Cobblers game from 2011 was targeted by match fixers, according to convicted former player

Swaibu, who came through Crystal Palace’s academy and played for the likes of Lincoln City, Bromley and Kettering Town, served four months of a 16-month prison sentence in 2015 after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit bribery following an investigation into match-fixing and an alleged betting syndicate.

The 35-year-old has opened up about his experiences in a new BBC podcast 'Confessions of a Match Fixer', and it was during his time at Lincoln when he was approached by match-fixers ahead of a League Two fixture against Northampton at Sixfields.

According to the BBC, Swaibu ‘sat at the back of the Lincoln team coach with a duffel bag containing £60,000-worth of euro notes’ as Lincoln took on the Cobblers in January 2011.

The article continues: “It had been offered to Swaibu and three of his team-mates by ‘a guy who looked like something stereotypical from a film, a scary Russian bad guy’. It was theirs to keep if they could ensure Lincoln were 1-0 down against Northampton at half-time of their League Two match.

“Unbeknown to the rest of the team, Swaibu and the other three brought the money into the changing room.

"Ultimately, they didn't fix the match, in fact most of the potential conspirators were on the bench for the game anyway. They returned the money and stayed quiet.”

The game in question was 0-0 at half-time and ended 2-1 to the Cobblers thanks to John Johnson’s late winner.