NTFC v AFC Wimbledon 12th September 2020 by Weatherbys

THE ISSUE

OFFIC I A L MATC H DAY M AGA Z I N E OF N ORT HAMP TON TOW N F.C.

NORTHAMPTON TOWN VS AFC WIMBLEDON

PTS ACADEMY STADIUM | 12TH SEPTEMBER 2020 | KICK-OFF: 3.00PM

PRINCIPAL CLUB PARTNER

STADIUM NAMING RIGHTS PARTNER

BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

OFFICIAL KIT SUPPLIER

OFFICIAL BEER

MATCH SPONSOR

Founded 1897 PTS Academy Stadium, Northampton, NN5 5QA 01604 683700 (switchboard) 01604 683777 (ticket ofﬁce) 01604 683734 (commercial department) 01604 683726 (NTFC Community Trust) 01604 683763 (club shop) 01604 683763 (matchday experiences) www.ntfcdirect.co.uk www.ntfc.co.uk ntfc.clubstore.co.uk CHAIRMAN: Kelvin Thomas DIRECTORS: David Bower and Mike Wailing ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS: Martin Church, Barry Stonhill, Barry Hancock, David Jackson, Graham Carr CHIEF EXECUTIVE: James Whiting CLUB SECRETARY: Nick Ancel MANAGER: Keith Curle

ASSISTANT MANAGER: Colin West GOALKEEPING COACH: Dan Watson

Keith Curle.......................................................................................5

CHIEF SCOUT: Simon Tracey

James Whiting...........................................................................7

FITNESS COACH: Pablo Garcia

Remembering those who have passed .. 11

FIRST TEAM PHYSIOTHERAPIST: Ignacio Sacristan

Big Interview.................................................................................14

ACADEMY MANAGER: Ian Sampson

News at the PTS Academy Stadium..............9 20 Questions.................................................................................12 Action Replay...............................................................................16 John Morris.....................................................................................18

KIT MANAGER: Adam Moreton

League 1 Review........................................................................21

COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR: Caroline Lucy

On this day.......................................................................................25

HEAD OF MEDIA: Gareth Willsher TICKET OFFICE MANAGER: Christine Clark PHOTOGRAPHER: Pete Norton HEAD OF COMMUNITY: Phillip Smith

University of Northampton........................................23 Played for Both...........................................................................27 Squad Sponsors.......................................................................28 Haydon Spenceley................................................................29 Big Interview.................................................................................31 Away Team......................................................................................35 Looking Back................................................................................39 Homegrown Heroes...........................................................40

STADIUM SAFETY OFFICER: Avril Spraggon

Commercial News.................................................................42

GROUNDSMAN: Paul Knowles

Community Trust....................................................................46

PROGRAMME TEAM: Editor: Gareth Willsher Contributors: Elliot Stonhill, Ethan Grande, John Morris, Leigh Edwards, Matthew Derrig, Haydon Spenceley, James Wiles, Archie Corbett Pictures: Pete Norton Photography Ltd FRONT COVER: Christopher Missilou

Football & Education Programme...................45

Northampton Town Women..................................49 Youth Team....................................................................................51 Northampton Town Academy..............................52 Multi-Disability Football.................................................55 Ofﬁcial Charity Partners..................................................56 iFollow...................................................................................................59 Stats and Results.....................................................................60 Squad Check................................................................................62

BUY TICKETS READ MORE AT ONLINE ntfc.co.uk AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

49 3

BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

THE THOUGHTS OF

e kick off the new league season this afternoon at a higher level and I see our promotion to Sky Bet League 1 this season as a reward for all of the hard work that everyone at the football club has put in to take this club forward in the last two years. From being towards the foot of League 2 in September 2018, we have come a long way in a very short space of time and credit goes to each and every person who has helped us on our journey so far. There has been a big turnaround in the squad and in the 93 games we have played in that time, we have worked to create a culture that allows the squad the opportunity to be successful. Of course, that journey continues as we take our ﬁrst steps in to League 1 this afternoon. I said, when I arrived, that you as supporters would enjoy getting to know the new players we recruited and that remark applies just as much today. We have welcomed a handful of new faces to the club this summer, BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

players who we think can help us continue on our journey as we adapt to life at a higher level, and they are players who we think can help our environment and our culture to continue to evolve. That culture in the dressing room is critically important to us. We support each other, we demand from each other and we challenge each other to continue to learn and develop. That process never stops, whatever stage of your career you are at. We have a no fear culture and the players we have are all committed to that culture. It is that buy in that allows us a club to progress, and for the players as individuals to develop their own games too. When we signed Charlie Goode last summer, we knew we were signing a good player and an excellent character, and he made such rapid progress that in less than a year he was captaining a side to promotion at Wembley and then making a club record move to a team who were very close to making

the Premier League. That reﬂects very positively on the work we have done, the culture we have created and the professionalism that exists at the club. While playing behind closed doors is far from ideal, I hope you would agree that this is an exciting time to be a Cobblers supporter. You have had our success in the play-offs to enjoy and now you have more new faces to get to know and a fantastic ﬁxture list to look forward to. Of course, you haven't had that contact time with the players over the last few months that we would all have liked, and we know you are desperate to be back with us, just as we are desperate to have you back. On that matter, hopefully we can at least welcome season ticket holders back to matches in the coming weeks in a safe and controlled way. For now, you will be watching online on iFollow, but we know you are with us in spirit. Please enjoy the game, and thank you to match sponsors Grange Mortgages.

PTS Training Academy are a specialist training provider with over 20 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience in the delivery of traineeships, apprenticeships and training within workplaces nationwide. We deliver training in a range of occupational sectors, including Rail, Logistics, Leadership and Management. At the heart of our ethos is a focus on the unique needs of our learners and businesses. All of our services are fully funded or co-funded by the UK Government & European Social Fund, so all our training is provided at absolutely no cost to you. To ďŹ nd out what FREE training opportunities are available for you or your business, please contact us today!

www.ptstrainingacademy.co.uk info@ptstrainingacademy.co.uk 01604 491 622

@PTSTAcademy

@PTS_Academy

@PTSTrainingAcademy

PTS Training Academy BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

THE THOUGHTS OF

ood afternoon as we begin the new league season with a home game against AFC Wimbledon. We are delighted to be kicking off the new season in League 1 and as a club we can take a great deal of pride in our work, both on and off the pitch in the last few months. Off the pitch, I believe the club have been a shining light in the way we have supported the community through the COVID-19 outbreak. Whether it be supporting those who were isolating or feeling vulnerable, delivering support to others in need, donating food, delivering information or in any other way, we have made a huge impact in the community. On the ﬁeld, we won promotion at Wembley of course, and that gave the town and the area a huge lift. Since that night, we have been planning for life in League 1. Credit to Keith Curle, Simon Tracey and the staff for the quality of player we have recruited this summer. We continue to recruit to a clear plan and with extensive knowledge from our scouting network. We also only enter into contracts that we believe represent good value for money for the club. The transfer window for EFL clubs remains open for another ﬁve weeks and the work, of course, continues. A lot has been said about what a

tough and competitive division League 1 will be this season. It’s certainly going to be an exciting season with lots of fantastic matches to look forward to and we will be going toe to toe with a number of clubs who would not look out of place in the Premier League. That will be a challenge, but one we are all looking forward to and the club have thrived on each and every challenge we have faced in the last couple of years. Our biggest wish is that you, our fantastic supporters, could be with us to share all of this journey with us. In the ﬁnal moments of the play-off ﬁnal where we were 4-0 up and certain of promotion, I found myself looking at the empty stands at Wembley and just imagining the scenes we would have been witnessing with our fantastic supporters. While we know many of you will be watching the game online via iFollow today, we very much hope that we can welcome some supporters, within the necessary guidance and with social distancing back in the coming weeks. That day cannot come soon enough. When supporters are permitted to return, initially things will be a little different, as of course they are whenever we leave our homes at this time. The question everybody understandably asks is, how many

BUY TICKETS OFFICIALONLINE MERCHANDISE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk ONLINE AT ntfcstore.com

supporters will we be able to let in? The answer is that the ultimate capacity will be determined by the results of the recent survey on season ticket holders households and bubbles because supporters must be socially distanced. A lot of hard work is currently going on with the results of the survey so thank you to everybody who completed it. If you are a season ticket holder and didn’t receive the survey then please do get in touch with us. We will of course accommodate as many season ticket holders as we can. It will be necessary to allocate alternative seats and even different stands to where season ticket holders might expect to usually sit. We will be in touch once we have more details to share with you and we do really appreciate your patience and understanding. Of course, the COVID-19 situation has meant clubs have had to adapt very quickly. As you all know income is down, expenditure has risen and we have had to plan and continue to do so with a fair degree of uncertainty. Through all of this though, I think we can be proud of what we have done. I must say a word on Charlie Goode. Charlie left us this summer of course, for a club record fee. Charlie joined us just over a year ago and under the leadership of Keith and his staff, he developed both as a player and a person. There was considerable interest in Charlie, we rejected a number of offers over a long period of time for his services but as a club, we have a trust with our players and their representatives that if our valuation of the player is met, then as long as the deal is in the best interests of the club and the player, then we will consider the offer. We received a fantastic fee, Charlie has joined a club to continue his progression and we have recruited players who we believe can help take us forward. Finally from me today, thank you to our match sponsors, Grange Mortgages.

WISHING KEITH CURLE AND ALL OF THE SQUAD ALL THE VERY BEST FOR 2020/21 SEASON. DETAILS OF AWAY TRAVEL WILL APPEAR HERE IN DUE COURSE. Follow us on Twitter, @sixfieldstravel or visit sixfieldstravelclub.co.uk Like us on Facebook – Sixfields Travel Club To book, please call Jenny Parker on 01604 706401

Local Traders Local trusted business directory delivered to over 41,000 homes.

WE DESIGN WE PUBLISH WE PRINT WE DISTRIBUTE

01604 211322 07725 797309 jeff@localtraderspublications.co.uk www.localtraderspublications.co.uk

ntfc.co.uk – AVAILABLE BUY TICKETS 24:7 ON ONLINE PC, TABLET AT ntfcdirect.co.uk AND MOBILE

NEWS ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE PTS ACADEMY STADIUM MEET THE NEW BOYS CHRISTOPHER MISSILOU Position: Midﬁeld Date of birth: 18 July 1992 Former club: Oldham Athletic JONATHAN MITCHELL Position: Goalkeeper Date of birth: 24 November 1994 Former club: Season long loan from Derby County JOSEPH MILLS Position: Wing back Date of birth: 30 October 1989 Former club: Forest Green Rovers FRASER HORSFALL Position: Defender Date of birth: 23 November 1996 Former club: Macclesﬁeld Town LUKA RACIC Position: Defender Date of birth: 8 May 1999 Former club: Season long loan from Brentford CIAN BOLGER Position: Defender Date of birth: 12 March 1992 Former club: Lincoln City JOE NUTTALL Position: Striker Date of birth: 27 January 1997 Former club: Season long loan from Blackpool RICKY KORBOA Position: Striker Date of birth: 2 August 1996 Former club: Carshalton Athletic BENNY ASHLEY-SEAL Position: Striker Date of birth: 21 November 1998 Former club: Wolves

BUY TICKETS ADD US ON SNAPCHAT ONLINE ATofficiallyntfc ntfcdirect.co.uk

FRANK LARGE CUT OUT GOES ON A TOUR! The family of Frank Large took his play-off cut out on a little tour over the summer! They visited some of his former homes, some grafﬁti he was responsible for (showing his romantic side, Frank loves Aileen!), Frank Large Walk and more!

COBBLERS HEAD TO ASHTON GATE ON WEDNESDAY IN CARABAO CUP SECOND ROUND Bristol City v Northampton Town Carabao Cup 2nd round Wednesday September 16th 2020 Kick off 7.45pm Northampton Town will meet Bristol City at Ashton Gate in the Carabao Cup 2nd round on Wednesday (September 16th). The match will be played behind closed doors but will be shown live on iFollow, with match passes available for all supporters at £10.

BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

REMEMBERING THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED

Over the last few months, we have sadly had to say goodbye to a number of former players, managers and supporters. Over the next few issues we will remember those who have passed.

PHIL JONES

THEO FOLEY

Phil, who sadly passed away in April 2020 was a lively character who always made his family laugh. He loved sport all his life, and the Cobblers for most of it! He was very sociable and easy to talk to. He worked hard and he was extremely brave he lost his hand, his son was killed, and he had cancer, but he never allowed himself any self-pity. Our thoughts are with Phil’s family and friends.

Northampton Town Football Club were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Cobbler Theo Foley in June this year.

MICK HOULT We were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of lifelong Cobblers fan and season ticket holder Mr Mick Hoult. Unfortunately due to ill health he couldn’t attend as many games as he would have liked last season, but the club were a big part of his life. We send our sincerest condolences to Mick's family and friends.

JOHN PENNINGTON Everyone at Northampton Town Football Club was saddened to hear the passing of supporter John Pennington on Monday 27th April. 1946 – 2020. Our thoughts are with John's family and friends.

KEN BAKER Ken was the former Club Chaplain at Northampton Town and a former Football League referee. He sadly passed away in August 2020. BUY TICKETS FOLLOW US ON ONLINE INSTAGRAM AT ntfcdirect.co.uk officiallyntfc

Theo was born in Dublin and began his career with Home Farm. He spent some time on trial at Burnley before moving to Exeter City who were then in Division Three South and he would go on to spend ﬁve seasons at St. James Park. In 1961 Dave Bowen signed him for the Cobblers for a small fee. Theo captained the Cobblers as the club rose through the divisions but in Division One injury took its toll. He also missed a large chunk of the following season (66-67) and was released at the end of that campaign. Theo made over 220 appearances for the Cobblers, scoring over 11 goals and although Theo was offered a coaching job with Northampton he instead decided to continue playing, joining Charlton as player coach. In January 1970 he was promoted to assistant manager and three months later he was acting manager, being promoted to team manager in the close season. He was sacked in April 1974 just days after receiving a rose bowl from the supporters and ten days before Charlton were awarded £4,000 for being one of the highest scoring clubs. After a spell with Dulwich Hamlet as coach and advisor he joined LBC radio station and took on broadcasting duties. After a short spell with Dartford he moved to Millwall as coach and was promoted to caretaker manager when Gordon Jago left but when George Petchley was put in as manager three weeks later, Theo resigned. Loftus Road was the next stop as he coached the QPR reserves side before returning to Millwall as assistant to George Graham. Both manager and coach moved to Arsenal in 1986 with tremendous success. Theo felt he wanted to become a team manager again and applied for the vacant job at the Cobblers with the club back in to Division Four by this time, and he built a side that was challenging for a promotion spot until the last few games when injuries struck. The following season there was a change of board, the better players were sold and the administrators sacked Theo. He joined Fulham as their youth team coach then became a coach at Southend United under Ronnie Whelan. Theo’s ﬁnal coaching position was at Tottenham where there was a strong Northampton connection. Graham Carr was Chief Scout, John Alexander was secretary, Colin Calderwood, who would later be a Northampton manager, was also a coach and Justin Edinburgh was a player. We send our condolences and best wishes to Theo’s family and friends. Ethan Grande Cobblerspast.com

TWENTY QUESTIONS WITH

CHANGE 4 CASH We Buy

We Sell

We Help!

WHAT’S YOUR FIRST FOOTBALLING MEMORY, EITHER PLAYING OR WATCHING? “I remember going to watch Tranmere Rovers with my Dad. We used to go down to Prenton Park, and they were the ﬁrst team I started supporting. My family are all Liverpool fans too so I’ve always wanted them to do well."

WHO’S HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR CAREER? “My Dad, 100%. He loves football, if there’s a game on locally he’ll go and watch it, he just loves the game and that rubbed off on me. It was like that in my area growing up, everyone loved football and it’s a huge part of everyone’s life.”

WHICH PLAYER(S) INSPIRED YOU THE MOST WHILST GROWING UP? “David Beckham. He was England captain at the time and I just enjoyed seeing his different haircuts, which I tried to replicate and seeing which boots he was wearing so that I could try and get the same ones.”

IF YOU COULD RE-INVENT YOURSELF AS A PLAYER IN A DIFFERENT POSITION, WHERE WOULD YOU PLAY? “It would have to be a striker! They get all of the glory, so I think I’d stick myself up front.”

WHO’S THE BEST PLAYER YOU’VE EITHER PLAYED WITH OR AGAINST? “I played against Paul Pogba when he was coming through at Manchester United. He’s the same age as me so we’d come up against each other in our younger days. Playing against Wayne Rooney was special as well. When I made my debut at Leicester City, it was with Riyad Mahrez and we had quite a strong team out in general, although we actually lost the game even with him in the team!"

BUY TICKETS FOLLOW ONLINE US ON AT ntfcdirect.co.uk TWITTER @ntfc

DO YOU HAVE ANY PRE-MATCH SUPERSTITIONS/ROUTINES? “No, I don’t to be honest. That might sound quite strange as a lot of the other boys have a lot of superstitions, but nothing has really stuck with me in particular. If I’ve prepared right going into the game then I just feel conﬁdent and ready to go regardless of any rituals."

AWAY FROM FOOTBALL, ARE YOU INTERESTED IN ANY OTHER SPORTS? “To be fair, I don’t mind watching tennis when it’s on. Wimbledon is always enjoyable in the summer, but I’ve never really played it or got in to anything else like golf.”

AT SCHOOL, WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE AND LEAST FAVOURITE SUBJECT? “Before secondary school I’d say Maths, I quite enjoyed that when I was younger. Then as we got older Chemistry was quite interesting because we could just get the Bunsen Burners out! “I’d say my least favourite was Geography. I dropped that straightaway!”

WHAT’S BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE HOLIDAY SO FAR? AND IF YOU COULD TRAVEL TO A PLACE YOU’VE NEVER VISITED BEFORE, WHERE WOULD YOU GO? “I’ve been really lucky in the sense that I’ve travelled to a lot of places already. I went to Dubai in the summer which was good. Although to be fair it was probably a little bit too hot for me and my fair skin! I did a bit of travelling around Thailand which was really good. “I think I’d like to go to Bali. I love America as well, so I’d love to go back there and visit some different places. I’ve always fancied going to the Dominican Republic too.”

10) IF YOU WERE STUCK IN A LIFT WITH A CURRENT NORTHAMPTON TEAM-MATE, WHO WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO BE AND WHO WOULD YOU HOPE TO AVOID? “I’d probably say Nicky Adams. He’s a bit of a joker so he’d keep me entertained, although I’d probably get fed up after 10 minutes, so I’d probably avoid him too!"

11) WHO HAS THE WORST BANTER IN THE SQUAD? “I know some of the lads will say Shaun McWilliams, but I don’t want to stitch him up as well.”

12) WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE MEAL? “I would’ve originally said steak but I’m trying to cut down on meat a little bit, so I’d probably say sushi – I’m a big fan of that at the moment.”

13) DO YOU HAVE ANY HOBBIES OUTSIDE OF FOOTBALL? “I’ve always been interested in trying another sport as a hobby so it’s something I’ll look at. Maybe a bit of tennis or golf. I’m not really into my consoles or anything like that. I like to see my family.”

14) WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE FILM? “I like gangster and horror movies. I’ll go with Goodfellas, it’s an unbelievable ﬁlm, as is Shawshank Redemption. Pulp Fiction is good, too."

15) IF YOU WEREN’T A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER, WHICH ROUTE WOULD YOU HAVE GONE DOWN? “I’ll go for being a pilot, that’s something a bit different!”

16) WHICH NETFLIX/TV SERIES WOULD YOU RECOMMEND WATCHING? “American Horror Story!”

17) IT’S YOUR TURN ON THE KARAOKE, WHICH SONG DO YOU CHOOSE? “I’m not really one for karaoke to be fair. I sang ‘Valerie’ on my initiation but that was just to get up and down as quickly as possible! So I’ll say that.”

18) YOU’RE STUCK ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHICH THREE ITEMS DO YOU TAKE WITH YOU? “Sun cream, otherwise I’d burn very quickly! Maybe some speakers so I can play some music, and a phone to arrange getting picked up!”

19) DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS, AND IF SO WHICH ONES? “I’ve got two chihuahuas, Coco and Louie. We also have a Yorkshire terrier at home called Lexie.”

20) IF YOU COULD PASS ON SOME ADVICE TO A YOUNGER PLAYER, WHAT WOULD IT BE? “Just keep going. If you get knocked down or turned away remember it’s just someone else’s opinion. Mostly, enjoy it as much as you can because it’s an unbelievable experience and try to take the positives from every situation. There’s a lot of ups and downs in football so don’t ever let your head drop and enjoy every day.”

BUY TICKETSON SUBSCRIBE ONLINE YOUTUBE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk officiallyntfc

INTERVIEW WITH

STRIKER HELPED KNOCK CARDIFF CITY OUT OF THE CARABAO CUP LAST WEEKEND AND IS DETERMINED TO CARRY THAT FORM FORWARD

triker Harry Smith capped a fine performance by scoring the first goal of the new season for Northampton Town in the 3-0 Carabao Cup win over Cardiff City last Saturday. Smith scored from the penalty spot to give the Cobblers the lead last Saturday, and was one of a number of stand out performances as Keith Curle's side knocked out last season's Championship play-off semi-finalists.

"I am always delighted to be involved in the goals and overall it was an excellent performance from the boys," said Smith as he looked back on last weekend's success. "I thought the three at the back were excellent and looked really solid against a team who only just missed out on making the Premier League a couple of months or so ago." Smith took the responsibility of taking the 33rd minute spot kick after Joseph Mills had been tripped,

and explained why he was keen to do so. "I was a little bit disappointed with the way I started the game, so when the penalty was awarded, I shouted over to the Gaffer and said I would take it as I needed to get going," he reﬂected. "I said to Watto (Ryan Watson) that I would take it and while I know he was a little disappointed, he accepted that, to be honest there was no way anyone was taking it off me! BUY TICKETS ONLINE READ MORE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk AT ntfc.co.uk

"I felt I didn't start the game as well as I would have liked. I didn't win enough first contacts in the first 20 minutes or so and I know I needed to give the team more, so I saw an opportunity to take the penalty and it got me going. I scored it and that gave me the confidence to build on and to take forward in to the rest of the game."

want to kick on. Last season was a bit hit and miss for me, with the injury on Boxing Day and a loss of form. I got back just before lockdown and was pleased I could play a part in the play-offs. I am my own biggest critic to be honest, I don't need anyone to tell me when I am not performing as well as I would like, I know what I need to do and I

Fingers crossed I can stay injury free this season, I am putting in plenty of hours in the gym and I will work as hard as I possibly can to help the team. Smith admits he is his own biggest critic, much of it comes from a desperation to do well for the team, but he says this is an important season for him. "This is a big season for me, I really BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

really want to kick on and help the team this season. "The Gaffer has been on to me since day one of pre-season. He says what he expects of me this season, I expect that of myself and I believe

this is a big season for me. "There is no doubt in my mind that I haven't yet shown the supporters what I am really capable of here at Northampton Town. Last season I didn't get to the levels I wanted to, I didn't get the run of games that I wanted for one reason or another and the injury at Crawley on Boxing Day didn't help of course but I have sat down with the Gaffer and he has challenged me to play to the level that both he and I know that I can. Fingers crossed I can stay injury free this season, I am putting in plenty of hours in the gym and I will work as hard as I possibly can to help the team. "I don't set myself public targets, I will keep that to myself, but if I can keep working hard and stay ﬁt then hopefully I can help the team to do as well as we can this season."

