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Lincoln star Ethan Erhahon reveals team hid physio’s car in training ground prank and he was offered ‘scrap’ by fan
Scottish midfielder reveals a dressing-room story as cheeky as his club's nickname
ETHAN ERHAHON has already packed plenty into his career.
Only 23, the midfielder has played at three levels and been capped by Scotland in four age groups - up to Under-21s.
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But the former St Mirren star might play another decade and never encounter a wackier episode than the prank his Lincoln City team-mates pulled on the club physio.
That was a mischievous jape worthy of City's nickname - The Imps.
In contrast, one experience with an opposition fan, who threatened more than just banter, could have turned out far nastier.
Here are some of the trials and tribulations of League One life seen by Erhahon - in his own words
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Best opponent?
Ronnie Edwards. Peterborough last season. He was really good.
We played against Peterborough and they liked to play it from the back, but we liked to get after them and he kept breaking and pressing stuff.
(Defender Edwards, 21, was named in the L1 team of the year - winning a £3million summer move to Southampton.)
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Most difficult EFL fans?
I got a bit from Blackpool this season. Especially after the game, some fella offered me a scrap or something, so I'd probably say Blackpool, yeah.
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I don't know what he was doing, he was gesturing to me anyway, that he wanted me to come over to the barrier and give him a scrap or something.
Best away fans?
I'd say Portsmouth, for sure, they backed the team the whole way.
Last season, missing out in the play-offs, coming down to the final day, and we obviously missed out by two points in the final day, Portsmouth beat us, that still kind of haunts me.
Maddest dressing room tale?
Last season's end-of-season do was pretty crazy.
Ended up with some players till like five or six in the morning, all the boys had the ties round their head and the tops open and stuff, so, you know, might do the same again this year, hopefully, after we get promoted.
(Team-mates) took the physio's car last year and drove it up the side of the pitch.
There's fields around here, so if you know the training ground, it looks like fields... drove it up the side of the pitch... took the keys and... didn't have a clue where his car went!
So that's probably one of the funniest moments I've ever had at a training ground, for sure.
Craziest transfer tale?
Don't want to name players or agents, but I've heard a few stories!
One guy getting a haircut in the city he was going to play for - the team he was going to play for - and he ended up changing his mind after the haircut, coming out and saying to his agent he doesn't want to go.
I think it was Blackpool, maybe. Not a good barber, maybe, around there!
Dressing-room antics?
Probably something to do with the darts, maybe. The kit man plays, he always gets beat, so it's always a funny moment when he's in there getting beat, we're all laughing at him and stuff.
Owner Harvey [Jabara] put a lot into the club, and they brought us all baseball gloves, signed, and with little Lincoln imps on them, so I've still got that up in my room.
It's a nice gesture. I don't play baseball, but it was certainly a nice gesture, and one that I'll keep forever.
Away-day dressing-room grumble!
I have to say probably in the [Bristol Street Motors] Trophy last week, Grimsby, away. The changing room's a bit old-school, shall we say!
A bit small and stuff, so, I'd have to say Grimsby's changing room.
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Anton Ferdinand is Ethan's menor
ETHAN ERHAHON wants to one day play in the Premier League — and has enlisted an old friend to help him get there.
The Lincoln midfield star is being tipped to leave Sincil Bank for a club record fee of around £1MILLION either this January or in the summer after a string of superb performances in League One.
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Erhahon, 23, has attracted a lot of Championship interest and is being looked after by former West Ham, Sunderland and QPR defender Anton Ferdinand, who is acting as his agent.
And the Scottish-Nigerian ace has revealed Ferdinand’s advice has not just related to football — but also hairstyles!
He laughed: “Anton took me for my first proper haircut at the barbers!
“I used to have longer hair so I went to hairdressers but he introduced me to the barbers. He even paid for it as well!
“Anton and I played together when I was 17 at St Mirren. And we agreed that he’d look after me.
“His cousin Max Ferdinand is the official registered agent but it’s Anton who looks after me mostly.
“Anton has watched me grow and used to tell me he saw a bit of himself in me!”
Ferdinand made 218 appearances in the top flight after graduating through the West Ham youth system.
And he also enjoyed time in Turkey with Bursaspor and Antalyasoir and stints in the EFL with Reading and Southend before finishing his career north of the border in the SPL.
Erhahon said: “It’s so important to have someone who has been like you before and wants to get to the top level.
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“Anton got a few good moves in his career as well. It was good to sit down with him the first time.
“We went for dinner a few years back with me and my mum. We all got on well, very close knit. The two of them look after me.
“And he is always giving me advice. He tells me that I’m pretty hard on myself sometimes. I’m my biggest critic and that can affect me on the pitch and training as well.
“He’s been through it before as well. When things don’t go your way, it’s about how you bounce back and recover from it.
“That’s my biggest lesson. It’s happened to people at the top level and I’m not at that level yet so it shows it can happen to anybody.”
Erhahon says he cannot wait to watch his good friend take part as a contestant in the latest series of Dancing on Ice, which starts in the new year.
But he is not so sure his ice skating skills are anywhere on a par with his football tips.
He laughed: “That’s going to be funny watching him do that. I’m not sure he’s any good. He’s a bit stiff so we’ll have to see!”
Ethan's roots and move down south
Erhahon — who has a Scottish mother and Nigerian father — moved to the Imps in January 2023.
And he has thoroughly enjoyed developing his skills in Lincolnshire after breaking through into the SPL. His performances were so respected by his team-mates last season, he was named the club's players' player of the year.
The Imps narrowly missed out on reaching the play-offs last season and Erhahon hopes the club can gatecrash them this time around.
He said: “I’d been at St Mirren since the age of four so it was probably time for me to seek a new platform.
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“I’m a Rangers fan so it was great to have faced and beaten both the Old Firm teams.
“But maybe eyes don’t see you as much in Scotland so I wanted to test that out and take myself to the highest level in England possible.
“This was a club that had clear aims and ambitions to get promoted. I wanted to join a club that had ambitions like mine — to progress.
“They also are a club that cares about individuals. Before I signed they came up to see me in Scotland — all these sorts of things make the difference.
"And the standard has been good."
Erhahon's attracting transfer interest
During the summer Burnley, Norwich, Hull and West Brom were sniffing around — and his high-energy performance this season has only intensified the interest.
Lincoln have a playing budget that is in the bottom third of League One and they have to raise funds from developing players to realistically compete.
Asked about the speculation, Erhahon said: “I have to see what happens in January. Director of football Jez George and people high up at the club sat with me and my agent and said if anyone meets our valuation we’ll have a discussion.
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“There’s no rush to move. I’m happy here and enjoy it.
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“As soon as that summer window shut, it was about getting my head down and playing. We all agreed any move would have to be right for me and I wasn’t going to jump at the first offer.
“In football, you want to go as high as possible, whether that’s through getting promoted with them, or going elsewhere. But we have a great relationship and everything is good.”
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