It is with deep regret that we announce the death of former chairman and manager John Reames at the age of 65.

A lifelong City supporter, Mr Reames was apppointed chairman of the Club in March 1985 and held the post until his resignation in November 2000, making him the longest serving chairman in the Imps' history. He was also in charge of team affairs from November 1998 until May 2000 with the Imps winning 25 of his 75 Football League matches as manager.

Lincoln born and bred, Keith John Reames first started to go to Sincil Bank as a five-year-old with his grandfather, watching the successful Third Division North side from the wall on the Sincil Bank Terrace.

Over 30 years later, he was watching the Imps in action from the Directors' Box, having joined the Board of Directors in March 1983 along with Dennis Houlston, Mike Pryor and Derek Overton following the resignation of the previous board.



An Agricultural Merchant, Mr Reames worked closely with the Red Imps Association as their liaison director and became Club chairman on March 18th 1985 following the resignation of Mr Houlston. It was a post he would hold for over 15 years, making him the longest serving chairman in the Club's history.

Just two months into his tenure came the horror of the Bradford Fire whilst two successive relegations, the latter seeing the Club become the first team to be automatically relegated from the Football League, led to Mr Reames and his fellow directors being forced to make arguably two of the biggest decisions in the Club's history.

The first was that the Football Club would continue to operate on a full-time, professional basis in the semi-professional world of the GM Vauxhall Conference and the second was to appoint Colin Murphy as manager for his second stint at Sincil Bank.

The 1987/88 season started badly with successive defeats at Barnet and Weymouth but Mr Reames and his fellow directors were fully supportive of the manager and his 'Mission' to return to the Football League. When a non-League record transfer fee of £48,000 saw Paul Smith join from Port Vale, it signalled the Club's intentions to make everyone's dreams come true.

Those intentions were realised on Monday 2nd May 1988 when a 2-0 home win over Wycombe Wanderers saw the Imps pip Barnet to the Conference title and the mission was complete. "Reames Come True" ran the Lincolnshire Echo headline.

In 1990 Mr Reames sold his business, BDR Agricultural, but stayed at the helm at Sincil Bank and as a member of the Football League management committee, fiercely opposed the formation of the Premier League in 1992.

That breakaway ultimately had a financial knock-on effect throughout the divisions and City were no exceptions, regularly announcing six-figure losses, and following his decision to sack Shane Westley in November 1998, Mr Reames opted to take over the managerial role himself, although the coaching was left to his assistant Phil Stant.



A month earlier, Mr Reames, who had been instrumental in the redevelopment of Sincil Bank Stadium, had announced that the financial situation at the Club was critical and that unless new investment could be found then it will only be a matter of time before administrators were brought in.

He appealed to the supporters to dig deep but remarkably, as a reward for their investment, he proposed something that was somewhat radical. He threw down the gauntlet and challenged the fans to raise the funds that would see one of their own number nominated to serve on the Club Board.

With the Imps having won a third of his 75 Football League matches as manager, Mr Reames - who won the "Manager Of The Month Award" for October 1999 - handed over the managerial reins to Phil Stant at the end of the 1999/2000 season, shortly after the threat of administration was removed when the Club sealed a deal to buy Sincil Bank back from the City Council for £175,000.

Six months later and with fresh investment still not forthcoming, Mr Reames announced that he was standing down as Chairman and Director. He resigned on November 16th 2000 leaving his £400,000 shareholding in trust for the benefit of future investors and the Football Club.

The supporters' representative he allowed to join the Board, Rob Bradley, took over as Acting Chairman and when the Lincoln City Membership Scheme's Community Ownership Package was successful in their bid to invest into the Club in return for Mr Reames' shareholding, Mr Bradley became chairman in his own right.

Although Lincoln City through and through and the Club's Honorary Life Vice President, Mr Reames later spent a year as chairman of Gainsborough Trinity and in May 2004 he was appointed as Managing Director of Wrexham before quitting the post just five months later.

His heart remained with the Imps though and, until his illness stopped him from enjoying his passion, he remained a regular supporter both at home and away matches. His final formal public appearance amongst fellow City supporters saw him receive a deserved standing ovation at a celebration dinner, held at the end of March, to mark the 20th anniversary of the GM Vauxhall Conference winning season.

Mr Reames passed away on Tuesday evening after losing his battle with cancer and our thoughts are with Beth and the family at this difficult time.