NORTHAMPTON TOWN 3 CARDIFF CITY 0

C A R A B A O C U P , F I R S T R O U N D • S AT U R D AY S E P T E M B E R 5 T H , 3 . 0 0 P M • P T S A C A D E M Y S TA D I U M

he 2020/21 season kicked off with a Carabao Cup first round tie at home to Championship play-off semi-finalists Cardiff City. Six summer signings, skipper Cian Bolger, Luka Racić, Fraser Horsfall, Joseph Mills, Christopher Missilou and the most recent addition Ricky Korboa all made their competitive debut with on-loan Blackpool striker Joe Nuttall one of five players unavailable for selection. Due to the ongoing Covid 19 restrictions fans were still not permitted to attend. Ryan Watson fired over early on after some good pressing from the Cobblers and it needed a good save from Alex Smithies to prevent Matt Warburton opening the scoring. Steve Arnold saved comfortably from Jordi Osei-Tutu in a chance for

Cardiff on the break. Harry Smith put the Cobblers in front from the penalty spot after Joseph Mills was sent tumbling, referee Darren Drysdale showing little hesitation in making his decision. Parity was almost immediately restored when Robert Glatzel had a chance in front of goal but his header clipped the top of the cross bar. The Cobblers then had a chance to double their lead but under pressure Smith shot over after a good initial save from Smithies to deny Watson. Less than ﬁve minutes into the second half Matt Warburton made it 2-0, dinking the ball over Smithies from an acute angle. It was just reward for a bright start to the half and Christopher Missilou was also a whisker away from getting on the

scoresheet with a thunderous drive from 30-yards. Curtis Nelson headed just over as the Bluebirds looked to get themselves back into the tie but when Ryan Watson curled home right-footed from the edge of the area after being teed-up by Smith it was 3-0 to the Cobblers with just over half an hour to play. Warburton whistled a shot just over from distance with the Cobblers hungry for a fourth goal, the former Stockport man then making way for Morgan Roberts in the ﬁrst change made by Keith Curle. Chris Lines and Mark Marshall came on for the closing stages as the Cobblers comfortably closed the game out to book their place in round two.

BUY OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE BUY TICKETS ONLINE ONLINE ATAT ntfcdirect.co.uk ntfcstore.com

COBBLERS Steve Arnold Michael Harriman Joseph Mills Luka Racić Cian Bolger Fraser Horsfall Ryan Watson Christopher Missilou Ricky Korboa (sub Mark Marshall 90) Harry Smith (sub Chris Lines 89) Matt Warburton (sub Morgan Roberts 71) Subs not used: Jonathan Mitchell, Joe Martin, Ethan Johnston, Jacob Ballinger

CARDIFF CITY Alex Smithies Jordi Osei-Tutu Joe Bennett

COBBLERS MATCH STATS

(sub Greg Cunningham 67) Sean Morrison Leandro Bacuna

(ﬁrst half in brackets, match total out of brackets) SHOTS ON TARGET: (3) 6 SHOTS OFF TARGET: (3) 5 CORNERS: (1) 3 FOULS: (8) 16 CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (0) 0

Robert Glatzel

CARDIFF MATCH STATS

Junior Hoilett

(ﬁrst half in brackets, match total out of brackets) SHOTS ON TARGET: (1) 1 SHOTS OFF TARGET: (1) 6 CORNERS: (3) 9 FOULS: (5) 8 CAUGHT OFFSIDE: (3) 3

There were lots of positives, there are still things we can work on and improve on but for a ﬁrst competitive game you have to say well done to the changing room.

Josh Murphy Curtis Nelson Marlon Pack Sol Bamba (sub Tom Sang 66

)

Subs not used: Neil Etheridge, Aden Flint, Joel Bagan, Tavio D’Almeida, Kieron Evans Referee: Darren Drysdale

SPONSOR

KEITH CURLE BUY TICKETS ntfc.co.uk – AVAILABLE ONLINE AT24:7 ntfcdirect.co.uk ON PC, TABLET AND MOBILE

LOOKING FORWARD TO OUR RETURN TO LEAGUE 1

he euphoria of the Wembley play-off triumph and promotion is still fresh in the mind, but now we face a new season brimming with excitement, endless fascination (certainly for me) and with so many questions to answer. How quickly can Keith Curle’s reshaped squad settle at the higher level, can they be a real force and, possibly as important as anything, how soon can fans be back in the stands? Our dedicated travelling Shoe Army have been a vital factor behind the team and Keith, his coaches and players will want them back asap. I reckon we have learned a great deal about manager Keith since he

arrived at the PTS Academy Stadium close on two years ago. My feeling is that respect for him has grown immeasurably. This is not a quick-stop manager but a man right behind the overall community spirit of the club and planning for the long term. In football, events can change things rapidly but the genuine Cobblers fans appear to have taken to Mr Curle, and rightly so. Last season he master-minded the play-off ﬁnish that combined dominant power with ﬁnesse to bring him promotion, it was richly deserved. Under Curle, the club’s scouting system and overall recruitment seems to have been given fresh

energy. I have been impressed by the care he and his staff take to look for character as well as quality. The pre-season signings so far look a good ﬁt for the Cobblers' ethic under Curle. Ages seem right, there is plenty of both experience and ambition and, I suspect a gamble or two in there. We wish them all well. Life back in League 1 will be hot and steamy with so many former 'giants' in the line-up – clubs like Hull City, Wigan and Charlton, smarting after relegation from the Championship and Sunderland, Ipswich and Portsmouth trying to recapture past glories. As my regular reader – hopefully readers(!) – will know, I tend to go BUY ADD TICKETS US ON ONLINE SNAPCHAT AT ntfcdirect.co.uk officiallyntfc

down memory lane and it is sad to see Charlton having off ﬁeld issues again. As a kid of 12 living in South London, Charlton’s Valley arena was a one-bus ride and gave me my ﬁrst taste of First Division football. So many memories. Alf Ramsey, playing at full-back for Spurs, having a penalty saved by the great Sam Bartram, squeezing into a 72,000 crowd for a 2-2 derby with Arsenal or seeing the likes of Raich Carter in his days at Sunderland. The competition will be hot, but packed with clashes for the fans to savour – including the renewal of local hostilities - MK Dons, Oxford United and Peterborough. Last season the Posh ran close to the play-offs, bolstered by the goals from our one-time protégé Ivan

Wimbledon FC – were still non-league – Isthmian League I think – and I remember seeing them occasionally but more often walking past their Plough Lane ground to report on National League speedway for the London Evening Standard. Happy days. Familiar faces litter the fixtures – Swindon, Bristol Rovers, Shrewsbury, Fleetwood, Doncaster, Plymouth and Gillingham included. Many of you Cobblers buffs will have memories to share about past clashes. One of mine involves reporting a Gillingham match at their Priestfield Stadium and doing live commentary for radio. Things were very different. None of the match-long flow on a BBC line that Tim Oglethorpe provides today but five-minute

handed out to far more than in the past. Keith Curle has been eager to give them chances, either with the ﬁrst team squad or out on loan. Inevitably some have now moved on but I am hoping that Morgan Roberts, Shaun McWilliams and Scott Pollock will continue their progress – provided current injuries clear quickly – and close to half-a-dozen more continue their development. One thing I am certain about is that Under-18s head coach Jon Brady and an Academy now led by club legend Ian Sampson will carry on producing talent. I make no predications but despite the lockdown and the uncertainties, I am conﬁdent of plenty of excitement ahead. Up the Cobblers!

This is not a quick-stop manager but a man right behind the overall community spirit of the club and planning for the long term. In football, events can change things rapidly but the genuine Cobblers fans appear to have taken to Mr Curle, and rightly so. Toney, now departed for Brentford to link with our own hero-captain of last season Charlie Goode. I am old enough to remember going to London Road to report on Posh in their non-League days, but even then the rivalry with the Cobblers was raw. Back in the 1960s, today’s opponents – or rather the original

snatches using a telephone hired from the local freelance reporter. Within the Cobblers’ squad there are many questions to answer. Will the new players succeed, can livewire Sam Hoskins retain the ﬂair for goals he discovered last season? In recent seasons the club’s Academy has provided a steady stream of talent with contracts

BUY TICKETS FOLLOW US ON ONLINE INSTAGRAM AT ntfcdirect.co.uk officiallyntfc

John, Chairman of the club’s Charitable Foundation, a lifelong Cobblers fan, former journalist and the retired general secretary of the British Boxing Board of Control, takes you behind the scenes at the PTS Academy Stadium.

2020/2021 STAT PACK ENGLISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE - LEAGUE ONE TOP FIVES GOALS

ASSISTS IVAN TONEY

LIAM FEENEY

PADDY MADDEN

SCOTT FRASER

ARMAND GNANDUILLET

JAMES HENRY

IAN HENDERSON

CHRIS MAGUIRE

FREDDIE LADAPO

JORGE GRANT

CHRIS MAGUIRE

JAMES COPPINGER

100 79 72 65 58 100 94 90 85 83 100 98 96 86 84 100 89 78 77 76 100 63 63 59 100 80 67 65 64 100 98 91 90 89 100 97 94 90 88

CHANCES CREATED

TOTAL SHOTS 1

133

IVAN TONEY

106

RONAN CURTIS

KIERAN SADLIER

SCOTT FRASER

JAMES NORWOOD

DANIEL BARLASER

FREDDIE LADAPO

JORGE GRANT

SUCCESSFUL PASSES

% OF GOALS INVOLVED IN

43.6 IAN HENDERSON 42.6 IVAN TONEY

39.6 CHRIS MAGUIRE 39.1 KAYDEN JACKSON

4 5

38.6 TYLER WALKER

2 3

1759 BENJAMIN WHITEMAN 1715 ROBERT DICKIE

1687 PAUL COUTTS 1508 BEN SHEAF 1465 CAMERON BRANNAGAN

DRIBBLES COMPLETED

SAVES

JOSHUA EMMANUEL

125

LEE NICHOLLS

CALLUM BRITTAIN

111

REMI MATTHEWS

SAM FINLEY

NATHAN TROTT

JORDAN CLARK

KIERAN O’HARA

BRANDON HANLAN

RYAN ALLSOP

ENGLISH FOOTBALL LEAGUE - LEAGUE ONE SPOTLIGHT Peterborough haven’t recorded a stalemate in the first league game of the season since 2001, winning 11 and losing seven since.

Wigan have won their opening game of the season in each of the last three campaigns, with all victories coming by a one-goal margin.

*Data for 2019-20 season

BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

REVIEW A CLUB-BY-CLUB GUIDE TO THE TRANSFER ACTIVITY IN SKY BET LEAGUE 1 OVER THE SUMMER, PART ONE. ACCRINGTON STANLEY

Manager: John Coleman New signings: Cameron Burgess (Scunthorpe), Matt Butcher (Bournemouth), Thomas Allan (Newcastle, loan), Jordan Clark (Luton, loan), Ryan Cassidy (Watford, loan), Mo Sangare (Newcastle, loan) Left the club: Offrande Zanzala (Crewe), Dimi Evtimov, Zaine Francis-Angol, Erico de Sousa, Wilson Carvalho, Phil Edwards.

