What Michael Skubala said to Lincoln City players in the dressing room after promotion revealed | OneFootball

Lincoln City have shared footage of Michael Skubala's celebratory speech to his Imps players.

Lincoln City boss Michael Skubala gave his players a passionate celebratory speech after they sealed promotion to the Championship on Easter Monday.

The Imps' 2-1 victory over Reading saw them promoted to the second tier of English football for the first time in 65 years, and Skubala has highlighted the incredible feat his squad have achieved.

Before a ball was kicked, few League One observers tipped Lincoln to land an automatic promotion spot, let alone seal one with five games left to spare.

Skubala's men are also 12 points clear of second-place Cardiff City, and will be keen to clinch the title as soon as possible.

Michael Skubala delivers passionate Lincoln City promotion speech

Lincoln's historic victory over Reading will live long in the memory of supporters, but it is the LNER Stadium side's season as a whole which has been majorly impressive.

Remarkably, the Imps haven't lost in League One since a 3-2 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers on 22 November, as their win against the Royals extended their unbeaten run to 24 games.

Skubala's men will fancy their chances of taking one step closer to the title this Saturday, as they take on Leyton Orient, who are just four points clear of the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Lincoln uploaded footage of Skubala's promotion speech via X: "Football's always been about winning, and you are f***ing winners, but there's more important things than that.

"Football is about creating f***ing memories. It's about creating memories, and you've created so many memories this season. What we've done, historic stuff, winning games, everything like that.

"You are an exceptional, sensational group of players. The work rate, the mentality every day, you are unbelievable. You are a sensational group of staff that works so hard for the players to get what you want.

"You should be so proud of yourselves, your families will be proud, you're f***ing proud of each other. But the most important thing, we keep going, we push again.

"We'll have a beer, we'll enjoy it because you have to enjoy it. We'll then go after the title, and then we'll be in the Championship!"

Lincoln City have a vital summer transfer window up ahead

Lincoln's promotion has provided one of, if not the most notable narratives in the whole EFL season, as they finished 17 points adrift of the League One play-offs just last term and have one of the third tier's smallest budgets.

The Imps' rise to the Championship has also continued the remarkable story of a club who were playing non-league football fewer than 10 years ago, and went on to win the League Two title in 2019.

Lincoln came close to sealing promotion to the second tier following a successful 2020/21 season, as they reached the League One play-off final, but were beaten by Blackpool at Wembley.

The LNER Stadium outfit hadn't finished in the top six since then, until this term, when they appear more likely than not to go on and win the third-tier title.

For now, Skubala and Co can celebrate their historic feat, but the Championship is a different beast to League One, and Lincoln will be eager to equip themselves for potential second-tier survival.

The Imps' resources are significantly less than that of next term's Championship rivals, but they must still find a way to recruit well in the summer transfer window, to avoid an immediate third-tier return.