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Goalkeeper : Alan Marriott
By Nathan Jackson
August 28 2006
Alan Marriott is one of City's goalkeepers and the undisputed Number 1. Rated as one of the best goalkeepers in the lower leagues and currently the longest serving player at Sincil Bank. Marriott is now into his 9th season at Sincil Bank and has already broken one club record, and he has another one well within his sights now.

Signed from : Tottenham Hotspur

Debut Game : Lincoln 2 Torquay United 1 - February 12th 2000

Final Game : Chester City 1 Lincoln City 2 - April 12th 2008

Alan Marriott was a record breaking goalkeeper for the Imps between the 1999/2000 and 2007/8 seasons. In a home match against Swindon Town on March 25th 2007 he broke the all time appearance record for an Imps goalkeeper, unfortunately he couldn't prevent that game ending with Swindon taking all 3 points back to Wiltshire.

A few months later and in a home game against Accrington on August 25th 2007 he became the first goalkeeper in the club's history to make it 100 clean sheets.

It's amazing to think that he seemingly had no chance of securing first team football when he joined in the 1999/2000 season and was third in the pecking order. However, he got his chance in a home game against Torquay and the rest as they say, is history.

With only the occassional and injury preventing him from being constantly between the sticks, Marriott established himself as one of the best shot stoppers in the lower Leagues and was often been approached by other clubs higher up in the Football League.

Marriott's finest season was the 2002/3 season. He was one of the key players in the Imps' first foray into the Playoffs as the team only conceded 37 goals in the 46 game League season. Marriott kept 18 cleans sheets in those 46 League games and didn't concede more than twice in a game during that time. He was helpless though as Bournemouth smashed 5 past him to win the Playoff Final.

Marriott was also the only player to have played every single Playoff match the club has ever been involved in (at the time of him leaving, making a total of 12 appearances in the end of season lottery. Unfortunately City have won just three of those games, drawn two and lost the other seven.

In the years since Marriott has continued to be the No. 1 at Sincil Bank without a serious challenger and that didn't change, other than the occasional time out of the squad when Peter Jackson prefered Ben Smith.

Marriott left Lincoln at the end of the 2007/8 season and he was just shy of 400 appearances for the club. His final game came in a win at Chester City, although he went off injured before 20 minutes was up, his final contribution being a penalty save.

Below you will find a table that shows all the games Marriott kept a clean sheet in for the Imps.

MARRIOTT'S CLEAN SHEETS

SEASON

TEAMS

1999/2000

Plymouth (3-0), Carlisle (5-0), Mansfield (3-0), Leyton Orient (0-0), Southend United (1-0)

2000/2001

Brighton (2-0), Southend (3-0), Sheff United (1-0 - League Cup), Cheltenham Town (1-0), Bracknell Town (4-0 - FA Cup), York City (0-0), Port Vale (0-0 - LDV Northern Final), Exeter (0-0)

2001/2002

Rushden (0-0), Swansea (3-0), Hartlepool (2-0), Oxford United (1-0), Macclesfield Town (1-0 twice), Exeter City (0-0), Torquay United (0-0), Swansea City (0-0), Leyton Orient (2-0)

2002/2003

Rochdale (2-0 and 1-0), Scunthorpe (1-0 twice and 0-0), Torquay United (0-0), Exeter City (1-0), Wrexham (2-0), Darlington (0-0), Macclesfield (3-0 and 1-0), Swansea (1-0), Hull City (1-0), Hartlepool United (3-0), Southend (1-0), Kidderminster Harriers (1-0). York City (1-0), Cambridge United (1-0), Bournemouth (1-0)

2003/2004

Doncaster Rovers (0-0 and 2-0), York (3-0), Cambridge (0-0), Leyton Orient (0-0 and 2-0), Southend United (2-0) Northampton Town (0-0), Carlisle United (2-0 twice), Darlington (0-0), Boston United (1-0), Oxford United (0-0), Cheltenham Town (0-0), Hull City (2-0), Macclesfield Town (0-0), Rochdale (3-0)

2004/2005

Shrewsbury Town (1-0 and 2-0), Bury (1-0 twice), Bristol Rovers (0-0), Kidderminster Harriers (3-0), Oxford United (1-0 and 3-0), Cambridge United (2-0), Darlington (3-0 and 0-0), Cheltenham Town (0-0), Grimsby Town (0-0), Chester (1-0), Mansfield (2-0), Boston United (2-0), Scunthorpe (2-0), Swansea (1-0), Macclesfield (2-0 and 1-0)

 2005/2006

 Carlisle United (0-0), Bristol Rovers (0-0 and 1-0), Wrexham (2-0), Oxford United (1-0), Boston United (0-0), Mansfield (0-0), Torquay United (2-0), Grimsby Town (5-0), Shrewsbury Town (1-0)

 2006/2007

 Shrewsbury Town (1-0), Hartlepool United (2-0), Barnet (5-0 and 1-0), Grimsby Town (0-0 twice - one LDV, 2-0), Swindon Town (2-0), Bristol Rovers (1-0 and 0-0), Wycombe (1-0), Peterborough United (1-0), Torquay United (1-0), Stockport (0-0), Chester City (2-0)

 2007/2008

 Accrington Stanley (2-0 and 3-0), Rochdale (2-0) and Dagenham and Redbridge (2-0), Wycombe Wanderers (1-0), Notts County (1-0), Chester City (2-1) *

*The Chester City game in 2007/8 finished with the Imps conceding but City hadn't conceded when Marriott went off in the first half.

 

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