Exciting times for Lincoln City with fans praising new chairman Ron Fowler’s first interview

Exciting times for Lincoln City with fans praising Ron Fowler’s first interview as the League One club’s new chairman.

The former executive chairman and co-owner of MLB’s San Diego Padres, and his company Liquid Investments, are increasing its stake to become the controlling/majority shareholder.

This comes having received EFL clearance for the change of control, and in his first interview with the club’s media, ahead of the transition, he thanked CEO Jez George, Liam Scully, and former chairman Clive Nates, who remains involved.

Have a watch of what he had to say below, or scroll on further throughout this article including the fan reaction to it…

❤️ An open letter from Clive Nates, who will become co-vice chairman on 4 February.

— Lincoln City FC 🇺🇦 (@LincolnCity_FC) January 26, 2026

OPEN LETTER FROM CLIVE NATES:

An open letter from Clive Nates, who will become co-vice chairman of Lincoln City Football Club on Wednesday 4 February following further investment from Ron Fowler’s Liquid Investments, which will see Ron take over as chair.

I am delighted to hand over the chairmanship of this special club to Ron, who has a proven track record of business acumen and delivering sporting success, which he will now bring to bear for the Imps. This change helps secure the long-term future of the club for many years to come.

It has been an honour to serve as chairman, and I will remain involved as co-vice chairman alongside Jay Wright. I look forward to working with Ron and the rest of the board as we enter an exciting new period on and off the pitch. In Ron, we have someone who truly knows what we are all about. Since joining the investment group in April 2024, Ron has played his part in driving us forward and, like many of us before him, has fallen in love with the club, its fans and what we stand for.

It is close to 10 years since I first joined as a director, and I reflect with real pride on what we’ve achieved together over the past decade. At that point, I’m sure a return to the EFL felt a million miles away to most fans. Yet here we are now, with the club in the upper reaches of the League One table and everyone working hard to make sure we convert that into a strong finish to the season.

Add to that the incredible FA Cup run, playing at Wembley for the first time as we won the EFL Trophy, claiming the League Two title, and establishing ourselves as a progressive and ambitious League One club with a strong track record in developing talent.

And that’s just on the pitch. We are now well established at the Gen2 Energy Elite Performance Centre, we have the magnificent Co-op Community Hub, and the LNER Stadium has been revitalised in many areas, with the pitch now looking like a carpet and the Fan Village established as a cornerstone of the matchday experience. On a similar note, I am also very proud of our reputation as a leading club for fan engagement, family excellence, transparency and governance, areas which I know Ron is equally passionate about, not just from his words but from his impressive background in sports and business.

It has been quite a decade for all of us, and we are hopeful there is more excitement to come as we look ahead with real anticipation to the remaining games this season. Whilst I will very much remain part of the club as co-vice chairman, supporting Ron in delivering his vision for Lincoln City, it feels remiss of me not to take this opportunity to thank a few people to whom I am incredibly grateful.

Firstly, Bob Dorrian, for letting me be part of this amazing club in the first place. Also, Sean Melnick and Ashley Mendelowitz for coming on board at the beginning, without whom there wouldn’t have been sufficient finance to kick-start the turnaround. Danny and Nicky Cowley, for three years of amazing success on the field and, maybe even more importantly, for their determination to establish the Elite Performance Centre. Jay Wright, David Lowes and Roger Bates, for their selfless contribution to our Executive Committee and their support and advice, especially in more difficult times. Harvey Jabara, as our current largest shareholder, for his substantial contribution to enabling us to stay competitive in an increasingly challenging division and, of course, for introducing us to Ron. Liam Scully, Jez George, and so many others within the executive team, for their dedication, loyalty and stability they have provided in a transient industry.

Final thanks must go to our fans for their incredible support. Let’s see what we can achieve together in the years ahead.

Up the Imps
Clive

ℹ️ The EFL have issued clearance for the change of control process which will see Liquid Investments Inc. increase their shareholding in the Imps and Ron Fowler become chairman.

— Lincoln City FC 🇺🇦 (@LincolnCity_FC) January 26, 2026

INTERVIEW WITH RON WALKER:

In a wide-ranging interview with Imps+ to mark his new role, Ron outlined his desire to build on the foundations already in place.

He said: “Lincoln City is really owned by the people of Lincoln, and if we can be a steward of that trust that’s what it’s all about. I feel a strong responsibility to run the team in an appropriate manner, but actually I believe our role is to provide corporate governance and guidance to the management team.

“And the good news for Lincoln City is we have a management team here that is outstanding, and I think that’s going to make it easy. We’re responsible for making sure that team can compete as well as it should, and we have the people in place in management that will ensure that happens.

“I thank the fans for their support over the years, and I hope they continue to support it and maybe even give us more in these final games of the season as we’re competing very effectively at the top of the table.

“If you like what’s happened over the past several years, we’re going to continue that and try to add to it. We hope to give the people who manage it day to day, whether it’s the business or the player side, the resources to continue to be competitive going forward.

“It’s a unique situation where everything is in place so you don’t have to step in and try to change everything. All we have to do is provide some additional funding and make sure we don’t screw it up.”

Exciting times for Lincoln City with fans praising new chairman Ron Fowler’s first interview…

@GrowlerJon: As a Wednesday fan I look on in envy at how your club is being run. I hope you get promotion this season. I think your future looks very exciting, all the best UTI.

@Comins1Sam: Clive what you’ve done for our club is something I know a lot of us imps will be eternally grateful so thank you for that. So pleased that you’re staying on to help Ron and hopefully we can achieve something very very special. 🤎🤍

@redIMPoster: Great watch – good luck to Ron and thank you Clive! 🔴⚪️🔴⚪️⚽️

@JSN_LW: Pinch yourself moment! 🙌🏻

@Long19Alan: A Very warm welcome Mr Fowler. 👏👏 Simple message from me Clive, Thank you.

@philscraf: Very good to see this. We’re in safe hands, I’m sure, and great that all of the key people remain to continue the journey. 👊🔴⚪️

@AKA_DanThompson: A brilliant watch. You’ll do for me, Mr Chairman!

@brumantcornell: Dear Mr @cliven7, Thank you, Mr Clive Nates, for everything you have done for our club as the best chairman that we could ask for, and you will always be a legend in my eyes and to us Imps fans. Thank you, Mr Clive Nates. Yours sincerely Mr @brumantcornell

@gary_burr: Brilliant interview 👏 👌 Great times ahead ⚽️

@RBeaumont9: Brilliant interview this, exciting times ahead hopefully!

@robbradleyrob: On behalf of the board and membership of the Red Imps Community Trust our congratulations and best wishes to Ron Fowler and of course we’ll help in any way we can. A great last ten years and a great future ahead.

@Robbeezley: We love you Clive 😍 so glad you are staying on board because you sir, are a legend! What you’ve done for our club is absolutely phenomenal! What a man! 👏 be more like Clive