AFC WIMBLEDON

Manager: Glyn Hodges New signings: Alex Woodyard (Peterborough), Ollie Palmer (Crawley), Jaakko Oksanen (Brentford, loan), Connal Trueman (Birmingham, loan), Ryan Longman (Brighton, loan), Ethan Chislet (Aldershot), Cheye Alexander (Barnet) Left the club: Rod McDonald (Carlisle), Mitch Pinnock (Kilmarnock), Dylan Connolly (St Mirren), Scott Wagstaff (Forest Green), Kwesi Appiah, Anthony Wordsworth, Tommy Wood, Finlay Macnab, Ossama Ashley, Reuben Collins, Kyron Stabana

BLACKPOOL

Manager: Neil Critchley New signings: Keshi Anderson (Swindon), Jerry Yates (Rotherham), Bez Lubala (Crawley), CJ Hamilton (Mansﬁeld), Marvin Ekpiteta (Leyton Orient), Ethan Robson (Sunderland), Jordan Williams (Rochdale), Alex Fojticek (Man Utd), Oliver Sarkic (Burton) Left the club: Jay Spearing (Tranmere), Ryan Edwards (Dundee Utd), Nathan Delfouneso (Bolton), Ryan Hardie (Plymouth, loan), Callum MacDonald (Tranmere, loan), Armand Gnanduillet, Myles Boney, Mark Howard, Christoffer Mafoumbi, Sean Scannell, Joe Nuttall (Northampton Town)

BRISTOL ROVERS

Manager: Joe Dunne New signings: Josh Grant (Chelsea), Jack Baldwin (Sunderland), Max Ehmer (Gillingham), Sam Nicholson (Colorado Rapids), Zain Westbrooke (Coventry), Jayden Mitchell-Lawson (Derby, loan), Jonah Ayunga (Havant and Waterlooville), David Tutonda (Barnet) Left the club: Jonson Clarke-Harris (Peterborough), Liam Sercombe (Cheltenham), Ollie Clarke & Rollin Menayese (Mansﬁeld),Tony Craig (Crawley), Gavin Reilly (Carlisle), Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, Sam Matthews, Tom Nichols, Rhys Kavanagh. BUY TICKETS FOLLOW US ON ONLINE TWITTER AT ntfcdirect.co.uk @ntfc

FORMER COBBLERS LOAN SIGNING KESHI ANDERSON HAS JOINED BLACKPOOL.

BURTON ALBION

Manager: Jake Buxton New signings: Neal Eardley & Michael Bostwick (Lincoln), Kane Hemmings (Dundee), Steven Lawless (Livingston), Luke Varney (Cheltenham), Charles Vernam (Grimsby), Left the club: Oliver Sarkic (Blackpool), Joe Sbarra, Kwame Thomas, Ethan Vale

CHARLTON ATHLETIC

Manager: Lee Bowyer New signings: Conor Washington (Hearts), Alex Gilbey (MK Dons) Left the club: Lyle Taylor (Nottingham Forest), Tom Lockyer (Luton), Lewis Page, (Exeter) Mahamadou-Naby, Wilberforce Ocran, Abraham Odoh, Tomer Hemed, Kenneth Yao, Toby Stevenson, Chris Solly, Taylor Maloney

2020/2021 STAT PACK NORTHAMPTON TOWN

AFC WIMBLEDON

MATCH FACTS & TOTAL CARDS Northampton have only lost one of their 14 league games against AFC Wimbledon (W7 D6), a 1-0 defeat the last time they hosted the Dons in the league.

AFC Wimbledon have failed to score in half of their league encounters with Northampton, netting just nine goals in total.

57 4

�� 61

GOALS

532

371

SHOTS

56.1

37.9

EXPECTED GOALS

46.4

GOALS CONCEDED

43.4

11.5

AVERAGE POSSESSION %

10.5

SHOT CONVERSION RATE %

56.1

60.9

EXPECTED GOALS AGAINST

CLEAN SHEETS

POINTS GAINED AFTER TRAILING

POINTS DROPPED AFTER LEADING

GOAL TIMES 0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90

SCORED

CONCEDED

11 11 13 6 8 11

6 5 4 2 10 15

0-15 16-30 31-45 46-60 61-75 76-90

SCORED

CONCEDED

4 8 6 8 5 8

6 10 7 7 7 15

*Data for 2019-20 season

BUY SUBSCRIBE TICKETS ONLINE ON YOUTUBE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk officiallyntfc

NORTHAMPTON

MARCUS BEATS CROWD BAN TO SAVOUR WEMBLEY WIN

hile thousands of Northampton Town fans couldn’t be at Wembley to watch the club’s play-off ﬁnal win in June, a University of Northampton student had a pass for the game. Multimedia Sports Journalism student, Marcus Ally, was inside Wembley to witness Town beat Exeter City 4-0 in the behind-closeddoors promotion decider two and a half months ago. Marcus had been combining his uni studies with working for football data company Opta at Cobblers games all season, and he got the call up to BUY TICKETS READ MORE AT ONLINE ntfc.co.uk AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

continue his duties for the play-offs. He said: “Wembley was very surreal, I got there early and was hanging around, it was like a ghost town. “I walked down Wembley Way after the game on the way to get on a tube and it was soulless and empty, a stark contrast to how full of life and passion it is in normal times. “Having no fans was odd, it was an astonishing result and performance, but I can’t help feel for the supporters who weren’t able to witness it with their friends, family and fellow supporters.” Marcus, who is a lifelong Charlton fan, added: “It would have been the

best day of some of their lives – it might sound sad, but seeing Charlton win at Wembley in the League One play-off ﬁnal last season was right up there for me if not the best, and that was a 2-1 nail biter, this was a 4-0 masterclass and the fans couldn’t be there for it. “I think the players still celebrated and acted like it was a normal game. There was no lack of determination or joy at the end under the circumstances. It was quite eerie and hollow, but the performance from the team just took the attention away from all of that."

PRINCIPAL CLUB PARTNER AND OFFICIAL E-SPORTS TEAM PARTNER

STADIUM AND BACK OF SHIRT SPONSOR

OFFICIAL KIT SUPPLIER

OFFICIAL BEER SUPPLIER

SOUTH STAND SPONSOR

PLATINUM PARTNER

FAMILY AREA PARTNER

PLAYERS LOUNGE PARTNER

DUGOUT PARTNER

ACADEMY PARTNER

OFFICIAL SHORTS SPONSOR

CLARENCE PARTNER

SIGNAGE PARTNER

DEVELOPMENT SQUAD SPONSOR AND IT PARTNER

HOTEL PARTNER

HEALTH CLUB PARTNER

OFFICIAL TRAVEL CLUB PARTNER

OFFICIAL PARTNER

FRAMING PARTNER

OFFICIAL DIGITAL PARTNER

OFFICIAL TICKETING SUPPLIER

OFFICIAL HALF TIME COMPETITION SPONSOR

OFFICIAL WEBSITE PARTNER

SECURITY PARTNER

OFFICIAL ENERGY PARTNER

CLUB PARTNER

WITH THANKS TO ALL OUR PARTNERS AND SPONSORS FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT 24

BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

ETHAN GRANDE LOOKS BACK AT NORTHAMPTON TOWN MATCHES ON THIS DATE IN YEARS GONE BY.

2017 - NORTHAMPTON TOWN 3 PORTSMOUTH 1

The Cobblers met Portsmouth in League One. Chris Long and Matt Crooks put Northampton Town ahead in the ﬁrst half before Matt Kennedy reduced the arrears but and the Cobblers sealed the win in the 70th minute, Long thrashing home his second at the far post following a Brendan Moloney cross.

1995 NORTHAMPTON TOWN 1 LEYTON ORIENT 2

The Cobblers met Leyton Orient in a Division Three match which gave Orient their ﬁrst away win in 42 games thanks to a last minute Alex Inglethorpe goal. At the end of the game, Ian Atkins accused his players of a ‘lack of passion’. BUY OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE ONLINE AT ntfcstore.com

1978 NORTHAMPTON TOWN 4 DARLINGTON 1

Darlington visited the County Ground on this day in 1978 for a Division Three ﬁxture. The 4-1 win gave the Cobblers their 900th league victory with goals from John Froggatt (2), George Reilly (pictured) and Derrick Christie. The attendance for this game was 3,442.

Northampton Town want our fans, families and friends to stay safe, so we are supporting the You Vs Train campaign. We are sharing the message that young people need to stay oﬀ the tracks. 8 young people have died in the last two years after trespassing on the railway. PLEASE don’t be next. Visit youvstrain.co.uk for more information and help us keep our fans safe.

YOU Vs TRAIN

ntfc.co.uk – AVAILABLE 24:7 ON PC, TABLET AND MOBILE

PLAYED FOR BOTH

ETHAN GRANDE PROFILES A PLAYER WHO HAS REPRESENTED BOTH THE COBBLERS AND TODAY’S OPPONENTS

od McDonald was part of the Northampton Town 2015/16 League 2 title-winning squad and was nicknamed ‘Concrete Rod’ by Cobblers fans. Rod started his career as part of Stoke City’s academy after joining from Manchester City’s academy in 2005. In October 2009 he joined Nantwich Town on loan but he only made one sub substitute appearance before he was recalled ADD US ON SNAPCHAT officiallyntfc

by Stoke to join the first team. In 2010 he signed for Oldham Athletic but in order to gain the first-team experience, he spent time out loan, firstly with Stafford Rangers and then Nantwich Town again. In 2011 Rod joined Colwyn Bay and then Nantwich Town on loan for a third time. The Cobblers signed Rod when he left Telford United after he impressed Chris Wilder who signed

him on a 12-month contract. Rod who was part of the 2015/16 title winning squad but, at the end of the 2016/17 season Rod was put on the transfer list by Justin Edinburgh. In May 2017, Coventry City signed him on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee but in August 2018, he was signed by AFC Wimbledon for an undisclosed fee. In 2020 he signed for Carlisle United where he is currently plying his trade.

KEITH CURLE

MANAGER

COLIN WEST

ASSISTANT MANAGER

DAN WATSON

GOALKEEPING COACH

NACHO HERRANDO

PHYSIOTHERAPIST

GRAEME SCOTT PABLO GARCIA

STEVE ARNOLD

JONATHAN MITCHELL

MICHAEL HARRIMAN

FITNESS COACH

GOALKEEPER - 22 AUG 1989

GOALKEEPER - 24 NOV 1994

DEFENDER - 23 OCT 1992

JACOB BALLINGER

JOE MARTIN

MARK MARSHALL

CHRISTOPHER MISSILOU

DEFENDER - 3 SEP 2001

DEFENDER - 29 NOV 1988

WINGER - 5 MAY 1987

MIDFIELDER - 18 JULY 1992

NICKY ADAMS

SHAUN McWILLIAMS

RYAN WATSON

SCOTT POLLOCK

WINGER - 16 OCT 1986

MIDFIELDER - 14 AUG 1998

MIDFIELDER - 8 JUL 1993

MIDFIELDER - 12 MAR 2001

CHANGE 4 CASH We Buy

MATT WARBURTON

CHRIS LINES

We Sell

We Help!

SAM HOSKINS

HARRY SMITH

MIDFIELD - 24 MAY 1992

MIDFIELD - 30 NOV 1985

UTILITY - 4 FEB 1993

STRIKER - 18 MAY 1995

JOSEPH MILLS

ETHAN JOHNSTON

FRASER HORSFALL

LUKA RACIC

WING BACK - 30 OCT 1995

STRIKER - 13 JUN 2002

DEFENDER - 23 NOV 1996

DEFENDER - 8 MAY 1999

RICKY KORBOA

BENNY ASHLEY-SEAL

HENDRIX BARBER CO CIAN BOLGER

DEFENDER - 12 MAR 1992

JOE NUTTALL

STRIKER - 27 JAN 1997

STRIKER - 2 AUG 1996

STRIKER: 21 NOV 1998

CLARENCE

CLUB MASCOT

Email commercial@ntfc.co.uk to discuss the beneﬁts of becoming an ofﬁcial partner 28

HAYDON SPENCELEY

A START UNLIKE ANY OTHER

t’s a great joy and privilege to be writing to you all at the start of another season, one which truly is a new start unlike any other. For one thing, it barely feels like last season has finished, so it feels somewhat mad that we’re here at the start of a League One season, having already performed so well against Cardiff in the Carabao Cup. I’ve certainly not yet calmed down from the excitement of the play-off final. I think I scared the neighbours when the fourth goal went in. But that’s so last season. Just like life, football goes on and waits for no one and so here we are with some developments having been made to our squad with surgical precision by the recruitment and coaching teams, all ready for what seems like it will be an exciting, perhaps even breathless season. I know what I’m going to say next will age me even before I type it, but doesn’t life seem to move quickly these days? I don’t remember it being like that when I was younger (see I knew it would make me sound old). Barely have we had a chance to pause and reflect on the great joy of the end of last season and we’re off and running into a whole new FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ntfc

season. Everyone has their own way of doing it, but I wonder, have you had time to pause and reﬂect recently on how you’re doing, where you’re at in life? It can do us good to do that every so often We’re all living through a year unlike any other. None of us know what we’re doing (let’s be honest, for some of us that’s not much different from how life normally is, myself included!), as 2020 has no parallel, certainly not in my lifetime, at least. It would be easily understandable for any of us to feel overwhelmed. It would be easy for me at this point to say that my faith helps me when I feel overwhelmed. Trust me, this year, there have been times when I certainly have felt like I’m sinking, but actually what truly helps me is the relationship I believe I have with the one who my faith is in, Jesus. He says, “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis.’(Matthew 11:28). That last bit, thankfully isn’t a Britpop joke, it’s about knowing that in the stormy times of life, like the ones we continue to live through, I know that I have somewhere, someone to turn to, just as I have someone to turn to

in the rare calmer times too. Just like the ever-changing shape of Keith’s jigsaw puzzle, as the pieces of life shift around, having an oasis (or alternatively someone who is able to see how to put all the bits of the sky in the puzzle together if you prefer that analogy) can really, really help. Here’s hoping for a good season for teams at all levels of the club. I’m delighted to continue to serve as Club Chaplain. If I can help you in any way this season, do get in touch, I’d be glad to.

