Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland League for two seasons, before joining the Southern League in 1901. They were crowned Southern League champions in 1908–09, allowing them to contest the 1909 FA Charity Shield. Admitted into the Football League in 1920, they spent the next 38 years in the Third Division South. Under Dave Bowen, the club achieved three promotions from the Fourth Division to the First Division within five years. However, Northampton only survived for one season in the top tier of English football, being relegated in 1966. Northampton then experienced two further relegations in three years to return to the Fourth Division by 1969 – this set a record in English football of moving from the fourth tier to the first tier and back in only nine years. After six seasons of stability in the fourth tier, the club won promotion before returning to the Fourth Division after another relegation in 1977. Northampton won further promotions to the third tier in 1987 and 1997.
Relegated in 1999, they won immediate promotion after securing an automatic promotion place the following season. However they were once more relegated after three seasons of struggle in the third tier, before securing promotion out of League Two in 2005–06 after two unsuccessful play-off campaigns. Relegated at the end of their third season in League One, they won the League Two title in 2015–16, but only lasted two seasons in League One before again being relegated. In 2020, they gained promotion to League One, but were relegated to League Two once again after a single season in the third tier. They won promotion back to League One in 2023.
Northampton are nicknamed the Cobblers, a reference to the town's historical shoe-making industry, and the team traditionally plays in claret and white kits. The Cobblers played at the County Ground from 1897 until 1994, when they moved to Sixfields Stadium, which has a capacity of 8,203. Northampton's predominant rivals have been Peterborough United in the Nene derby.
History
Formation and early history
The club was founded on 6 March 1897 by a group of local school teachers who, together with a local solicitor A.J "Pat" Darnell at The Princess Royal Inn, Wellingborough Road, formed the town's first professional football club. Initially, their chosen name was Northampton Football Club, but after objections from the town's rugby club, the club was called Northampton Town Football Club. They joined the Northants League and spent two seasons there, winning the championship the second season. They then spent two seasons in the Midland League, before joining the Southern League in 1901–02. Led by player-manager Herbert Chapman the club were champions of the Southern League in 1908–09 and played against Newcastle United in the Charity Shield match, losing 2–0 at The Oval.Inter-war period
In 1919–20, the first season after the war, Town conceded a club record 103 goals. Nonetheless, the club was allowed to join the Football League for the following season, in Division Three. 1922–23 saw the club become a public company and 8,000 shares were released at £1. The season produced a record crowd of 18,123 against Plymouth on Boxing Day and gate receipts for the first time exceeded £1,000. 1923–24 started with the club raising £5,000 to build a stand with a players' tunnel underneath and also improved terracing in the Hotel End. The following season saw the formation of the supporters' club. In 1925 the club's first foreign transfer took place as William Shaw was signed from Barcelona. A new ground record was set for the F.A. Cup third-round replay with Sunderland. 21,148 turned up to see the Cobblers lose 3–0. However, disaster occurred at the County Ground during December 1929, when a fire destroyed three stands, with damage valued at around £5,000. Only one stand was saved although this was charred. The source of the fire was thought to be in the away dressing room; the Cobblers had earlier entertained AFC Bournemouth reserves. By August 1930, the stands were rebuilt.In 1932–33, the club created history when brothers Fred and Albert Dawes both scored in an 8–0 win over Newport County. The latter finished the season scoring 32 league goals and even scored four in a 4–0 win over the Netherlands national football team while the club was on tour. In 1933–34, the F.A. Cup fifth round was reached for the first time courtesy of a fourth round win away to Huddersfield Town who, at the time were top of Division One. The Cobblers lost to Preston North End 4–0 at Deepdale, setting a new ground record of 40,180. In the three seasons prior to the breakout of World War II, the Cobblers finished seventh, ninth and 17th respectively in Division Three. In the final match prior to the war, they travelled to Dean Court and lost 10–0, the club's record league defeat. During the war the Cobblers had the record for the first transfer fee received during the hostilities when Bobby King was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers for a substantial four-figure fee.
