List of Northampton Town F.C. seasons

For details of the current season, see 2024–25 Northampton Town F.C. season.

This is a list of seasons played by Northampton Town Football Club in English football. It covers the period from the club's inaugural season in 1899, to the end of the last completed season. It details the club's achievements in all major competitions, together with the top scorers and the average attendances for each season. Details of the abandoned 1939–40 season and unofficial Second World War leagues are not included.

Northampton Town were founded in 1897, joining the Northamptonshire League and then the Midland League for two seasons before taking their place in the Southern League, and finally joined The Football League for the 1920–21 season.

Seasons

Season	League										FA Cup[1]	League Cup[2]	League Trophy	Other		Most appearances		Top goalscorer(s)[3]		Avg. Att[4]
	Division	Lvl	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos				Competition	Res	Overall	A[5]	Overall	G
1897–98	NL		14	7	1	6	33	35	15	4th	DNE					Three Players[6]	14	Albert Dunkley Maurice Jones	6	n/a
1898–99	NL		16	13	2	1	49	17	28	1st	2QR					Six Players[7]	18	Everard Lawrence	20
1899–1900	ML		24	16	2	6	66	36	34	3rd	1QR			Northants Senior Cup	RU	Jack Hendry	25	F. Warner	14
1900–01	ML		26	13	10	7	65	43	33	3rd	1QR					Three Players[8]	27		14
1901–02	SL		30	11	5	14	53	64	27	11th	R1			Northants Senior Cup	RU	Three Players[9]	37	Tim Coleman	17	2,928
1902–03	SL		30	12	6	12	39	48	30	8th	1QR				RU	Five Players[10]	30	Len Benbow	22	1,812
1903–04	SL		34	10	7	17	36	60	27	15th	3QR					Bill Perkins	35		10	2,550
1904–05	SL		34	12	8	14	43	54	32	12th	5QR			Northants Senior Cup	W		37	Herbert Chapman	10	n/a
1905–06	SL		34	8	5	21	32	79	21	18th	R1						37	Harry Springthorpe	7
1906–07	SL		38	5	9	24	29	88	19	20th	R1					Pat Tirrell Mart Watkins	40	Mart Watkins	12
1907–08	SL		38	15	11	12	50	41	41	8th	R1					George Cooch Dave McCartney	40	Jack Platt	14
1908–09	SL		40	25	5	10	90	45	55	1st	R1			FA Charity Shield	RU	Fred Lessons	43	Albert Lewis	31
1909–10	SL		42	22	4	16	90	44	48	4th	R2					Thomas Thorpe Fred Whitaker	46		26
1910–11	SL		38	18	12	8	54	27	48	2nd	R2					Thomas Thorpe	41		14
1911–12	SL		38	22	7	9	82	41	51	3rd	R3					Thomas Thorpe Jack Hampson	42	Harry King	21
1912–13	SL		38	12	12	14	61	48	36	10th	R1					Four Players[11]	39		27
1913–14	SL		38	14	19	5	50	37	47	3rd	R1					Fred Clipston Jock Manning	39		22
1914–15	SL		38	19	5	14	56	51	43	5th	R1					Bobby Hughes	40	Bobby Hughes William Lockett	13
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after World War I.
