The pride around Sincil Bank as the Imps head towards promotion

"It's teamwork all the way through, and I can see that teamwork now filtering through the terraces, and it's absolutely wonderful," says Lincoln City supporter Margaret Done. As the League One leaders edge towards the second tier of English football for the first time since 1961, Margaret and other members of the Sincil Bank community reflect on what the moment means to them.

"It is a family ground and a family unit. Now they've got this team spirit working, it's brilliant. It's absolutely amazing [compared with] what it was," Margaret says.

Now in her 80s, she has watched generations of Imps teams, but this season tops the lot.

For supporters such as her, the significance of reaching the Championship would be enormous.

"It's a fantastic atmosphere [at] the game," she tells BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

"It's just a wonderful place to come, to have a laugh with friends."

Margaret volunteers as a mental health first responder for the Red Imps Community Trust, drawing on five years' experience as a hospital chaplain.

"I just want to do it because I've gained so much, I want to give something back," she says.

For 50 years, Barbara Gooding has lived three doors down from the LNER Stadium.

She says matchdays have never been a problem.

"Even with the crowds getting bigger, we just get used to it," she says.

"I'm just pleased for them... I used to go watch them in the Seventies and then I was told I was a jinx because they kept losing."

Barbara has not been to a match this year and the team have been winning, so perhaps she is a jinx after all...

Just 50 metres from the Stacey-West Stand, Jalel Mohammed runs Lincoln City Chippy – and he is close enough to hear every roar.

"We see Lincoln score... we're hearing a big sound," he says.

Jalel, who has run the shop for five years, says matchdays bring a steady stream of fans and locals.

Originally from Kurdistan, Jalel says he had heard of Lincoln City before working at the chippy, but he "did not know they were not that good".

But he is pleased at the improvement in their fortunes this season.

"They are doing very [well] this year... so we are very happy to see that," he says.

One person who knows the Sincil Bank terraces better than most is Gary Hutchinson, who spent 16 years as the club's mascot, Poacher the Imp.

Gary reflects on the significance of the Stacey-West Stand, named after Bill Stacey and Jim West, the two Lincoln fans who lost their lives in the 1985 Bradford City fire.

"Stacey-West is where I kind of grew up," he says. "It resonates with me. It's a connection with the club and it's also a connection that runs much, much deeper and much further into history."

Gary has been by the club's side through highs and lows.

"I really enjoyed my time as Poacher and it came at an interesting time for the club," he says.

His stint included the time the club went into administration in 2002 following the collapse of ITV Digital, and supporters had to raise money to keep the club afloat.

Reflecting on the lighter times, Gary says being the mascot was "like the Wild West".

"Football mascots now can't do some of the things that I did," he says.

One particular memory stands out to him. He recalls away fans singing some "unsavoury songs" to him, so he waved at them – "in a nature that may have looked mildly offensive".

Two police officers warned him, but he did it again. They told him to change out of the mascot suit but, when he did, they could not identify him.

"I remember looking 10 minutes later at these two police officers, stood by the tunnel, realising that they'd been had," he says.

"Nothing actually came of it, but that was quite funny."

Ron Fowler, a former co-owner of Major League Baseball team the San Diego Padres, was confirmed as the club's chairman in February, and the League One leaders have continued their surge towards promotion - they are now unbeaten in 22 league games.

Their most recent match saw them run out 3-0 winners against Rotherham United on 21 March, and they could clinch promotion over the Easter weekend.

But even if the unthinkable happens and Lincoln find a way to blow it at this late stage, Margaret will be keeping hold of her season ticket and will be at games "as long as my legs let me".

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