SUPPORT YOUR CLUB, WHEREVER YOU MAY BE Live Streaming â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Match Commentary Behind the Scenes Exclusive Content

VIDEO & AUDIO PACKAGES AVAILABLE theEFL

EFL

@EFL

www.efl.com/ifollow

BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

INTERVIEW WITH

BENNY ASHLEY-SEAL SAYS KEITH CURLE WAS BIG FACTOR IN DECISION TO SIGN FOR THE COBBLERS

ew signing Benny AshleySeal says the opportunity to work with Keith Curle was a major factor in his decision to join Northampton Town. The exciting young striker signed for the Cobblers earlier this week, and says he can't wait to get going. "The manager was a huge factor in my decision to join Northampton Town," he said. "Keith Curle has explained he has a lot of conďŹ dence in me and how he feels I can help the team and help the club and develop my own game at the same time too. "The club here and the manager have a great reputation for developing players and improving their game and that is what I hope will happen SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE officiallyntfc

with me. I would love to follow in the footsteps of some of the players who have gone before me and to do well for Northampton Town and help the club achieve success." This isn't the ďŹ rst taste that Ashley-Seal has had of the club, he came down for a trial period in pre-season, but his appearance in the Luton Town friendly was cut short. "I came down to play in a pre-season game the other week but I took a knock early on and that was really frustrating for me," he said. "I didn't really get to show what I could do then but I am back now and I am looking to show supporters what I am capable of." Ashley-Seal has an excellent pedigree, and has been in some of

the top academies in the country. "I played for both Tottenham and Arsenal at youth level and then went on to Norwich and then moved on to Wolves. It has been a good journey and I have had some excellent coaches working with me," he said. "I went on loan to Accrington last season and got a taste of League 1 and I enjoyed that and I also had a spell on loan abroad and that was a great learning experience as well. "I have signed permanently here and I feel I am at the right club. "It will be a tough League 1 this season, but hopefully I can come here, score goals and help us continue our progress as a club."

We Buy

We Sell

We Help!

CHANGE 4 CASH

REPORT IT.

KICK IT OUT OF FOOTBALL.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON STUDENT ARCHIE CORBETT SETS THE SCENE FOR TODAY'S GAME:

fter narrowly avoiding relegation from League One in the 2019/20 season, the Dons will have optimism for the new campaign, given how strongly they ﬁnished last season. In 2019/20, not winning in their ﬁrst 11 games of the season set Wimbledon back early on, but with Glyn Hodges replacing Wally Downes, results began to pick up and he was able to guide them to safety, avoiding the drop by a 3-point margin.

COBBLERS CONNECTION The last time the Dons visited the PTS Academy Stadium, a Harry Forrester goal split the sides and gave the visitors a 1-0 win back in 2017. However, that season the Cobblers got their revenge in the reverse ﬁxture taking a 3-1 win back to Northampton. Although this wasn’t enough to see the Cobblers remain in England’s third tier, history shows that Northampton – AFC Wimbledon matches since 2015 are littered with draws so expect a close encounter again this afternoon.

ON THE MOVE AFC Wimbledon will begin the new League One campaign by groundsharing at Championship side Queens Park Rangers. The Dons are set to move into a new stadium at Plough Lane, but construction is not yet completed on the site.

ONE TO WATCH Striker Joe Pigott could be a dangerman for the Dons. His height makes him a tricky customer on any given day. He was Wimbledon’s second top scorer last season with 7 goals in the league.

GLYN Glyn Hodges was appointed AFC Wimbledon manager in October 2019 following a spell in caretaker charge. The ex-Wales midﬁelder, 57, took over from Wally Downes and after winning four of his six games in temporary charge was appointed on a permanent basis. Born locally in Streatham, Glyn played for Mitcham Royals as a youngster before joining Wimbledon straight from school. He went onto play a major part in Wimbledon’s remarkable rise from the old Fourth Division to the top-ﬂight. Since his playing days ended, Glyn has held coaching roles at the Welsh FA, Blackburn Rovers, Queens Park Rangers, Fulham and Stoke City. Glyn was appointed assistant manager at Kingsmeadow in late 2018 and played a pivotal part in the club's great escape from relegation that season. Often working under Mark Hughes, his only previous managerial stint came in an interim spell in charge of Barnsley during the 2002-03 campaign.

READ MORE AT ntfc.co.uk

CONNAL TRUEMAN

LUKE O'NEILL

TERELL THOMAS

ALEX WOODYARD

JACK MADELIN

GOALKEEPER

DEFENDER

Age: 24 Signed: August 2020 (on-loan from Birmingham City) Former clubs: Solihull Moors

Age: 24 Signed: July 2018 Former clubs: Sutton, Wigan, Woking, Charlton

Age: 18 Signed: July 2019 Former clubs: None

NIKOLA TZANEV

CHEYE ALEXANDER

DEFENDER

GOALKEEPER

DEFENDER

Age: 23 Signed: January 2017 Former clubs: Sutton United

Age: 25 Signed: July 2020 Former clubs: Barnet, Aldershot, Bishops Stortford, Concorde Rangers, Port Vale

LUKE O'NEILL

DEFENDER

Age: 29 Signed: July 2019 Former clubs: Gillingham, Southend, Leyton Orient, Scunthorpe, York, Burnley, MansямБeld, Kettering, Tranmere, Leicester

WILL NIGHTINGALE

DEFENDER

Age: 25 Signed: July 2013 Former clubs: None

CALLUM REILLY

NESTA GUINNESS-WALKER

DEFENDER

Age: 20 Signed: May 2019 Former clubs: Metropolitan Police

PAUL KALAMBAYI

ARCHIE PROCTER

Age: 18 Signed: July 2019 Former clubs: None

ALEX WOODYARD

MIDFIELDER

Age: 27 Signed: August 2020 Former clubs: Tranmere, Peterborough, Lincoln, Braintree, Concorde Rangers, Dartford, Southend

ANTHONY HARTIGAN

DEFENDER

MIDFIELDER

Age: 21 Signed: July 2015 Former clubs: None

Age: 20 Signed: January 2017 Former clubs: None

ETHAN CHISLETT

ANTHONY HARTIGAN ADD US ON SNAPCHAT officiallyntfc

NESTA GUINNESS-WALKER

ETHAN CHISLETT

PAUL OSEW

CALLUM REILLY

TERELL THOMAS

ZACH ROBINSON

MIDFIELDER

FORWARD

Age: 20 Signed: August 2020 Former clubs: Aldershot, Metropolitan Police

Age: 26 Signed: July 2019 Former clubs: Gillingham, Bury, Coventry, Burton, Birmingham

Age: 18 Signed: July 2019 Former clubs: None

JACK RUDONI

AYOUB ASSAL

FORWARD

MIDFIELDER

Age: 19 Signed: March 2019 Former clubs: Tunbridge Angels

Age: 18 Signed: April 2019 Former clubs: None

JAAKKO OKSANEN

OLLIE PALMER

MIDFIELDER

FORWARD

Age: 19 Signed: August 2020 (on-loan from Brentford) Former clubs: None

Age: 28 Signed: August 2020 Former clubs: Crawley, Lincoln, Luton, Leyton Orient, Grimsby, MansямБeld, Woking

SHANE MCLOUGHLIN

MIDFIELDER

Age: 23 Signed: January 2019 Former clubs: Bromley, Ipswich

RYAN LONGMAN BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

JOE PIGOTT

Age: 26 Signed: January 2018 Former clubs: Maidstone, Cambridge, Luton, Southend, Newport, Gillingham, Charlton

RYAN LONGMAN

FORWARD

Age: 19 Signed: August 2020 (on-loan from Brighton) Former clubs: None

ADAM ROSCROW

FORWARD

Age: 25 Signed: July 2019 Former clubs: Cardiff Metropolitan University

SHANE MCLOUGHLIN

JOE PIGOTT

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHAMPTON STUDENT JAMES WILES LOOK BACK ON SOME PREVIOUS MEETINGS BETWEEN THE TWO CLUBS.

10TH FEBRUARY 2018 AFC WIMBLEDON 1-3 COBBLERS The Cobblers secured a vital 3-1 win away to AFC Wimbledon. The Dons conceded an early penalty when keeper George Long brought down John-Joe O’Toole. Matt Grimes smashed the spot kick into the top corner, but the hosts equalised shortly after the break when Deji Oshilaja headed home Lyle Taylor’s corner from close range at the far post. Matt Crooks placed the ball into the bottom corner after an hour to restore the Cobblers’ lead, before Daniel Powell scored the third after a good move. This was the visitors’ fourth win in six and they moved three points clear of the drop zone, leapfrogging their opponents.

14TH OCTOBER 2017 COBBLERS 0-1 AFC WIMBLEDON Harry Forrester’s fine finish on the hour mark condemned the Cobblers to a 1-0 defeat to AFC Wimbledon at Sixfields. It was the Dons’ first ever win over the Cobblers, and saw them climb out of the relegation zone. A defensive mix up allowed Forrester to win the ball and drive at the Cobblers backline before finding the bottom corner to score the winner and his side’s first goal in five league matches. Despite late Cobblers pressure, the Dons clinched a narrow victory.

11TH MARCH 2017 AFC WIMBLEDON 0-1 COBBLERS A late Matty Taylor penalty gave the Cobblers a scrappy 1-0 win away to AFC Wimbledon at Kingsmeadow in the 2016-17 League One season. The ﬁrst half was a tight affair, with the hosts having the best of the early chances as both teams struggled to break their opponents down. The game opened-up in the second half, and with four minutes remaining Chris Robertson needlessly handled the ball in the area, allowing Taylor to convert the resulting spot kick. The Cobblers held on for their ﬁrst away win of the year, earning three vital points.

BUY TICKETS OFFICIALONLINE MERCHANDISE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk ONLINE AT ntfcstore.com

THE DONS FOOTBALL HISTORIAN LEIGH EDWARDS PROFILES TEN NOTABLE PLAYERS WHO PROGRESSED THROUGH THE RANKS WITH THE DONS

WALLY DOWNES

Versatile midfielder Wally Downes was a founder member of Wimbledon’s ‘Crazy Gang’. A nephew of boxing champion Terry Downes, he turned professional with Wimbledon in January 1979 and made his League debut four months later as they clinched promotion at home to York City. He made a significant contribution throughout Wimbledon’s rise from the Fourth Division to First under Dave Bassett and netted 14 goals in 208 League games before reuniting with Bassett at Sheffield United in February 1988. He later managed Brentford and was assistantboss at various clubs, managing AFC Wimbledon from December 2018 until October 2019.

