How the Red Arrows have helped Lincoln soar
Skubala played for and later coached England's national futsal side, worked as a non-league assistant manager, as well as a college PE teacher and director of football at Loughborough University. He committed years to youth development at the Football Association, Nottingham Forest and Coventry City, and it was only three years ago that he took charge of his first senior football match - stepping up from under-21 coach at Leeds United to take on caretaker Premier League duties when they faced Manchester United at Old Trafford in front of more than 73,000 spectators. "My journey is so different because I've tried to learn everything along the way," he said.
"It's loads of work, loads of graft and driving minibuses back in the day. "People probably know that story more from Leeds onwards, but there's probably 15 or 20 years before Leeds that has gone into the journey. "In some ways you could probably see elements of futsal in the team's identity if you were to understand the game, because there's definitely some things that I've stolen, if you like, from that game and implemented into the 11 v 11 game.
" Fusing futsal with how Lincoln play – a high-energy, technically adept and tactically alert approach – is only one of the many things that sets Imps apart and why seeking advice from a squadron of elite pilots is nothing out of the ordinary for a club that was an early adopter of the use of artificial intelligence when it comes to set pieces. , external But with a backstory of being a club that was saved by fans when they brought the Imps out of administration in 2002, and its climb from the National League to League One with two promotions in three years - which was punctuated by a record run to the FA Cup quarter-finals as a non-league side in 2017 - what it has taken to put Lincoln in a position to get promoted to the Championship is a study in "quiet, steady and thoughtful" progress. The win against Reading to seal promotion extended Lincoln City's unbeaten run to 24 League One games It is this rise that has drawn backers from abroad, starting with South African Clive Nates in 2016.
High-profile American interest followed, with former United States international Landon Donovan coming in as adviser in 2021 alongside Arizona-based businessman Harvey Jabara who, in turn, helped bring former co-owner of Major League Baseball team the San Diego Padres, Ron Fowler, on board. By the time Lincoln were on the brink of promotion this season, Fowler had upped his stakes to become chairman and majority shareholder - with a 35% stake in the club's parent company. Fowler said there was a "David versus Goliath" appeal to Lincoln that drew the 81-year-old to a third-tier side run on a modest budget, when years earlier he was part of an American sporting franchise that was valued at $1.
95bn (around £1. 43bn) in 2025. How Lincoln have been bankrolled has constantly changed - and seemingly now been supercharged - but there is no hint that the Imps will change their approach to being fiscally frugal and creatively adventurous in pursuit of success.