Earlier this year we teamed up with our friends at LNER to give all Imps supporters the opportunity to vote for their favourite Lincoln City legends in an online poll.
The club had already picked former Lincoln City and England manager Graham Taylor to feature on the Azuma train in the University of Lincoln Fan Zone at LNER Stadium and can now announce the next Imps legend to get on board is forward Percy Freeman.
Freeman was signed for the Imps by Bert Loxley on a free transfer in the Summer of 1970 from West Bromwich Albion where he had been understudy to Jeff Astle. He made his Imps debut away to Cambridge United on opening day of the 1970-71 season.
Percy made an instant impact, scoring in his first four home league and cup games for City. In his first season at Lincoln, Freeman scored 14 goals in league and cup. He played as Number 9 through David Herd’s management of Lincoln City, but when Graham Taylor took over as manager, Percy was sold to Reading for a reported £11,500.
Percy then returned to City two years later having had a mixed time at Reading. He spent time away from football and returned to scaffolding work. He then re-joined the Imps for a reported fee of £10,000 less than what he went for.
He became an integral part of Graham Taylors’ Lincoln side who missed promotion by 0.04 of a goal on goal average in the 1974-75 campaign and the Division 4 record breaking championship winning team in the 1975-76 season. Percy scored 23 times in his 35 appearances in the Championship winning season.
He went on to play one more season in Division 3 before retiring as a professional footballer to concentrate on his roofing business. The forward continued to play football part time and subsequently managed several local teams. Percy sadly died on the 5th January 2016.
