Northampton Town Football Club was formed in 1897. After a couple of years playing in local leagues the club turned semi-professional in 1901 and joined the Southern League. In 1905-06 and again in 1906-07 they finished bottom of of the SL Division One, but on neither occasion were relegated to Dision Two. The arrival of a man who would go on to become a football legend, Herbert Chapman, saw a major change in fortunes and they won the title in 1908-09. Thereafter they were contenders right through to the First World War, though without landing another Championship.

The Cobblers were elected to the Football League as founder memebers of the Third Division in 1920 (which became Third Division South in 1921). And that is where they stayed, only coming close to promotion on a couple of occasions, but neither ever needed to seek re-election. As solid citizens for so long in Division Three South they were a little unfortunate to have a poorer spell just as the reorganisation to end regionalisation occurred. They missed the cut and ended up in Division Four for 1958-59.

They remained in the basement for three years but the appointment of Welsh international Dave Bowen as player-manager in 1959 was the catalyst for an unprecedented run of success for the Cobblers. No, it's true. Bowen took the Cobblers to third place in Division Four and promotion in 1961, and in 1963 they won the Third Division title, scoring an impressive 109 goals in the process. Two years later in 1965 Bowen led Northampton to runners-up spot in Division Two, and the club that had spent four decades stuck in the lowest reaches of the Football league had suddenly screamed through to the top flight of the English game in five seasons.

However as spectacular as their rise had been, their subsequent fall was just as eye catching. Only the one season was spent in Division One before relegation, which then took on a momentum all of its own - and it was the same period of five years before the Cobblers were back in the basement of the Football League once again. They had gone from Division Four to Division One and down to Division Four again all crammed in to the Sixties.

It couldn't get worse, could it? Yes, it could. The following season and Northampton were famous again, this time for being the team George Best scored six goals against in an FA Cup tie v Manchester United; and in the league the Cobblers were doing their best to live up to their nickname by being forced to apply for re-election for the first time in their history in 1972. They needed to rely on the chairmens' votes again in 1973.

The '75-'76 season brought a measure of relief with promotion as runners-up to Division Three, but almost inevitably the Cobblers came straight back down a year later. A decade of mediocre and worse seasons in the basement followed, with another two re-elections required, until a revival under the leadership of Graham Carr saw them Division Four Champions 1986-87. This time the Cobblers managed to stay in Division Three for three seasons, but financial pressures meant the club's best players had to be sold and they were relegated yet again in 1990.

The Cobblers were entering their darkest days, with those financial problems coming to a head in 1992. With the club going into administration and 10 players being sacked to save money and replaced by youth team players, unsurprisingly the Cobblers struggled. The following season was even worse, and in 1993-94 worse still as they finished bottom of the Football League for the first time ever. This was the period when the Football League was seeking any and every excuse it could to deny Conference teams promotion, and Northampton were saved when Conference Champions Kidderminster's ground wasn't deemed to be up to standard.

That was the lowest of the low points. Things began to take a turn for the better thereafter. The club's delapidated and three-sided County Ground was abandoned and Northampton moved into the brand new, custom built and council-owned Sixfields Stadium. Ian Atkins was appointed manager and if his brand of football didn't please the purists, the results he got at least began to move them in the right direction. In 1996-97 they got to the play-offs and a claimed 32,000 Cobblers fans celebrated promotion to the now Second Division at Wembley as Northampton beat Swansea City 1-0; and they were all back there again twelve months later for the Second Division play-off final - this time the Cobblers lost however, 1-0 to Grimsby Town.

That was as good as it got, and the following season they were relegated, Atkins losing his job in the process. They went straight back up again through the play-offs but three seasons of struggle and the inevitable relegation caught up with them in 2002-03. Finances were on the rocks once more, and Cobblers fans raised over £200,000 to help keep the club afloat. A boadroom takeover eased the crisis, but too late to save the club from appointing Terry Fenwick as manager. Seven games and seven losses later Fenwick was shown the door, former chief scout Martin Wilkinson taking over, but too late to save the club from the drop. Yet another consortium took over and started spending money like they were the Third Division Chelsea. Cobblers? No, it's true. After a slow start to the 2003-04 season Martin Wilkinson paid the penalty and Colin Calderwood was brought in. A very late run saw them into the play-offs, but no further. It was the play-offs again the following season, and again they failed to progress. In 2005-06 they decided not to chance it a third time, so came up to League One through automatic promotion as runners-up to Carlisle United.

All in the garden seemed rosy as Northampton Town prepared for life back in League One, Nottingham Forest came calling and Colin Calderwood disappeared up the M1. The Cobblers made what most saw as an unexpected decision and appointed John Gorman to replace him. Unexpected because in the previous campaign Gorman had been flying in Northampton's division with Wycombe Wanderers, who looked nailed-on certainties to go up until Gorman had a bereavement. Club and manager disagreed as to what effect the loss of his wife was having on the manager, but whoever knew the truth the result was the same : Wycombe's season disintegrated.

