Lincoln City have been crowned the 2017/18 Checkatrade Trophy champions after upsetting Shrewsbury Town 1-0 on their very first visit to Wembley Stadium.
Elliot Whitehouse scored the only goal of the game in the 16th minute to win the Imps the EFL Trophy for the first time in their history, while the club becomes only the fifth fourth-tier side in the competition’s 35-year history to lift the trophy.
The other four teams to achieve this feat were Wolves (1988), Carlisle (1997), MK Dons (2008) and Luton (2009).
Meanwhile, you’ve got to feel for Shrewsbury whose search for EFL Trophy glory goes on, with the club now a losing finalist on two occasions.
The Cowley brothers deserve huge praise for their work at Lincoln, with whom they led into the Football League last season, while they also became the first non-league side to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals in over a century.
In the aftermath Danny Cowley paid tribute to both his players and the fans:
“I’m so proud of the players. A lot of them have come from right of the bottom of non-league to get here.
“27,000 supporters for a League Two club is incredible.”
After winning the EFL Trophy the Cowley brothers and Lincoln will now be looking to win promotion up to League One. The Imps are currently in 6th spot with six games to go, meaning they have a cracking chance of securing a play-off place, and maybe even an automatic promotion spot.
But for the moment at least, Lincoln fans can kick back and watch Whitehouse’s historic and magical moment over and over again:
The Wembley winner. 🔴⚪️