MARK MORRIS

Central defender Mark Morris was an influential figure in Wimbledon’s rise from the Fourth Division to First. A former apprentice, he turned professional in September 1980 and made his League debut at home to Exeter in October 1981. He scored nine goals in 168 League outings before following Dave Bassett to Watford in July 1987. Reunited with Bassett at Sheffield United in July 1989, he starred as they regained top-flight status in 1989-90 and moved to AFC Bournemouth in July 1991. He was their ‘Player of the Year’ in 1992-93, then played for Gillingham and Brighton before managing Dorchester Town, becoming a publican in Bournemouth.

GLYN HODGES

Welsh international winger Glyn Hodges was a key figure in Wimbledon’s rise from the Fourth Division to First. A former apprentice, he made his League debut at Halifax five months before turning professional in February 1981. He became the club’s first full international when capped for Wales against Norway in June 1984 and netted 49 goals in 232 League games prior to joining Newcastle United in July 1987. Reunited with Bassett at Watford three months later, he followed him to Sheffield United in January 1991, via Crystal Palace, then played for Derby County, Hull City, Nottingham Forest and Scarborough. He has held scouting posts.

ntfc.co.uk – AVAILABLE 24:7 ON PC, TABLET AND MOBILE

KEVIN GAGE

Ex-England Youth full-back Kevin Gage featured prominently in Wimbledon’s meteoric rise under Dave Bassett. He made his League debut as an apprentice at home to Bury eight months before turning professional in January 1982 and scored 15 goals in 168 League outings. Sold to Aston Villa for £100,000 in July 1987, he was ever-present in their 1987-88 promotion success and reunited with Bassett at Shefﬁeld United in November 1991. He was an FA Cup semi-ﬁnalist in 1993 and joined Preston in March 1996, helping to clinch the Third Division title. Later with Hull City, he ran a pub/restaurant in the Peak District and is now a property developer.

ANDY THORN

England U-21 central defender Andy Thorn featured in Wimbledon’s 1988 FA Cup final triumph. A former trainee, he turned professional in November 1984 and CARL CORT made his League debut at Notts County five months later. He helped the Dons win promotion to the top-flight in 1985-86 and moved to Newcastle United for £800,000 in August 1988. Moving to Crystal Palace in December 1989, he was an FA Cup finalist again in 1990 and a ZDS Cup winner in 1991. He rejoined Wimbledon in October 1994 and netted three goals in 144 League games overall. Moving via Hearts to Tranmere Rovers in September 1996, he managed Coventry and Kidderminster.

NEIL SULLIVAN

Scotland international goalkeeper Neil Sullivan was twice ever-present for Wimbledon. Born locally, ‘Sully’ turned professional with Wimbledon in July 1988 and starred as they were semi-finalists in both the FA Cup and League Cup in 1996-97, then was a League Cup semi-finalist again in 1998-99. Playing 180 League games, he joined Tottenham Hotspur in June 2000 and moved via Chelsea to Leeds United in August 2004. He joined Doncaster in February 2007, starring in their 2007 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final triumph and 2007-08 League One play-off final success. Loaned to AFC Wimbledon in November 2012, he made 18 League appearances.

NEAL ARDLEY

England U-21 midﬁelder Neal Ardley was a player and manager with the Dons. A former Wimbledon trainee, he made his League debut in their 2-1 victory at Aston Villa three months before turning professional in July 1991. He featured prominently as they reached the semi-ﬁnals of both the FA Cup and League Cup in 1996-97, netting 18 goals in 245 League games prior to reuniting with Terry Burton at Watford in August 2002. Linking up with him again at Cardiff City in March 2005, he later played for Millwall. He managed AFC Wimbledon from October 2012 until December 2018, plotting their 2015-16 promotion success. Now Notts County’s boss.

CHRIS PERRY

Central defender Chris Perry was Wimbledon’s ‘Player of the Year’ in 1996-97. A former trainee, he turned professional in July 1991 and made his League debut against Liverpool in April 1994. He starred as the Dons were semi-ﬁnalists in the FA Cup and League Cup in 1996-97, then League Cup semi-ﬁnalists again in 1998-99. Scoring twice in 167 League games, he joined Tottenham Hotspur for a then club record £4,000,000 in July 1999, then had spells playing for Charlton Athletic, West Brom, Luton Town and helped Southampton win the Football League Trophy in 2010. He became head coach at Dagenham & Redbridge’s school of excellence.

JASON EUELL

England U-21 striker Jason Euell was Wimbledon’s leading marksman in 2000-01. Signing professional for the Dons in June 1995, he scored on his Premier League debut against Southampton four months later and helped reach the League Cup semi-ﬁnals in 1998-99. He netted 41 goals in 141 League games before being sold to Charlton Athletic for a then club record £4,750,000 in July 2001. Top scorer in three consecutive seasons, he joined Middlesbrough in August 2006, then played for Southampton, Blackpool and Charlton again. Capped three times by Jamaica, he was loaned to AFC Wimbledon in January 2012, since becoming Charlton’s U-21 coach.

CARL CORT

England U-21 striker Carl Cort was Wimbledon’s leading marksman in 1999-2000. Signing professional for Wimbledon in June 1996, he returned from a loan spell at Lincoln City to help the Dons reach the League Cup semi-ﬁnals in 1998-99 and netted 16 goals in 73 Premier League games before joining Newcastle United for £7,000,000 in July 2000. Overcoming injury problems, he moved to Wolves for £2,000,000 in January 2004 and joined Leicester City in June 2007. He later played for Marbella, Norwich City, Brentford and Tampa Bay Rowdies. Capped six times by Guyana, he is the brother of Leon Cort and half-brother of Ruben Loftus-Cheek. ADD US ON SNAPCHAT officiallyntfc

LAWRENCE CLEANING SERVICES LTD ARE NEW BACK OF SHORTS SPONSOR Lawrence Cleaning Services Ltd are Northampton Town's new back of shorts sponsor. LCS are a Northampton based cleaning company who provide industrial and commercial cleaning services, while also supporting schools, offices, warehouse, contract cleaning and much more. The partnership means the Northampton Town first team players will proudly display the LCS logo on their new hummel shorts for the 2020/21 Sky Bet League 1 season. "With the club's profile rising, this is a fantastic time for partners to be involved with the club and after much interest, we are delighted to confirm that LCS will be our new back of shorts sponsor," said Commercial Director Caroline Lucy. "These are hugely exciting times for the club with the win at Wembley and the promotion, the dramatically increased level of season ticket sales and of course the new hummel kit. "LCS have already supported the club in a number of different ways and last season we welcomed them as an official partner so we are thrilled they have extended that support to have their logo on the back of our shorts to becoming one of our key stable rights holders." Mark Lawrence, Managing Director of LCS added: "We think this is a great time to be extending our partnership with the Cobblers. "We enjoyed, along with thousands and thousands of supporters, the club's on field success and promotion through the play-offs at Wembley. "We have also been hugely impressed with the work the club have done to support the community through the COVID-19 pandemic and as a company who are proud to be based in Northampton, we are pleased to support a club that cares so much about the local area. "If fellow Cobblers supporters are looking for a cleaning company for their office or school premises, we hope they will bear us in mind. Throughout our history our main principal is to work with customers who want a quality service forming a good understanding of what they need and to form a good working relationship and we would be delighted to hear from potential new clients. "Having the right cleaning company is particularly important at the moment as many areas of society begin to re-open after lockdown - it is vital to keep staff, customers and the general public safe by ensuring areas are cleaned regularly and thoroughly. As we like to say at LCS - 'If we’re good enough for the Cobblers, then we like to think we will be good enough for anyone!'”

MATCH SPONSORS: GRANGE MORTGAGES Club partner Grange Mortgages are the main match sponsor for today’s game. Grange Mortgages, who are already a club partner through their support of the Grange Mortgages Family Area, are taking advantage of an adjusted match sponsors package with the game being played behind closed doors. Grange Mortgage & Protection Services are a mortgage and insurance brokerage based in Northampton but with the ability to provide advice to clients all over the UK. They have over 15 years’ worth of experience in providing mortgage advice and specialise in securing ﬁnance for people looking to buy a new build property or wishing to remortgage their existing property. Whether you are buying a new home, reﬁnancing your existing property or looking to arrange an insurance product, they have a professional group of mortgage advisors who can offer the expertise you need. Grange Mortgage & Protection Services was established in 2005 and through sticking to their ethos of 'to provide a service we would be happy to receive ourselves', they have gone from strength to strength. This no nonsense approach, backed by great customer service has helped them win several industry awards which recognises their efforts in their sector. As a mortgage and insurance brokerage they will help you search for a mortgage and insurance product that best suits your needs. For more details about Grange Mortgages and the products they offer, please visit grangemortgages.com

To learn more about LCS and the services offered, please visit the-cleaning-company.co.uk, call 01604 926004 or email info@ lawrencecleaningservices.co.uk

PRINCIPAL CLUB PARTNER

STADIUM NAMING RIGHTS PARTNER

BACK OF SHORT SPONSOR

CONTACT THE COMMERCIAL DEPARTMENT ON 01604 683734/5 OR EMAIL COMMERCIAL@NTFC.CO.UK

NEW KITS

NOW ON SALE!

The new Northampton Town hummel replica shirts are now on sale in the club store, open 10am-3pm Tuesday to Friday, or online via ntfcstore.com.

NOW BEING BOOKED

The new third kit is also available, which was worn for the ﬁrst time at Milton Keynes on Tuesday.

Northampton Town are now taking bookings for match sponsorships for the 2020/21 season. As we make plans to welcome supporters and guests back to the PTS Academy Stadium, the fixture list is packed full of high profile fixtures with former Premier League sides Charlton Athletic, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Portsmouth, Sunderland, Wigan Athletic and Blackpool on the schedule. There are also local derbies against Peterborough United, Oxford United and MK Dons to look forward to! A match sponsorship package includes: 3-course pre match meal in the All Things Business 1897 Suite. Pre Match Q&A with NTFC player and/or NTFC Legend Complimentary programme Complimentary team sheet Room host Cash Bar Executive seating** (subject to Government COVID-19 guidelines at the time) Use of suite for 45 minutes after final whistle Man of the Match Q&A Car parking in the West car park (one bay per four places reserved). Match sponsorship packages vary in package content and pricing. To ask about package availability and pricing please email commercial@ntfc.co.uk FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ntfc

SPONSOR YOUR

FAVOURITE PLAYER! Northampton Town are now taking bookings for player sponsors for the 2020/21 season. Included in the package is: Your name/logo alongside your sponsored player in matchday programme editorial. A meet and greet with your sponsored player at a bronze game during the season. A match worn shirt, signed by your sponsored player, at the end of the season. A shout out from your sponsored player upon conﬁrmation. 2 bronze seats at the club's End of Season dinner. Prices range from £399 plus VAT. For more information, please email commercial@ntfc.co.uk

EVERYONE KNOWS THEIR CLUB COLOURS... DON’T THEY? NORMAL VISION

Approximately one in 12 men inherit colour blindness. It’s carried on the X-chromosome, so only one in 200 women inherit the condition. It can be a real issue in football, whether you’re watching, playing, managing or officiating. Imagine not being able to tell the difference between kit colours, and how that would affect your enjoyment of watching the game – either live or on TV. There are three types of colour blindness – and myriad colour combinations which cause problems. The common perception that colour-blind people only confuse reds and greens is a myth.

COLOUR-BLIND SIMULATION (PROTANOPIA)

The FA has been working closely with UEFA and specialist organisation Colour Blind Awareness to highlight the issue. The intention is to positively inﬂuence decision-makers at every level of the game and improve the experience of colour-blind people – whatever their involvement in football. This work has seen the production of a comprehensive guidance booklet. You can read and download it at TheFA.com/colourblindness And please visit the Colour Blind Awareness website: colourblindawareness.org for ways you can help maximise awareness.

