Northampton Town was founded in 1897 after meetings between the town’s schoolteachers and local solicitor A.J. Darnell. At the time schoolboy football was strong in the county due in part to the enthusiasm of the local teachers. They were however dissatisfied with the current arrangement of arranged friendlies between schools preferring to teach the boys through practical examples and they felt this could be done by forming a town team. At the same time A.J. Darnell travelled to Leicester with the local Rugby team and whilst there witnessed an exhibition football match between Leicester Fosse and Notts County. This gave him the desire to start his own club in Northampton. Mr Darnell and the local schoolteachers came together through their shared aims and on 6 March 1897, at the Princess Royal Inn on the Wellingborough Road, Northampton Football Club was formed. Following objections from the town’s rugby club the team were forced to adopt the name of Northampton Town to avoid trouble. The club gained permission to play home matches at the county ground, home of Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, providing that no games were scheduled between May and September, and this was to remain their home for the next 97 years. Their first proper real game was against Earls Barton f.c.
Northampton Town joined the Northants League and spent two seasons there before moving on to the Midland League. Only two seasons later they joined the Southern League in the 1901-02 season. In the 1908-09 season manager Herbert Chapman helped the Cobblers to be crowned champions of the Southern League, and they later faced Newcastle United in the Charity Shield at Stamford Bridge where they lost 2-0 . Herbert Chapman left to manage Leeds City in 1912, and went on to win the league championship four times: twice at Huddersfield Town, and twice at Arsenal.
In 1910, Northampton Town bought Walter Tull from Tottenham Hotspur. Tull was the second professional black footballer in English football, and stayed with Northampton Town until the outbreak of the First World War, when he volunteered for the British Army. Tull was killed in action in 1918 and the road which leads to Northampton's Sixfields Stadium is called "Walter Tull Way", in his honour.
From the 1930s to the 1950s Northampton Town had attempted to rise from the regional Third Division South, but were promoted only twice and were immediately relegated. They played their only season of their existence in the top division of English football when they reached the First Division in 1965-66. Northampton had been promoted from the Fourth Division to the First Division in successive seasons but were then relegated back to the Fourth Division, also in successive seasons. This is a feat unmatched by any other club.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 (signed by Northampton players) as a reward for his performance.
A financial crisis at the club led to the foundation of Britain's first Supporters' Trust.
The club finished bottom of the Football League's new Division Three in 1993-94, only avoiding relegation to the Conference because Kidderminster Harriers did not have a satisfactory stadium to join the Football League. Manager John Barnwell was sacked soon afterwards to make way for Ian Atkins, and the club began to move forward. In 1996-97 they won promotion to Division Two, thanks to a playoff final victory at Wembley over Swansea City. In a dramatic finale to the game, left back John Frain scored a retaken 93rd-minute free kick to send the side up. Northampton almost made it two successive promotions the following season, but were beaten 1-0 by Grimsby Town in the Division Two playoff final. The club went down a year later and Atkins resigned, but promotion was earned at the first attempt under new manager Kevin Wilson.
Kevin Wilson was sacked in November 2001 to make way for his assistant Kevan Broadhurst, who steered the Cobblers to Division Two survival. But Broadhurst was sacked in January 2003 with Northampton struggling at the foot of the division, and was briefly replaced by Terry Fenwick, who in turn left after just seven weeks to make way for Martin Wilkinson. Wilkinson lasted little longer, being dismissed in October 2003 in favour of former Scotland and Tottenham Hotspur defender Colin Calderwood.
Calderwood led Northampton to the play-offs in his first season, where they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Mansfield Town after a penalty shoot-out. In the 2004-05 season, Northampton finished 7th, again in the play-offs, where they were defeated by Southend United. Following this, the manager made substantial changes to the squad, and they enjoyed a successful 2005-06 league season. On April 29, the Cobblers clinched promotion to Football League One for 2006-07, with a 1-0 win at home to Chester City. On 30 May 2006, Northampton announced that Calderwood was leaving to join Nottingham Forest as their new manager, and was replaced by John Gorman on 5 June.
On 20 December, Gorman resigned due to "personal issues" with the side 18th in the table, with Ian Sampson and Jim Barron briefly taking care of first team affairs. He was replaced by former Southampton boss Stuart Gray on 2 January 2007.
The club finished 14th at the end of the 2006/07 season, 12 points clear from the relegation zone. Gray made radical changes selling Bradley Johnson and allowing Andy Kirk to leave on a free transfer to Yeovil.
2007-08 brought Northampton's highest finish in a decade, as they finished ninth with 66 points. However, the following season was less successful and the Cobblers, finishing twenty-first with 49 points, were relegated to League Two. |