Lincoln City celebrated their long-awaited return to English football's second tier in style on Saturday, securing victory away at Middlesbrough on the opening weekend of the season. It marked the club's first appearance in the second flight since 1961, a gap of 65 years that predates the Football League's restructuring and spans the managerial careers of Bill Shankly and Brian Clough.
The visitors made an ideal start at the Riverside Stadium, going ahead in the 12th minute when captain Tendayi Darikwa surged down the right flank and cut the ball back for Adam Reach, who arrived at pace to finish emphatically into the bottom right corner. Middlesbrough almost levelled soon after when Luke Ayling's long-range strike flashed narrowly wide, but Lincoln held firm to claim a memorable three points on their return to the Championship.
Elsewhere across the division, Saturday's early kickoff produced a thriller at the Madejski Stadium, though that clash was actually a League One fixture between Reading and Luton Town. Reading raced into a commanding position, with Jack Marriott scoring a hat-trick to add to an early opener from Jake Richards, putting the hosts 3-1 up at half-time. However, Luton produced a stunning second-half comeback, with Kasey Palmer scoring twice in quick succession to level the score before Gideon Kodua struck a dramatic 96th-minute winner, rattling the ball off the crossbar before slotting home from close range to complete a 4-3 victory for the Hatters.
In the Championship, newly-promoted Bolton Wanderers made a statement at the top of the table with a 2-1 win over Preston North End. Sam Dalby and Thierry Gale scored either side of the half-hour mark to put Steven Schumacher's side in control, and despite Jusef Erabi pulling one back for Preston late on, Bolton held on for a victory that ended their opponents' long unbeaten record against them stretching back to 2001.
At Portsmouth, Terry Devlin opened the scoring with a well-struck effort from around 30 yards that flew into the net, giving the hosts an early lead against Queens Park Rangers. In League One, Leicester City's rebuild under new manager Russell Martin continued to show signs of promise, with Jayden Joseph's goal helping them come from behind against Notts County, who had taken the lead through Conor Grant, in a match that finished 1-1.
Other Saturday fixtures saw goals flow freely elsewhere. Stoke City twice took the lead against Swansea City, first through Eric Bocat's stunning strike from the edge of the box, before Joseph Opoku marked his debut for the visitors with a deflected volley to level. Cambridge United got their season underway with an early goal from Kell Watts against Wigan Athletic, while Derby County's Sammy Szmodics struck from the edge of the box to give his side the lead at Charlton Athletic. At Ashton Gate, Bristol City and Millwall shared a goalless draw, though Millwall's Josh Coburn saw his afternoon complicate when he was booked for simulation after opting to go down under minimal contact from goalkeeper Sam Tickle rather than round him and shoot. Norwich City and West Bromwich Albion also played out a stalemate, despite a promising second-half move from Kenny McLean and Anis Ben Slimane that almost broke the deadlock.
With the new campaign underway, all eyes will turn to how Lincoln's remarkable achievement translates over the coming weeks as they look to establish themselves in a much-changed second tier.
Based on reporting from The Guardian.