Gorman didn't last long - half a season to be exact. On December 20th 2006 he resigned for "personal reasons", still suffering the after-effects of his wife's death, admitting that he was suffering stress-related problems, although Northampton's 18th place in League One and a poor home record had been putting pressure on him from other angles. Former Southampton boss Stuart Gray took over on January 2nd 2007 and has been there ever since, pulling the Cobblers up to a 14th place finish by the end of the season.

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RECENT RESULTS

29/03/2008	Cheltenham Town	Away	CCL1	D	1-1	4024		Coke 76
05/04/2008	Luton Town	Home	CCL1	W	2-1	5132		Hubertz 34, Dyer 41
12/04/2008	Southend United	Away	CCL1	D	1-1	9286		Larkin 24
19/04/2008	Oldham Athletic	Home	CCL1	W	2-0	5171		Coke 51, Gilligan 64
26/04/2008	Port Vale	Away	CCL1	D	2-2	4556		Gilligan 24, Holt 27
03/05/2008	Tranmere Rovers	Home	CCL1	W	2-1	5088		Akinfenwa 3, Hubertz 68

FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

CLUB GOALSCORERS

Name	LGE	FAC	FAT	LGC	CC	Total
Poul Hubertz	13	0	0	0	0	13
Andy Kirk	8	0	0	0	0	8
Adebayo Akinfenwa	7	0	0	0	0	7
Giles Coke	5	0	0	0	0	5
Ryan Gilligan	4	0	0	0	0	4
Jason Crowe	4	0	0	0	0	4
Daniel Jones	3	0	0	0	0	3
Bradley Johnson	3	0	0	0	0	3
Colin Larkin	2	0	0	0	0	2
Andrew Holt	2	0	0	0	0	2
Dean Bowditch	2	0	0	0	0	2
Alex Dyer	1	0	0	0	0	1
Liam Dolman	1	0	0	0	0	1
Alex Russell	1	0	0	0	0	1
Mark Hughes	1	0	0	0	0	1
Chris Doig	1	0	0	0	0	1
Danny Jackman	1	0	0	0	0	1
Own Goals	1	0	0	0	0	1

ATTENDANCE STATISTICS

Highest League Attendance: 7260, vs Leeds United, 09/02/2008
Lowest League Attendance: 4555, vs Yeovil Town, 25/08/2007
Average League Attendance: 5409

CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS

Games Without A Win:	0		Games Without A Home Win:	0
Games Without An Away Win:	5		Games Without Defeat:	6
Games Without A Home Defeat:	3		Games Without An Away Defeat:	3
Games Without A Draw:	1		Games Without A Score Draw:	1
Games Without A No-Score Draw:	11		Games Without Scoring:	0
Games Without Conceding:	0		Home Results Sequence:	DWLWWW
Away Results Sequence:	WDLDDD		Overall Results Sequence:	DWDWDW

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Parking: Away fans turn right at the roundabout (past the "TGI Friday") and immediately turn right once again at the smaller roundabout (going away from the ground). Go down the hill to the parking area which is situated on your right. The club now have their own car parks (shared with Northampton Saints Rugby club) that operate on a pay and display basis at a cost of 3 pounds. Alternatively, there is a car park behind the North Stand aimed at home fans costing £2.50 or the more away-friendly non-tarmac South Stand car park that again costs £2.50. Be prepared for a long queue on your way out of the ground - it makes exiting Huish Park look easy. You're strongly advised to be cautious about parking elsewhere on the leisure complex as some businesses have a standing £10.00 charge for football supporters on match-days, and others operate wheel clamping schemes.

By Rail

Northampton Station is served by the Silverlink County Service with regular trains running from Birmingham New Street or London Euston. The station is 30-40 minutes walk from the ground, depending on your fitness.

By Bus

Services nos. 1, 27, and 28 go to the ground.

By Taxi

A selection of Northampton taxi companies can be found here.

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The drinking establishments go by the names of:
Chevys - big gorillas on the door grilling fans and booting out any who might vaguely resemble away supporters.
Sixfields Tavern - slightly more tolerant gorillas, but they don't like away colours; has one thing in its favour should you get in - it's from the Hungry Horse chain, which means some tolerable alcohol and large meals.
Old Orleans - faux Americana, with alcohol and food to match, which clearly would prefer not to have nasty football fans in at all.
The Sports Bar - part of a large complex, containing bowling alleys, pool tables, and large screens.
A TGI Friday: went in one near Watford once as someone was holding a party there. Utterly beyond me why anyone would be seen dead in the place, let alone hand over good money.
Franky and Benny's - another restaurant/bar on the site, but quite some way from the ground.

