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 (South).
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 (South). 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 (signed by Northampton players) 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 (he had been the club's top scorer for the previous two seasons). 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.
The Sixfields era The club moved to new ground,
Sixfields Stadium, in October 1994. The change of ground did not change the club's fortunes and they finished 17th, with
Ian Atkins taking over as manager from
John Barnwell halfway through the
1994–95 season. After two more seasons, in the club's centenary season
1996–97, Atkins lead the
Cobblers to
Wembley for the first time in 100 years, where they beat
Swansea City 1–0 in the
Third Division play-off final,
John Frain scoring the winning goal from a twice-taken free kick deep into
injury time. The following season Northampton made the
Second Division play-off final, but lost 1–0 to
Grimsby Town in front of a then-record 62,998 crowd, with the Northampton support greater than 40,000 fans also a then-record for the most supporters taken to Wembley by one team. Northampton were not able to progress from the previous year's success because of long-term injuries to 16 of their players during the
1998–99 season. The team was relegated to
Division Three, despite being unbeaten in the last nine games of the season. However, there were some promising results such as a 2–1 aggregate win over
West Ham United in the
League Cup. The
1999–2000 season saw the club bounce back to
Division Two, finishing in the third automatic promotion spot. Ian Atkins left the club in October following a poor start to the season; his assistant,
Kevin Wilson and coach
Kevan Broadhurst took joint charge for the rest of the month. Former
Chelsea player Wilson was appointed manager at the start of November, going on to win two manager of the month awards. The following season started promisingly, with players such as
Marco Gabbiadini and
Jamie Forrester pushing the
Cobblers towards a play-off place before the club eventually finished in 18th place due to a large number of injuries in the second half of the season. Kevin Wilson was sacked in November 2001 to make way for his assistant Kevan Broadhurst, who steered the
Cobblers from relegation to a remarkable survival with a game to spare after losing only one home game from mid-January. The next season was the worst since the early 1990s, both financially and on the pitch. Early on they were forced into a 'Save our Season' campaign to keep afloat until the end of the year. It was required after the collapse of
ITV Digital and much-publicised takeover attempts by
John Fashanu and
Giovanni Di Stefano had failed and left the club with huge debts. They were taken over by a consortium run by
Andrew Ellis, who sacked Broadhurst in January 2003, when Northampton were struggling at the foot of the division. He was briefly replaced by former
England player
Terry Fenwick who was sacked after a winless spell of seven games. This was, at the time, the eighth-shortest managerial reign in English football history.
Martin Wilkinson, the new manager 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 seventh, again in the play-offs, where they were defeated by
Southend United. Following this, the manager made substantial changes to the squad, bringing in experienced players such as
Ian Taylor and
Eoin Jess, and they enjoyed a successful
2005–06 league season. On 29 April, the
Cobblers clinched promotion to
Football League One, 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 he 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 Cobblers were relegated from League One on the final day of the
2008–09 season, after suffering a 3–0 defeat away at
Leeds United and other results that went against them. Northampton caused an upset in the third round of the
2010–11 Football League Cup, knocking out
Liverpool at
Anfield. The game was drawn 2–2 after extra time, as the
Cobblers beat the team 69 places above them 4–2 on
penalties, the winning penalty being scored by
Abdul Osman at the 'Kop End'. Ian Sampson was sacked as manager on 2 March 2011 after a poor run of form saw the
Cobblers fail to win in eight games and sit in a disappointing 16th position in League Two. Sampson's last game in charge was a 2–3 defeat against
Burton Albion, the manner of this defeat ultimately costing him his job. Sampson's sacking brought to an end a 17-year association with Northampton, and his commitment to the club has guaranteed his status as a legend in fans' hearts. David Cardoza moved quickly and
Gary Johnson was unveiled as the new manager on 4 March 2011. However, things didn't go well under Johnson: the club slid further down the table in League Two and only just avoided relegation at the end of the
2010–11 season. The beginning of the
2011–12 season saw no improvement for the
Cobblers and Johnson left the club on 14 November 2011 by mutual consent. In November 2011, Northampton appointed ex-
Watford manager
Aidy Boothroyd as their new manager. After drafting in players such as
Ben Harding,
Luke Guttridge and
Clarke Carlisle, Boothroyd managed to keep Northampton in the league and over the summer set about transforming the club into a club with promotion ambitions. On 18 May 2013, Northampton reached the
League Two play-off final, losing 3–0 to
Bradford City at
Wembley Stadium. After a poor start to the
2013–14 League Two season, Northampton found themselves at the foot of the table, and as of 21 December, they had only won four games. Boothroyd was subsequently sacked. From the start of the 2013–14 season, Northampton shared their
Sixfields Stadium with
Coventry City with the West Midlands club going through a protracted dispute with the owners of their previous home, the
Ricoh Arena in
Coventry. On 27 January 2014, David Cardoza appointed former
Oxford United manager
Chris Wilder as the new manager of the club on a three-and-a-half-year deal. In October 2015,
HM Revenue and Customs issued the club with a winding-up petition over unpaid taxes.
