From the publisher:
A season transformed, a club transformed, and…from the terraces to the boardroom…an ordinary fan’s experiences transformed. A diary of Lincoln City’s 2023-24 season and reflections on twenty-five years at the business end of sport.
Every football fan must dream about what it’s like to play a part in how your club is run. If the team is losing week after week or the finances are dire, every supporter must wonder what it’s like to be able to grill the manager or to wade in and demand to know where all the money has gone. Maybe even sitting in a comfy seat in the directors’ box instead of being frozen to the bone on a windswept open paddock might float your boat. Imposter is about a fan who’s done just that. Coming from nowhere he’s swapped the terraces for the boardroom and exchanged having no say at all to having a real voice in his club’s destiny. If such a transformation sounds like the good wheeze to end all good wheezes, then Rob Bradley’s experiences might be a reality check. Having to give people the sack, being abused and spat on, facing a High Court judge, and every so often feeling like a fish out of water, are some of the challenges he faced in his role deep in the heart of his beloved Imps. That’s not to say there weren’t good times though. Winning matches, appearing at the national stadium, and meeting brilliant football people were all part of Bradley’s life as Lincoln City’s man of the people. Imposter is the story of an ordinary fan thrown in at the deep end at his football club and at other sporting organisations. It’s about the stresses and strains, the triumphs and tragedies, and the lessons learned. Most of all though it’s about how clubs…all clubs…should involve their supporters behind the scenes. It’s their game and they deserve it.
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