In short the whole enterprise is a hideous monstrosity designed to peddle the lowest common denominator at rip-off prices to the undiscriminating and rack up the biggest profit margin possible. Our advice is to arrive at Sixfields as close as practically possible to kick-off (allowing for finding a legitimate parking space in the middle of the complex). You'll need little encouragement to leave on the final whistle. Except you can't, because what one would have thought would be the only advantage in a development such as this - easy access - has been screwed up. You'll be lucky if you're not still sitting in the car park half an hour later. However if you have the temerity not to use their specially designed vehicle trap it's a £10 fine at best and wheel clamping at worst. Welcome to Sixfields!

Note to all smokers: With the national ban on smoking that came in on July 1st 2007, we're obviously still updating the guides to amend the referencing to "smoking" and "non-smoking" areas. You can take it as read that if it is indoors, it will be a non-smoking area! If we find that a pub has a designated outdoor smoking area, we'll make reference to it, but initially at least, knowledge is going to be sketchy. If anyone knows whether any of the pubs listed below have allocated such facilities, please let us know.

Club Bar :

Club bar? With such quality adjacent to the stadium what need of a club bar.......

Local Pubs :

Fish Inn: In the centre of Northampton - the pedestrianised part. Open 11-11. Beers are Directors, Pedigree, Bombardier, Theakston Old Peculier and the local Frog Island Best Bitter, plus guests. One of the few pubs in this area where one is relatively safe from the shrieks of the Under-21 crowd having a good time and making sure everyone else within a hundred yards hears about it. Fish Inn, 11, Fish Street, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN1 2AA. Tel: 01604 234040. Map: Click Here.

Foundrymans Arms: Stopping off point for those arriving by train and heading from the station to Sixfields along the A428. Shortly before the junction with the A4500 and Franklin Gardens, home of Northampton Rugby Club. Foundrymans Arms, St. James Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN5 5LE. Tel: 01604 751830. Map: Click Here.

Malt Shovel Tavern: Just off the inner ring road, but not exactly on the best side of town for the stadium unfortunately. Despite the fact one can see the Carlsberg Brewery (vomit) from the pub, this is a treasure. Tetley, London Pride and the local Frog Island Natterjack are regulars, with up to nine guests on too. There is also a cider, a large range of Belgian draught and bottled beers, lots of unusual gins and fifty single malts. Recently they have launched their own micro-brewery under the name of The Great Oakley Brewery which produces four different ales. Food is at lunchtimes only, but children are allowed in the pub up to 7.00 p.m. in the evening. Opening hours 11.30 a.m.-3.00 p.m. and 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Wednesday evenings the pub doubles as one of the top blues venues in the area. Malt Shovel Tavern, 121, Bridge Street, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN1 1QF. Tel: 01604 234212. Website: Click Here. Map: Click Here.

Racehorse Inn: Another hostelry just off the inner ring road, on the eastern side of town. 12.00 noon - 11.00 p.m. music and beer pub - no food. The outlet has no regular ales but a constantly changing selection of six or seven guests at any one time. No children allowed in the pub, though they are welcome in the garden. Racehorse Inn, 15, Abington Square, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN1 4AE. Tel: 01604 631997. Map: Click Here.

Romany Hotel: Towards the north of the town about a mile and a half from the centre between the A508 and the A43 (bus routes Nos. 8 & 25). Opening hours are 11.30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Food is available at lunchtimes. The pub is sports/games orientated, with big screen, pool, darts and Northants skittles - no idea how that differs from the West Country variety. The regular beers are Cains Dr Duncans IPA and Fuller's London Pride, but there are also always six guests on and proper cider. CAMRA members get a 10% discount on ales on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Romany Hotel, Trinity Avenue, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN2 6JN. Tel: 01604 714647. Map: Click Here.

The Melbourne Arms: A few yards further away from Sixfields than The Squirrels, also in Duston. The Melbourne Arms, Melbourne Lane, Duston, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN5 6HS. Tel: 01604 752837. Map: Click Here.

The Rose & Claret: Was The Viking, so presumably has had a make over along with the name change. For those taking the A43 towards Sixfields from Junction 15A this pub is in the development around Hunsbury Hill on the right. There's no access from the A43 - at the first roundabout take the exit onto the A45 going east (not the A45 exit going up to the stadium), and then right into Camp Hill. The Rose & Claret, Hunsbury Hill Road, Camp Hill, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN4 9UW. Tel: 01604 677004. Map: Click Here.

The Squirrels Inn: Closest pub as such outside the Sixfields complex - north of the A45 in the Northampton suburb of Duston - about three-quarters of a mile away. The Squirrels Inn, 33, Main Road, Duston, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN5 6JF. Tel: 01604 751930. Map: Click Here.

Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You :

They'll understand your abuse of Ru$hden & Diamonds easily enough, and you'll quickly find friends.

Top-Tip :

One of our least favourite away trips: dull stadium; dull leisure park; dull town.........

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* - sorry, we promise not to say that again, honest.

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