1919–20	SL		42	12	9	21	64	103	33	19th	6QR					Frank Grendon	44	George Whitworth	24	n/a
1920–21	Div 3	3	42	15	8	19	59	75	38	14th	R1					Billy Pease	45		31[12]	7,125
1921–22	Div 3 S		42	13	11	18	47	71	37	17th	R2					Billy Pease William Lockett	45	William Lockett	21	6,725
1922–23	Div 3 S		42	17	11	14	54	44	45	8th	5QR					Billy Pease Charles Smith	43		14	8,250
1923–24	Div 3 S		42	17	11	14	64	47	45	8th	R1					Four Players[13]	47	William Lockett Ernest Myers	20	9,425
1924–25	Div 3 S		42	20	6	16	51	44	46	9th	R1					Willie Watson	43	Louis Page	14	7,400
1925–26	Div 3 S		42	17	7	18	82	80	41	12th	R3					Ernie Cockle	46	Les Robinson	29	6,978
1926–27	Div 3 S		42	15	5	22	59	87	35	18th	R2					Frank Brett Len Hammond	45	Ernie Cockle	15	6,053
1927–28	Div 3 S		42	23	9	10	102	64	55	2nd	R3					Tom Smith	46	Harry Loasby	21	10,095
1928–29	Div 3 S		42	20	12	10	96	57	52	3rd	R3						43	Ted Bowen	34	10,131
1929–30	Div 3 S		42	21	8	13	82	58	50	4th	R3					Len Hammond	45		28	8,833
1930–31	Div 3 S		42	18	12	12	77	59	48	6th	R1					Albert Dawes	43		28	7,846
1931–32	Div 3 S		42	16	7	19	69	69	39	14th	R4					Len Hammond	45	Albert Dawes	18	6,535
1932–33	Div 3 S		42	18	8	16	76	66	44	8th	R2					Three Players[14]	43		37[15]	6,056
1933–34	Div 3 S		42	14	12	16	71	78	40	13th	R5			Football League Third Division South Cup	R3	Frank Davies	47	George Henson	20	6,271
1934–35	Div 3 S		42	19	8	15	65	67	46	7th	R3				R3	Richard Brown	46	Richard Brown	14	6,420
1935–36	Div 3 S		42	15	8	19	62	90	38	15th	R1				SF		44	Tommy Bell	16	7,050
1936–37	Div 3 S		42	20	6	16	85	68	46	7th	R1				R1	Billy Simpson	44	Ralph Allen	27	9,960
1937–38	Div 3 S		42	17	9	16	51	57	43	9th	R1				R1	Bill Gormlie	44		14	7,416
1938–39	Div 3 S		42	15	8	19	51	58	38	17th	R1				R2	Billy Thayne	46	Fred Tilson	8	8,001
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after World War II.
1945–46	n/a[D]										R3	n/a			Grp	n/a
1946–47	Div 3 S	3	42	15	10	17	72	75	40	13th	R3					Tom Smalley Dave Smith	46	Archie Garrett	32	7,951
1947–48	Div 3 S		42	14	11	17	58	72	39	14th	R2					Tom Smalley	46	James Briscoe	12	8,571
1948–49	Div 3 S		42	12	9	21	51	62	33	20th	R2					Bill Barron	42	Four Players[16]	8	9,211
1949–50	Div 3 S		42	20	11	11	72	50	51	2nd	R5					Jack Ansell Tom Smalley	49	Bert Mitchell	20	12,677
1950–51	Div 3 S		46	10	16	20	55	67	36	21st	R4					Bert Mitchell	46	Adam McCulloch	13	10,308
1951–52	Div 3 S		46	22	5	19	93	74	49	8th	R1					Fred Ramscar	47	Fred Ramscar	24	12,095
1952–53	Div 3 S		46	26	10	10	109	70	62	3rd	R2					Five Players[17]	49	Willie O'Donnell	27	12,031
