Northampton Town F.C.

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…

League

Second Division (level 2) Runners-up: 1964–65 Third Division South / Third Division (level 3) Champions: 1962–63 Runners-up: 1927–28, 1949–50 Fourth Division / Third Division / League Two (level 4) Champions: 1986–87, 2015–16 Runners-up: 1975–76, 2005–06 Promoted: 1960–61, 1999–2000, 2022–23 Play-off winners: 1997, 2020 Southern League Champions: 1908–09 Runners-up: 1910–11 Cup

FA Charity Shield Runners-up: 1909 Notes