Together, let’s make sure football’s future is FOR ALL.

BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

FOOTBALL & EDUCATION

SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY THROUGH COVID-19

longside the club and the Northampton Town Community Trust, the Northampton Town Education programme was working hard to support the community through the coronavirus outbreak. The Education Centre at Sixﬁelds offers alternative education provisions to a number of extremely vulnerable young people and continued to do so every day. In addition, every single one of our vulnerable children were issued with a laptop (where necessary), a comprehensive learning pack, Google Hangout login details and a schedule of their sessions for each week. Each young person that we work with, in our inclusion programmes, was able to access around two hours of learning support on each day that they would normally attend the centre, with a minimum of two members of staff in each session to ensure that we are using Safeguarding ‘best practice’ wherever possible. SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE officiallyntfc

The club's Head of Education Jean Limpitlaw said: "My team have been absolutely phenomenal and have worked incredibly hard to put everything in place to ensure that we were able to deliver ongoing education to all of our children. "Each session included a learning support session/academic element, a physical/challenge session and a mental health and wellbeing element to support the young person during this very uncertain time. "The team at St Crispins have also been ﬁrst class and continued to

deliver a full academic programme to all of our Football & Education programme students. Our FEP students were accessing a number of hours of lessons daily using Zoom and there was absolutely no question of them being unable to complete their course requirements this year. "My team has been awesome and I am incredibly proud of all of them, every single person has stepped up and gone above and beyond what should reasonably be expected in such uncertain times."

THE CLUB’S SECOND EDUCATION CENTRE, AT ST CRISPINS IN DUSTON

NORTHAMPTON TOWN

SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITY THROUGH THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

orthampton Town Football Club and the Northampton Town Community Trust helped support the local community through the coronavirus outbreak through the ‘Keep Calm and Cobbler on’ programme of events. The following work was undertaken: 1. The club's Community Trust set up a phone call based befriending service for older and vulnerable people in the community - initially they were engaging with our current programme participants from Extra Time Hubs (older adults) and Every Player Counts (disability & mental health) and then expanded this to the disability football club and the club's fanbase (where we have details). We checked in to see what support was needed and arrange daily/weekly calls where preferred. This might have been a general chat or signposting to information, we supported where we can. 2. We set up a free mental health ﬁrst aid hotline for teachers in our partner schools to support and provide them with coping strategies at this very uncertain time. Our

partner schools were advised of this and could arrange call slots with our qualified mental health first aid instructor. 3. We supported our network of mental health first aiders who we have trained over the past few months by sending out tips and advice for supporting other staff within their school or business. Their role as the appointed person for wellbeing and mental health support was very much needed, particularly supporting staff who were remaining in schools working with vulnerable and key worker children. A 'toolkit' of ideas was provided to help deal with stress, uncertainty, anxiety, resilience and coping strategies. 4. We offered our spare coaching staff to attend for additional hours (where we could) in our partner schools free of charge from normal contract costs to support the gaps and issues they were facing with staffing. 5. We developed online content to support families, older adults and vulnerable people to stay mentally and physically active. 6. We delivered our Fit Cobblers

(men’s health) programme digitally using Google hangouts for the participants to check in and continue the healthy lifestyle programme on a weekly basis. Before the outbreak the group had lost almost 50kg between them and we were keen to help them to continue on their journey. Northampton Town Chairman Kelvin Thomas said, "We are exceptionally proud of the work we do day in, day out in the local community as we are of our Community Trust and as a club at the very heart of our community, it was only right we did all we could to support as many people as possible at that difﬁcult time. "No praise can be too high for the club and Community Trust's staff who were offering these fantastic services to help those in need of our support. "Football may have temporarily stopped on the pitch but we ramped up our work in other areas and we did all we could to help and support those in Northampton and the surrounding area who may have been feeling vulnerable and in need of assistance." READ MORE AT ntfc.co.uk

KEEP UP TO DATE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

NTFC COMMUNITY TRUST

@NTFC_CT

@NTFC_COMMUNITY

PREMIER LEAGUE KICKS SESSIONS HAVE RESUMED

sually, the Premier League Kicks sessions consist of Northampton Town FC Community Trust coaches running free football sessions each week in Northampton and Wellingborough. This project uses sport as positive diversionary activity for those young people at risk of crime, ASB and gangs. Funding comes from the Premier League Charitable Fund and the Northants Police Crime Commissioner. Due to the pandemic and lockdown, staff have been running online Zoom sessions as a virtual youth club each week, offered to all Kicks participants across the county. Coaches Brett and Alex have been running a mix of fun activities including ﬁtness exercises, quizzes, games and rather a lot of football talk. The feedback has been fantastic, and we have reproduced some of the comments below. “Rushabh was pleased to attend sessions, he said it was a great experience. Your staff are doing a brilliant job to keep the kids busy, especially in lockdown. We really appreciate your efforts and time, the kids are a bit fed up being at home so long, this type of session is brilliant for them to divert their mind in quizzing and fun. Thank you again and much appreciated.” Gino Patel, parent of Kingsway PL Kicks participant. “We really appreciate you doing these sessions. Gabriel really enjoys the sessions and I ask him each week if he wants to do it again and he always says ‘yes’. He loves to play football and of course this is very different at the moment. Thanks for all the prep and taking the time to connect. I wanted you to know it means a lot.” Karen Cooper, parent of BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

Queensway PL Kicks participant. “Positives include getting fit whilst having fun. It was fun interacting with other young people and also to do the exercises at the comfort of my house. I have enjoyed talking to other children during lockdown and the fun games at the end of sessions.” Dylan, PL Kicks participant from Queensway. “I really enjoyed the sessions and the quizzes on Zoom. The quizzes were challenging but fun. My favourite part was when we were able to make the mini football shirt with only paper. Thank you for the hard work you all put in, I appreciate it.” Matthew, PL Kicks participant from Kingsway. Staying connected during lockdown During the first few weeks of lockdown, Community Trust staff spoke to every Kicks parent/ participant to see how the children were doing, to keep in contact and to encourage them to engage online with us. Coach Brett also sent weekly resources by email for the children to take part in home learning, fun, football and wellbeing activities which the parents opted in to receive. Restarting the football sessions During August, the Community Trust trialled a phased return to practical sessions starting with smaller groups and non contact skills and drills. The risk assessments, protocols and guidance to adhere to is significant, and staff across the trust have attended training and have been working hard to ensure all precautions are in place so sessions can restart. Premier League Kicks’ regular groups from Queensway and Kingsway in Wellingborough started

attending sessions on Tuesdays based at Old Grammarians Ground and will run for the next few weeks with coaches Brett, Mark, Jamie and Lewis. The young people are very enthusiastic to be back at training and the parents possibly more so to get them out of the house, active and happy! Some of the participants commented that this is the ﬁrst exercise they’ve had for a few months and that they enjoyed playing football again after such a long break. Initial feedback: “Thank you NTFC Community Trust. I think this is a great covid code of conduct and we appreciate the precautions you are putting in place and the high standards that you are expecting.” Karen Cooper, parent of Gabriel, Queensway PL Kicks participant. “This is amazing news, I am so pleased to see that the sessions are to be held face to face again, this is just what the children and young people need. Well Done.” Tonya Kingham, Locality Connector for Wellingborough and East Northants, Children First, Northamptonshire County Council (PL Kicks partner) For more information on this project, please email anna.letts@ ntfc.co.uk or visit ntfccommunity. co.uk/pl-kicks

FAMILY AREA SPONSOR

FAN-TASTIC RATES We’re happy to offer Northampton Town FC fans modern accommodation including breakfast, parking and free Wi-Fi from only £59.00. Call 0871 902 1627* and press option 5 to book. expressnorthampton.co.uk

*Calls cost 13p per minute + your phone company’s access charge. Subject to availability. Terms and conditions apply.

BUY OFFICIAL MERCHANDISE ONLINE AT ntfcstore.com

NORTHAMPTON TOWN

KEEP UP TO DATE ON SOCIAL MEDIA NORTHAMPTON TOWN WOMEN @NTFCWOMEN @NTFCWOMEN

FA CUP PROGRESS FOR NORTHAMPTON TOWN WOMEN

orthampton Town Women made it through to the next round of the Women's FA Cup after a comfortable 5-0 win at home to Haverhill Rovers last Sunday afternoon. After a slow start the Cobblers took the lead on 22 minutes. A through ball from Abbie Brewin put Charlie Cooper in on goal forcing a double save only for the rebound to fall to Emma Billenness to make it 1-0. It didn’t take long for the Cobblers to double their advantage. Some ﬁne individual play in the middle of the park from Fay Noble fed Billenness on the left hand side and her cross/ shot beat the keeper for 2-0. 2-0 it stayed as the teams went in at the break but it was soon three after the restart. Cooper found herself some space inside the box and got herself off the mark with the Cobblers' third of the afternoon.

Just past the hour mark Noble capped off a player of the match performance with a ﬁerce strike from the edge of the area to make it four. A few minutes later, Georgia Tear made it ﬁve after good work down the left from Bianca Luttman. An injury to a Haverhill Rovers player brought the game to an unexpected early close with nine minutes still on the clock. But the Cobblers still secured the win and a place in the next round of the FA Cup on the 20th September. Northampton Town have their

ﬁnal game of their pre-season ﬁxture tomorrow, away at Oxford City, and will be looking to make it six wins in six friendlies before returning back to competitive action.

CHANGE OF CAPTAINCY FOR NORTHAMPTON TOWN WOMEN Following a successful promotion to the East Midlands Women’s Premier Division in 2019/20, captain Alex Bartlett led the Northampton Town Women to a promising mid-table ﬁnish after the league was brought to an early close in March 2020. Going into the new season, the captain’s role has changed and has been split into two; Club Captain and Team Captain. Alex will be taking on the role of Club Captain, which will allow her to focus more time in enforcing the off the pitch philosophy and support any club-related business. Eden Brown will be the Team Captain, and will be responsible for enforcing the on the pitch philosophy, as well as wearing the armband on match days. Alex Bartlett said: “It’s an honour and privilege to have Eden by my side for the upcoming season. Eden is an experienced player with great motivation and will help encourage the team throughout the season. We are sure the combination of myself and Eden will bring strength to the team.” Eden Brown added: “I’m excited to work alongside Alex for the upcoming season, she’s a fantastic player and a great captain. I think we will both be able to learn from one another and help the team to be the best we can possibly be.” With this new leadership set up and other changes brought in by joint managers Lou and Josh, all at Northampton Town Women are excited to pick up from where they left off last season.

ntfc.co.uk – AVAILABLE 24:7 ON PC, TABLET AND MOBILE

Wellingborough 01933 232600

Peterborough 01733 246419

Milton Keynes 01908 228200

Lincoln 01522 699780

Boston 01205 461355

Toddington 01525 878010

First Class Service & Genuine Mercedes-Benz Parts from Intercounty Truck and Van.

As a Mercedes-Benz Genuine Parts dealer we completely restore, replace and re-manufacture to the original standards. Our competitive prices, quick delivery and experienced Technicians makes Intercounty Truck & Van the supplier of choice.

