Name: Lincoln City Football Club
Founded: 1884
Ground: Sincil Bank
Capacity: 10,120
Manager: Danny Cowley
Last season: First in Sky Bet League Two (Promoted as Champions)
Joining Tranmere Rovers in Sky Bet League One next season are last term’s Sky Bet League Two champions, Lincoln City.
The Imps were promoted to the third-tier for the first time since 1999 as title-winners after winning the division by six-points.
Amassing 85 points from their 46 league outings throughout the duration of the campaign, Danny Cowley’s side won 23, drew 16 and lost seven of their fixtures.
Despite suffering defeats in three of their final five fixtures, Lincoln comfortably secured their place at the summit of the Sky Bet League Two standings as they prepare for life in Sky Bet League One from August.
Led by the 17 goals of forward John Akinde, Lincoln ended 2018/19 six-points clear of runners-up Bury, with the likes of former Premier League teams Sunderland, Bolton Wanderers and Portsmouth set to be welcomed to Sincil Bank.
Boss Cowley, alongside his assistant, brother Nicky, have steered Lincoln to three trophies since the pair arrived in Lincolnshire back in May 2016.
Cowley was tasked with guiding the club back in to the EFL and they guided Lincoln to the Vanarama National League Title and a run to the Emirates FA Cup Quarter-Final, where they played Arsenal away, in 2016/17.
A season later, a win under the Wembley Stadium arch was achieved, with Lincoln beating Shrewsbury Town 1-0 in the Checkatrade Trophy in April 2018 prior to last campaign’s Sky Bet League Two triumph.
The 40-year-old’s playing career saw him represent several club’s at Non-League level having dropped down after being released by Wimbledon as a teenager.
Cowley represented Barking, Harlow Town, Boreham Wood, Romford, Hornchurch and Brentwood Town before retiring due to injury with Concord Rangers in 2007.
He took his first steps in management with the Canvey Island club, leading Concord to promotion from the Essex Senior Football League during his first year at the helm.
A third promotion up to the Vanarama National League South from the Isthmian League followed soon after, also taking the Beach Boys in to the Emirates FA Cup first-round in 2014/15.
After eight-years he left Concord to move across Essex, where he became manager of Vanarama National League side Braintree Town in April 2015, taking them to the Play-Offs in his one year at Cressing Road.
In May 2016, Cowley and brother Nicky linked up with Lincoln, then in the fifth-tier of English football and have enjoyed two promotion-winning seasons in three years.
Tranmere Rovers’ record against the Imps stands at 26 victories, 20 draws and 25 defeats ever since the first meeting in 1922.
Micky Mellon’s TRFC were unbeaten against Cowley’s men last season, earning three points under the Prenton Park floodlights in a 1-0 win last October before a goalless draw at Sincil Bank on Easter Monday.