1953–54	Div 3 S		46	20	11	15	82	55	51	5th	R2					Tommy Fowler Alf Wood	49	Jack English	31[18]	10,289
1954–55	Div 3 S		46	19	8	19	73	81	46	13th	R1					Tommy Fowler	47	Bernard Jones	15	7,852
1955–56	Div 3 S		46	20	7	19	67	71	47	11th	R3					Three Players[19]	49	Jack English	19	11,319
1956–57	Div 3 S		46	18	9	19	66	73	45	14th	R1					Tommy Fowler	46	Syd Asher	11	8,158
1957–58	Div 3 S		46	19	6	21	87	79	44	13th	R4					Colin Gale	50	Barry Hawkings	22	8,127
1958–59	Div 4	4	46	21	9	16	85	78	51	8th	R2					Tommy Fowler	47	Alan Woan	32	8,090
1959–60	Div 4		46	22	9	15	85	63	53	6th	R1					Tommy Fowler Roly Mills	42	Mike Deakin	20	8,306
1960–61	↑ Div 4 ↑		46	25	10	11	90	62	60	3rd	R3	R2				Roly Mills	50	Laurie Brown	25	10,682
1961–62	Div 3	3	46	20	11	15	85	57	51	8th	R3	R1		Northants Senior Cup	RU	Derek Leck	50	Cliff Holton	39[20]	13,420
1962–63	↑ Div 3 ↑		46	26	10	10	109	60	62	1st	R1	R3			RU	Chic Brodie Barry Lines	50	Alec Ashworth	26	12,680
1963–64	Div 2	2	42	16	9	17	58	60	41	11th	R3	R3			RU	Terry Branston Mike Everitt	45	Frank Large	12	15,366
1964–65	↑ Div 2 ↑		42	20	16	6	66	50	56	2nd	R3	QF			W[21]	Theo Foley Bryan Harvey	47	Don Martin	16	15,393
1965–66	↓ Div 1 ↓	1	42	10	13	19	55	92	33	21st	R3	R3				Joe Kiernan	45	Bobby Brown	10	18,584
1966–67	↓ Div 2 ↓	2	42	12	6	24	47	84	30	21st	R3	QF		Northants Senior Cup	W	Barry Lines	44	Don Martin	18	11,977
1967–68	Div 3	3	46	14	13	19	58	72	41	17th	R1	R3				Brian Faulkes	45		13	8,937
1968–69	↓ Div 3 ↓		46	14	12	20	54	61	40	21st	R3	R1		Northants Senior Cup	RU	Ray Fairfax	48	John Fairbrother	14	6,790
1969–70	Div 4	4	46	16	12	18	64	55	44	14th	R5	R1			RU	John Fairbrother	56		25	5,594
1970–71	Div 4		46	19	13	14	63	59	51	7th	R1	R3			W[22]	Kim Book	53		18	6,602
1971–72	Div 4		46	12	13	21	66	79	37	21st	R2	R1			W	Alan Starling	50	Frank Large	22	4,486
1972–73	Div 4		46	10	11	25	40	73	31	23rd	R1	R1			W	Billy Baxter	43	Phil Neal	9	2,835
1973–74	Div 4		46	20	13	13	63	48	53	5th	R2	R1				Three Players[23]	50	John Buchanan Paul Stratford	15	5,424
1974–75	Div 4		46	15	11	20	67	73	41	16th	R2	R2				Billy Best	51	Paul Stratford	16	4,179
1975–76	↑ Div 4 ↑		46	29	10	7	87	40	68	2nd	R1	R1		Northants Senior Cup	W	Barry Tucker	49	Jim Hall	22	6,416
1976–77	↓ Div 3 ↓	3	46	13	8	25	60	75	34	22nd	R1	R2				John Gregory	50	Paul Stratford	13	5,750
1977–78	Div 4	4	46	17	13	16	63	68	47	10th	R2	R2				John Farrington George Reilly	49	George Reilly	22	3,517
1978–79	Div 4		46	15	9	22	64	76	39	19th	R1	R3				John Farrington	52		23	2,829
1979–80	Div 4		46	16	12	18	51	66	44	13th	R1	R3				Peter Denyer	52	Keith Bowen	12	3,024
