The news that David Cardoza is selling Northampton Town is expected to bring the conclusion to a traumatic saga for Northampton Town Football Club, or rather open another chapter in what has been a remarkable season for the Cobblers in League Two.
The recent months have threatened the very existence of the club, with issues concerning Sixfields Stadium that led to a wind-up petition being issued, and struggling to pay players’ wages. Not only have the players and management handled the situation remarkably well, they have delivered results on the pitch, with the Cobblers now third in League Two.
Northampton have been no strangers to adversity, and neither are they strangers to miracles. In 1966, it was said that the real miracle of the year was that Northampton Town could even be in the First Division, spending all of one season (1965-66), and haven’t been anywhere near these heights since, spending all of the decades that have followed in the elevator between the third and fourth tiers with the occasional need to apply for re-election or even finishing bottom of the Football League.
Yet these low points were often soon followed by highs, reaching the third tier and threatening or qualifying for the playoffs. This has been the pattern familiar to Northampton fans in the 80s, 90s and 2000s. Applying for re-election in 1985 was followed by a runaway Fourth Division Championship two years later and three years of Third Division football. Finishing bottom of the Football League in 1994 was followed by promotion three years later, and a play-off final in Division Two (now League One) followed, but this was yet another yo-yo cycle in motion as further relegations and promotions followed.
During the ownership of the club by Cardoza, Northampton continued the cycle by winning promotion to League One in 2006, and a fair amount of money spent brought about a side that made respectable finishes at that level. Following relegation three years later, Northampton plodded along before reaching the play-offs under Adrian Boothroyd in 2012-13, only to lose to Bradford City in the play-off final. As happened elsewhere, Boothroyd couldn’t keep that up and Northampton struggled the following season. Chris Wilder took over in January 2014 and steered the Cobblers to safety.
Last season saw an improvement in Northampton’s league fortunes as they finished a credible 12th. Wilder has kept much the same frame of players including Zander Diamond, Ryan Creswell and Brendan Moloney in defence, Marc Richards up front, midfielders John Joe O’Toole and Joel Byrom and wingers Lawson D’Ath and Ricky Holmes, augmented by new arrivals in Nicky Adams, Alfie Potter and David Buchanan. Besides a six-game unbeaten run that has taken them to third, Northampton have also managed a memorable and somewhat symbolic FA Cup win over Coventry City. The irony is that it is Sixfields that became Coventry’s home for a season, and the Sky Blues themselves have had their fair share of woe in recent years. Coventry have themselves undergone a revival under Tony Mowbray this season.
The achievements of Chris Wilder at Northampton so far appear astonishing in the circumstances. Northampton’s push for promotion could yet become one of the feel-good stories of 2015-16. A change of ownership may yet give the Cobblers a further shot in the arm and in a division where competitiveness and unpredictability are watch words, but on the park they’re already doing the job. This team and its supporters deserve no less.
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