(See Sixfields Stadium) In February 2016, Northampton Town broke their club record of eight successive wins by beating Wycombe Wanderers 1–0, extending the winning run to nine. The
2015–16 season was successful and resulted in promotion to
League One on 9 April. A draw at Exeter combined with Oxford United's defeat at home to Luton Town meant that they clinched the League Two championship a week later on 16 April.
The Cobblers went on to play their first season in the third tier of English football since 2009. In the
2016–17 season, after a 5–0 defeat to
Bristol Rovers,
Rob Page was sacked and replaced with
Justin Edinburgh. Northampton finished 16th, meaning that they would continue to play third-tier football. They made it to the third round of the
EFL Cup, where they lost to
Manchester United. On 26 June 2017 a 60% stake in Northampton Town was purchased by Chinese company 5uSport. The company indicated that they would invest in both the playing budget and stadium development. Although the investment was technically a takeover, Kelvin Thomas remained chairman and the two parties have acted in partnership since. On 4 September 2017,
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was appointed as manager on a three-year deal, replacing
Justin Edinburgh who had been sacked after four losses from the start of the
season. His first game was against
Doncaster Rovers five days later, a home tie which ended in a 1–0 victory for Northampton Town. He was sacked on 2 April 2018 after Northampton Town went nine games without a win and was replaced by
Keith Curle. Curle had his contract extended in July 2020 for a further two years. On 29 June 2020, the club were promoted to
League One after beating
Exeter City 4–0 in the
play-off final, despite a delay in the season due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. This was Northampton's fourth EFL play-off final and it ended in victory, 23 seasons after their only other Wembley win for promotion. They made it to Wembley following a second leg comeback against
Cheltenham Town, after the first leg at
Sixfields Stadium where they had trailed 2–0 and faced an uphill battle to progress to the play-off final. However, in the second leg, the
Cobblers performed the turnaround by winning 3–0 away from home. However, Northampton were relegated back to League Two in their first season after finishing 22nd in the
2020–21 season. In the
2021–22 season Northampton finished fourth, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion. Although Northampton started the final day in the automatic positions and won their match at
Barrow 3–1,
Bristol Rovers beat
Scunthorpe United 7–0 and gained the final automatic promotion place based on goals scored across the season. In the play-off semi-finals, the
Cobblers were defeated by
Mansfield Town 3–1 on aggregate. In the
2022–23 season, they beat
Tranmere Rovers on the final day of the season to finish third and seal automatic promotion to League One. Ensuing League One campaigns saw the club finish 14th in 2024 and 19th in 2025, before being relegated back to League Two in April 2026, finishing bottom and setting a new club record of 10 straight league defeats after a 1–0 loss to
Barnsley at Sixfields on 28 April. ==Club crest and colours==