Season 1948-49 Season 1949-50
Lynn appointed Ken Gadsby as player coach. Gadsby had joined Leeds United from Middlecliffe Rovers at the age of 17 in 1934 and made a total of 171 appearances in the following fourteen years, and also toured with the FA to South Africa in 1939.
Gadsby was given a two year contact by Lynn as they began their first year as a “professional club” - meaning that they paid some of the players not that the players were full-time professionals.
Season tickets were five shillings and holders were allowed to vote at general meetings of the club.
The 1948-49 season was one in which Lynn learnt a lot about having professionals on their books, including some things that they had not anticipated.
In order to find players of the right quality Lynn had to cast the net further afield than they had previously and by the end of September Lynn had eight professionals on their books including Nottingham based striker Arnold Bramham who, by early October, had scored sixteen of Lynn's 38 goals. Lynn's other non-local players included Mears (Kent), Jones (Surrey), and Roberts (Grimsby).
The players were reliant on the railway network to get to matches and this did not always work.
The visit to league leaders Chelmsford Reserves saw players delayed by fog and veteran YMCA and Ingoldisthorpe 'keeper Hooks, who had travelled as a supporter and not played for some years, was called on to make an unexpected debut. Trailing 4-2 at half-time Chelmsford went on to score a further seven in the second half.
Lynn learnt that there would hidden costs in employing players and ideally the club should be able to find players not just employment but also somewhere locally to live.
The club also discovered that once on contract the players might not always try their hardest as "Linnet" writing in the Pink Un reflected that:
"The apparent absence of any strong urge to win their way back into the senior side had been disappointing".
Work on the ground continued with the Supporters' Club donating £150 towards improvements and work on installing turnstiles in all four corners of the ground began – the handover ceremony taking place on 10 May 1949.
There were setbacks - a licence to have covered accommodation on the Broad Walk side of the ground was initially refused whilst gales in early March ripped off a large section of the stand roof and splintered some of the supports.
Lynn managed their first victory at Great Yarmouth in the Norfolk Senior Cup for twenty years but railway officials warned the club that, if it was not better supported away from home, the special train service might have to stop. Only 124 supporters travelled in the 11-coach train that was supplied for the trip to Yarmouth.
Away league matches against the A teams of Spurs, Chelsea, Arsenal and West Ham were played at The Walks - which resulted in a fixture backlog for Lynn Reserves playing in the Peterborough & District League. To overcome this there were occasions when two matches were played at The Walks on a Saturday - the reserves match following the first team.
Lynn reached the final of the Norfolk Senior Cup but were embarrassed by losing to Carrow.
Of the eight professionals on the books at the end of the season only three were retained.
For the fourth season in succession Lynn were removed from the FA Cup by Cambridge Town - although it was the first time that Lynn had had a three match run behind them before going out of the competition in extra time.
Lynn completed their first post war season in the Eastern Counties League in 11th place out of 16 teams with Bramham the leading scorer with 30 goals. Bishop (13) and Heagren (11), Daynes (9) and Davies and Isbill (both 8) were the other leading marksmen. In the Peterborough League the Reserves finished runners-up to Parson Drove the latter managed by former Lynn player Armeson.
The 22 league games played at The Walks was watched by an average crowd of 3,157 almost double that of the previous season but not enough according to secretary Len Rush - “We need a match average of 4,000 - £200 a match, if we are sure to be paying our way.
The final match of the season saw Lynn defeat Histon Institute after extra time to secure the Lynn Hospital Cup - a game which saw new turnstiles used for the the first time.
On 7th May The Walks hosted an inter-league match between the Eastern Counties League and the Athenian League. The latter, boasting a number of amateur internationals, won 3-1 before a crowd of nearly 5.900. Lynn's coach Ken Gadsby was captain for the ECL side which also included Lynn defender Roy Jeffries.