Sixty-five years is a long time to wait. When Lincoln City last hosted second-tier football, Yuri Gagarin had not yet left the Earth's atmosphere and the game in question was a 2-0 win over Leyton Orient. On Saturday, the Imps finally returned to that level, and Sincil Bank was ready to make a occasion of it, even if the final scoreline read Portsmouth 3-1 Lincoln.

A historic afternoon, whatever the result

The attendance of 10,545 was the biggest Sincil Bank had seen in more than 40 years, and the mood before kick-off was everything a club that won League One last season with north of 100 points deserved. Lincoln finished 12 points clear at the top of the third tier, so there was genuine belief here that this was a team built to compete, not merely to survive.

The club has backed that belief with roughly £10m of investment in the ground over the summer: a new fan village, a large screen and upgraded stands. The air raid siren that sounds each time a Lincoln corner is delivered into the box still rings out, and the 4-4-2 that carried them up through the Football League remains the tactical identity of choice under joint managers Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw, who took over from Michael Skubala ahead of this campaign.

Whether that shape will need to evolve as the season progresses is a fair question, and one that Saturday gave some early evidence on. It will take more than one afternoon to answer it properly, but Portsmouth tested it thoroughly.

Portsmouth punish the Imps twice over

Lincoln had their moments. Ben House went clean through early on and failed to convert, a miss that might have shifted the entire narrative of the afternoon. Instead, Portsmouth made them pay. Strikes from Ryan Kavuma-McQueen and Adrian Segecic put Pompey two goals ahead, the quality of both underscoring precisely what the step up to the Championship means. These are not the chances or the finishes Lincoln's defenders will have faced in League One.

Reeco Hackett's penalty before half-time restored some hope and briefly made Sincil Bank believe a comeback was possible. But Ebou Adams settled the contest in the 69th minute, his strike giving Portsmouth a first win of the season and leaving Lincoln with two defeats from their opening Championship fixtures.

That the vast majority of supporters stayed until the final whistle, and many lingered in the new fan village afterwards to talk through the defeat, tells you something about the relationship between this club and its supporters. Togetherness, as co-manager Tom Shaw acknowledged, has been central to everything Lincoln have built. "It's been an amazing day for the club," Shaw said after the match. "The atmosphere was fantastic at the start of the game."

Context matters: two defeats is not a crisis

It would be easy to look at two losses and begin asking sharp questions. But context matters enormously here. Lincoln are a newly promoted club playing Championship football for the first time in living memory for most of their supporters. Portsmouth, for their part, are a club with their own ambitions in this division and arrived at Sincil Bank with purpose.

The more instructive test will come over the next month or two, once Lincoln have adjusted to the tempo and intensity of the second tier. The 4-4-2 worked brilliantly in League One because it was drilled to perfection and the players believed in it completely. Whether it offers enough protection at the back and enough creativity going forward against Championship opposition is something the data from a handful of games cannot yet settle. We will need a larger sample.

What is clear is that Lincoln's foundations, on and off the pitch, look considerably sturdier than those of many clubs who have been in this division for years. The ground improvements signal genuine ambition from ownership. The recruitment of Cohen and Shaw as a joint management team is unconventional, but so was winning League One by 12 points.

Saturday was one defeat, dressed in the colours of a celebration. Lincoln City are a Championship club again, and Sincil Bank knows it.

Frequently asked

When did Lincoln City last play in the Championship?
Lincoln City last played in the second tier in the 1960-61 season, making their return in 2026 their first appearance at that level for 65 years.
What was the score when Portsmouth played Lincoln at Sincil Bank?
Portsmouth beat Lincoln 3-1. Kavuma-McQueen and Segecic scored for Pompey in the first half, Reeco Hackett replied with a penalty for Lincoln, and Ebou Adams sealed it in the 69th minute.
Who are Lincoln City's managers this season?
Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw are jointly managing Lincoln City this season, having taken over from Michael Skubala ahead of the club's return to the Championship.