Rise and fall
Northampton were promoted three times in the five years 1960 to 1965. Starting the 1960–61 season in the Fourth Division, they reached the First Division in 1965–66, their only season ever in the top division of English football. They were then relegated back to the Fourth Division over the next five years, playing in the bottom tier again in 1969–70. During their top-flight season they earned a double against Aston Villa and victories at home over clubs including Leeds, Newcastle, West Ham, and Blackburn, the latter being the only team which finished below Northampton in the table.Since their relegation from the Second Division in 1966–67, Northampton have played every season in either the third or fourth tier of English football.
1970s and 80s
In 1970, they lost 8–2 to Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round. Six of the goals conceded were scored by George Best, who received the match ball as a reward for his performance. For the first time since becoming a league side the club had to apply for re-election in 1971, they finished the most favoured club with 49 votes. In the 1974–75 season, future England International Phil Neal was sold, after 200 games in all competitions for the Cobblers, Liverpool bought Neal for a then club record of £65,000, whilst playing in the same side of another future England International, John Gregory. Finally during the 1975–76 season, the club finished second in Division Four and were promoted behind champions Lincoln City. They did this without losing a home game and having every regular player score during the season, including the goalkeeper, Alan Starling, who netted from a penalty in the penultimate home game against Hartlepool. In 1976–77, the club were relegated back to Division Four. The season started with ex-Manchester United assistant manager, Paddy Crerand in charge; however, he resigned in the new year. No new manager was appointed and instead a committee was formed consisting of the chairman, the coach and three senior players. Prior to the start of the 1979–80 season, George Reilly was sold to Cambridge United for a then-club record of £165,000.New floodlights were installed in time for the 1980–81 season, but they failed during the first match against Southend United and the game had to be abandoned. The club struggled in the bottom half of the Fourth Division for the first half of the decade, but 16-year-old Aidy Mann became the club's youngest player in May 1984. In 1984–85, the lowest ever league attendance was recorded at the County Ground where only 942 people turn up to watch the Cobblers lose 2–0 at home to Chester City; this was also Northampton's only ever league attendance below 1,000. In the same year, the club managed what seemed like a major coup when they appointed as manager Tony Barton, who had won the European Cup with Aston Villa two years previously. Barton's only season in charge proved severely disappointing however, as the club were never outside the bottom two, and health problems forced Barton's resignation near the end of that season. Success was achieved under Barton's replacement, Graham Carr, who brought in several players from the non-league in addition to a number of quality league players to finish eighth in his first season in charge. The 1986–87 season saw Northampton win the Fourth Division championship, gaining a club record total of 99 points and scoring 103 goals, 29 of them from Richard Hill, who was transferred in the summer to Watford for a club record fee of £265,000. The club adjusted to life in Division Three quickly and just missed out on a play-off place despite finishing sixth. Important players such as Trevor Morley and Eddie McGoldrick were sold and the team fell back down to Division Four in the 1989–90 season.
Early 1990s
The 1990s began badly, with the club relegated to the Fourth Division at the end of the 1989–90 season. The following season began well as the club looked on course to return to the Third Division at the first attempt. They were top of the table in February, but fell away and finished mid-table. Things then got even worse and the club went into administration in April 1992, with debts of around £1.6 million. Ten players were sacked and youth players were drafted in to make up the numbers; results did not improve. These events sparked the formation of the Northampton Town Supporters' trust, which has a shareholding in the club and a representative on the board of directors. This was the first such instance of a supporters' trust taking over a football club.The club needed to win the final game of the 1992–93 season to avoid being relegated to the Conference. Over 2,500 made the trip to Shrewsbury Town and saw the Cobblers win 3–2, despite being 2–0 down at half-time. The 1993–94 season got worse for the Cobblers as they finished bottom of the Football League for the only time in the club's history. Relegation was only avoided due to the Conference champions, Kidderminster Harriers, not meeting the necessary ground criteria. The club eventually began its move to Sixfields.