24hr workshop availability Online parts ordering platform (Webparts) Daily parts delivery

BUY TICKETS ONLINE AT ntfcdirect.co.uk 50 head office on: 01933 232600 or email: enquiries@intercounty.org.uk Call our intercounty.org.uk

NORTHAMPTON TOWN

FORMER YOUTH TEAMER JACOB BALLINGER HAS JOINED THE PROFESSIONAL RANKS Young left sided player Jacob Ballinger signed his first professional contract over the summer. Ballinger, who has come through the club's Academy, was delighted to put pen to paper, and he has been telling us about his progress to date. "It has made me very proud," he said. "I have been at the club since I was very young, I was not even thinking about being a professional player when I joined so I am very proud and very happy. "I owe a lot to my family for all the support they have given me." We asked Jacob to tell us a little about his background. "I am from Buckinghamshire and I was fortunate that I had a coach who believed in me from an early age. I initially went to MK Dons on trial but that didn't work out and I then joined the Cobblers. I was in the Elite Development squad for a year or two and then got moved up to the main Academy squad and that is how things have progressed. "We have had some really strong youth teams here over the last two years and it has been great to play with some very good players." For those who haven't seen Ballinger in action, where does he play? "I generally play as a left wing back. I have played as a winger and a full back as well so I am quite versatile. "I have trained with the first team a few times, it has given me a taste and I want to work hard for more. "The first team squad did superbly last season, promotion was great and now I have got to work hard to try and secure a place in the squad for League 1. "The Gaffer has been great with me. I need to try and hit the ground running, to work on certain areas of my game and to do my best to push my way towards the first team squad. "There are a lot of good characters in the first team squad who I can look up to. Nicky Adams is the ideal role model for me, he plays in my position and I can learn a lot from the way he works, and the way he is always looking to improve."

PRE-SEASON ACTION James Wiles reports on the final pre-season action for the youth team, against MK Dons last weekend. The U18s ended their pre-season preparations with a 3-1 friendly win over MK Dons U18s at Moulton College last Saturday morning. Tommy Curry gave the Cobblers the lead on the quarter-of-an-hour mark with a smart left-footed finish into the bottom right corner. Jack Connor had a shot saved before he doubled the Cobblers' lead five minutes before the break, tapping in Richie Bailey's cross after the right-back, captaining the side, was found by an excellent cross-field pass from Josh Flanagan. The Dons pulled a goal back in the 67th minute, with their forward in on goal, and he tucked a simple finish past Charlie Woods. Josh Flanagan later restored the Cobblers' three-goal lead, half-volleying into the roof of the net from eight yards after his initial header rebounded back into his path. Cobblers - Berry (sub Woods, 45 mins); Bailey, Dyche (sub Abimbola, 72 mins), Flanagan, Lashley (sub Dylan Hill, 72 mins); Cross, Scott, Clark (sub Gilbert, 86 mins); Gilbert (sub Lack, 72 mins), Connor, Curry.

ADD US ON SNAPCHAT officiallyntfc

2020/21 EFL YOUTH ALLIANCE FIXTURES AND RESULTS

Sat Sep 12 Sat Sep 19 Wed Sep 23 Sat Sep 26 Sat Oct 3 Sat Oct 10 Sat Oct 17 Sat Oct 24 Wed Oct 28 Sat Oct 31 Sat Nov 7 Sat Nov 21 Sat Nov 28 Sat Dec 12 Sat Dec 19 Sat Jan 9 Sat Jan 16 Wed Jan 27 Sat Jan 30 Sat Feb 6 Sat Feb 13 Sat Feb 20 Sat Feb 27

Peterborough United Milton Keynes Dons Cup Prelim Cambridge United Stevenage Leyton Orient Gillingham AFC Wimbledon Cup 1 Southend United Luton Town Gillingham Peterborough United AFC Wimbledon Milton Keynes Dons Leyton Orient Stevenage Cup AQF Cambridge United Southend United Luton Town Cup ASF Cup AF

H A H A H A A H A H A H H A H A A H

NORTHAMPTON TOWN

COBBLERS CUP Unfortunately the 2020 Cobblers Cup wasn't able to go ahead at the PTS Academy Stadium and the next Cobblers Cup will take place in 2021. All team entries will be carried over automatically until 2021 and we will announce details once a new date is able to be firmly fixed in the diary for May 2021. Thank you very much for your continued support and patience during these difficult times. For further information, please email craig.naylor@ntfc.co.uk

WELCOME TO OUR NEW SCHOLARS The Northampton Town Academy has welcomed eight new full time scholars in to the club's youth team for the 2020/21 season. The new full time scholars are:

TOMMY CURRY Tommy is a local lad from Northampton who plays as a left winger or midfield player.

JACK CONNOR Jack is another local lad, a striker from Northampton.

KIERAN WATKINS-ROBINSON Kieran is a right winger or midfield player who also comes from Northampton.

ETHAN LACK Ethan is a midfield player from Northampton.

PETER ABIMBOLA Peter is a midfielder who is also from Northampton.

CHARLIE WOODS Charlie is a goalkeeper who comes from Coventry.

CALLUM COOK Callum is another goalkeeper and he comes from the West Midlands.

COURTNEY LASHLEY Courtney is a defender who comes from Hinckley.

We are happy to tailor make packages to suit your requirements whenever possible so please do not hesitate to contact us with your queries.

Please contact Julie Delauney 01604 683761 or email julie.delauney@ntfc.co.uk to book your sponsorship. All prices quoted are net of VAT

2020/21 SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES

NORTHAMPTON TOWN’S ACADEMY HAVE A NUMBER OF PLAYER SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES AVAILABLE FOR THE 2020/21 SEASON.

ACADEMY PLAYER PACKAGES £149 – BRONZE PACKAGE Choose your own Academy player to sponsor and place your name/ company alongside the player(s) on the Academy players page in the club’s ofﬁcial match day programme, The Cobbler. Your name/company advertised on the Club’s ofﬁcial website 1 x adult Cobblers membership

£279 – SILVER PACKAGE Choose your own Academy player to sponsor and place your name/ company alongside the player(s) on the Academy players page in the club’s ofﬁcial match day programme, The Cobbler. Your name/company advertised on the club’s ofﬁcial website £125 towards your new academy kit.

£399 – GOLD PACKAGE Choose your own Academy Player to sponsor and place your name/ company alongside the player(s) on the Academy players page in the club’s official match day programme, The Cobbler. Your name/company name advertised on the club’s official website A first team signed shirt Full new academy kit package One editorial (250 words plus a picture) in our match day programme on the Academy page FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @ntfc

servicing made simple Northampton

Your local 5 Star Autocentres Towcester Road (next to ALDI), NN1 1BQ

Kettering Road (near Morrisons), NN2 7HJ

Brackmills Business Park (just off A45), Caswell Rd NN4 7PW

MOT • SERVICE BRAKES • TYRES REPAIRS

Don’t take our word for it check out our reviews!

EXCLUSIVE COBBLERS DISCOUNTS • £10 off an MOT

• 15% off Servicing

• FREE Vehicle Health Check

• 15% off Repairs

ONLY £29! Use code ‘NTFC’ at checkout.

Book your MOT online www.inoautocentres.co.uk using code ‘NTFC’.

0333 247 9999

Call and quote ‘Cobblers’ to save on servicing & ONLINE repairs. BUY TICKETS AT ntfcdirect.co.uk

MULTI-DISABILITY

THE CUBE CONTINUE TO SPONSOR CLUB’S MULTI-DISABILITY TEAMS

he Cube Disability have conﬁrmed that they will continue to be the main sponsor for the Northampton Town Multi-Disabled Football Club. As part of the agreement The Cube Disability will retain the front of shirt sponsorship for the MultiDisability sides for the 2020-21 season. The Cube Disability have been huge supporters of the thriving Northampton Town Multi-Disabled Football Club for many years now, having been front of shirt sponsor for the past two seasons. Their support has helped the Community Trust to deliver weekly sessions to over 100 registered players each week across SUBSCRIBE ON YOUTUBE officiallyntfc

several pan disability teams from ages 5 and over. On our Friday evening sessions, we have over 70 participants from all age groups as the multi-disability sides continue to go from strength to strength. The teams that enter the BOBi League have all enjoyed success as well, the Ladies side in particular, winning the league itself for the past few years. Russell Lewis, Disability and Inclusion Ofﬁcer at Northampton Town FC Community Trust said, “We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with The Cube Disability. They have been supporters of the football club for years and to see the extension of their partnership with the Multi-Disabled Football Club is

great for all parties involved. With the support from The Cube Disability we hope to continue to grow and expand as we seek to give everyone in Northamptonshire the opportunity to play football, no matter what their circumstances may be.” The Cube Disability offer high quality welfare care service for adults with Learning Disabilities and Autism from ﬁve custom built facilities located across Northamptonshire. To ﬁnd out more about The Cube Disability and their partnership with Northampton Town Multi-Disabled Football Club please contact Russell Lewis at r.lewis@ntfc.co.uk

OFFICIAL CHARITY

SUPPORT CYCLE4CYNTHIA ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20

orthamptonshire’s favourite fundraising bike ride may have suffered a small proverbial puncture, but it’s hoped that cyclists will still turn out in force in support of arguably the county’s most deserving cause.

Cycle4Cynthia, the annual event which has raised almost £600k for Cynthia Spencer Hospice in its sixteen-year history, was due to take place at Lamport Hall on Sunday 20th September but, following latest government guidelines, the centralised event will not now go ahead. Instead, riders are encouraged to pay their entry fee as usual but pedal their own ‘virtual Cycle4Cynthia’ any time during September, something which the Hospice’s fundraising manager John Helm hopes will in fact enable even more people to get involved this year: “We were really sorry to have to take this difficult decision because we know how much people enjoy coming together for what is always an impressive display of lycra and love for the Hospice, but the health and safety of our cyclists must come first” explained John. “However, the silver lining to this particular cloud is that we’re designating September as Cycle4Cynthia month, giving those who might previously have been unable to join us on the 20th or who were perhaps wary of being part of a mass gathering the flexibility to do the ride at their convenience and wherever they choose. “What that means is that we hope the county’s roads will be overflowing – safely of course – with hundreds of cyclists throughout September and look forward to seeing the many photos of the various locations that have been pedalled, which we’re hoping they will share on our social media platforms once they’ve completed their own ride” he added. “The other bonus is a rather personal one in that, having watched riders have such a great day for the twelve years that I’ve been brandishing my event

director clipboard, I can now put my money where my mouth is and actually jump into the saddle and ride myself!” John enthused. Among those to show its continuing support for the event despite the change of plan is leading commercial law ﬁrm EMW which, in acting as headline sponsor for its third year, is demonstrating the kind of commitment that the Hospice needs more than ever, as CEO Joy Vollans reveals: “We’ve taken part in the ride for several years so, while we’re sorry that it won’t be quite the same this year, we completely understand the reason behind offering this more than happy compromise and are looking forward to getting on our bikes to show our support nonetheless” explained Joy. “Crucially, we invite anyone with two wheels to sign up and give, what is in essence, a much-needed donation to the Hospice and, as the team estimates that its ﬁnancial reserves are down by almost a quarter of a million pounds over the last six months because of the COVID effect on their fundraising activities, we know that will be even more gratefully received” she added. Proceeds from this year’s virtual Cycle4Cynthia will help to fund not only the Hospice’s specialist end-of-life palliative care for its patients and vital support for their families, but also its Wellbeing service, which aims to help those with a life-limiting illness to live their life as fully as they can by helping to maintain their physical function and independence for as long as possible. Entry is now £10 for adults, £5 for children and £25 for families, while those who have already registered will be contacted with details of the change of format. All entrants will receive the GPX codes for the original 25 and 50

mile distances, should they wish to start their ride at any point along those routes, in their registration pack, alongside their Cycle4Cynthia medal, which is again generously sponsored by lettings and sales agent, Chelton Brown. However, anyone considering following those routes is advised that Lamport Hall will be closed, so there will be no on-the-day registration, no parking, no other facilities available, nor indeed any marshals or pitstops. In addition, the planned 5 mile route, which would have necessitated a road closure, is not being offered. Finally, having completed their ride, which can include pedalling on a static bike at the gym or at home, participants are encouraged to post photos of them wearing their medal on the ride’s social media platforms - @ cycle4cynthia – in the hope of creating a celebratory online gallery at the end of September. To enter this year’s virtual Cycle4Cynthia, or for more about the history of the event, please visit cycle4cynthia.co.uk while you can keep up to date with latest news by liking the ride’s and Hospice’s pages on Facebook. Meanwhile for further information, including details of the various ways in which you can support the Hospice during these challenging times, please call the fundraising team on 01604 973340 or email fundraising@ cynthiaspencer.co.uk