he had still to make his Football League debut when he joined Lincoln City in November 2002.

Imps' manager Keith Alexander had been trailing Pearce since August 2002 and had made previous enquiries about a permanent deal. However, they agreed to release Pearce in October 2002 following their decline into administration, just two months short of his scholarship's expiry date.

Pearce, despite the optimism of a fresh start, struggled to break into Lincoln City's first team squad. Lincoln City's supporters openly questioned why Pearce, a former Under-17 New Zealand International, was failing to make a first team appearance despite scoring regularly in the reserves and pre-season friendlies.

Thankfully for Pearce, his lack of first team football did not harm his international opportunities as he was called-up to New Zealand's Under-23 squad in May 2003. However, following another season on the fringe of Lincoln City's first team, Pearce was released in May 2004. He subsequently joined non-league Bradford Park Avenue.

Pearce returned to his native New Zealand to play for Waitakere United in 2004 before returning to England in 2006 for a brief spell at Worksop Town. Pearce continued his ping-pong lifestyle and promptly resigned for Waitakere United. The move did not harm his international chances and in September 2008, he was earnt his first cap for the full New Zealand international team.

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