1980–81	Div 4		46	18	13	15	65	67	49	10th	R1	R1				Andy Poole	49	Steve Phillips	22	2,305
1981–82[24]	Div 4		46	11	9	26	57	84	42	22nd	R2	R3					54		12	2,308
1982–83	Div 4		46	14	12	20	65	75	54	15th	R3	R2	Grp			Steve Massey Ian Phillips	54	Steve Massey	25	2,594
1983–84	Div 4		46	13	14	19	53	78	53	18th	R2	R1	R1			Peter Gleasure	54	Terry Austin	13	2,343
1984–85	Div 4		46	14	5	27	53	74	47	23rd	R2	R1	R1			Ray Train	54	Ian Benjamin	19	1,826
1985–86	Div 4		46	18	10	18	79	58	64	8th	R1	R2	AQF			Ian Benjamin	54		26	2,384
1986–87	↑ Div 4 ↑		46	30	9	7	103	53	99	1st	R3	R1	R1			Three Players[25]	54	Richard Hill	33[26]	6,316
1987–88	Div 3	3	46	18	19	9	70	51	73	6th	R2	R2	Grp			Peter Gleasure Russ Wilcox	54	Trevor Morley	16	5,514
1988–89	Div 3		46	16	6	24	66	76	54	20th	R1	R2	AQF			Peter Gleasure	55	Tony Adcock	20	3,919
1989–90	↓ Div 3 ↓		46	11	14	21	51	68	47	22nd	R4	R1	R1			Peter Gleasure Russ Wilcox	56	Bobby Barnes	20	3,190
1990–91	Div 4	4	46	18	13	15	57	58	67	10th	R2	R2	R1			Steve Terry	56		16	3,710
1991–92	Div 4		42	11	13	18	46	57	46	16th	R1	R1	R1			Jason Burnham	46	Tony Adcock	9	2,789
1992–93[27]	Div 3		42	11	8	23	48	74	41	20th	R3	R1	AQF			Barry Richardson Steve Terry	52	Steve Brown	12	3,139
1993–94	Div 3[28]		42	9	11	22	44	66	38	22nd	R1	R1	R2			Steve Terry	45	Martin Aldridge	11	3,454
1994–95	Div 3		42	10	14	18	45	67	44	17th	R1	R1	R2			Ian Sampson	48	Neil Grayson	10	5,085
1995–96	Div 3		46	18	13	15	51	44	67	11th	R2	R1	AQF			Ray Warburton	52	Jason White	16	4,878
1996–97	↑ Div 3 ↑		46	20	12	14	67	44	72	4th	R1	R2	ASF	League play-offs	W	Ian Clarkson Andy Woodman	56	Neil Grayson	12	4,825
1997–98	Div 2	3	46	18	17	11	52	37	71	4th	R3	R1	AQF	League play-offs	RU	John Frain	58	David Seal	14	6,389
1998–99	↓ Div 2 ↓		46	10	18	18	43	57	48	22nd	R2	R3	R2				48	Carlo Corazzin	17	6,068
1999–2000	↑ Div 3 ↑	4	46	25	7	14	63	45	82	3rd	R1	R1	R2			Duncan Spedding	49		15	5,459
2000–01	Div 2	3	46	15	12	19	46	59	57	18th	R2	R1	R1			Jamie Forrester	47	Jamie Forrester	19	5,654
2001–02	Div 2		46	14	7	25	54	79	49	20th	R2	R2	R2				48		18	5,253
2002–03	↓ Div 2 ↓		46	10	9	27	40	79	39	24th	R2	R1	R2			Paul Harsley	51	Marco Gabbiadini	14	5,211
2003–04	Div 3	4	46	22	9	15	58	51	75	6th	R4	R2	ASF	League play-offs	SF	Martin Smith	56	Martin Smith	15	5,306
2004–05[29]	Lge 2		46	20	12	14	62	51	72	7th	R3	R2	AQF	League play-offs	SF	Chris Willmott	54	Scott McGleish	17	5,927
2005–06	↑ Lge 2 ↑		46	22	17	7	63	37	83	2nd	R3	R2	R2			Lee Harper	50		24	5,935
2006–07	Lge 1	3	46	15	14	17	48	51	59	14th	R2	R1	R1			Andy Kirk	48		13	5,573
2007–08	Lge 1		46	17	15	14	60	55	66	9th	R2	R2	R1			Mark Bunn	52	Poul Hübertz	13	5,409
2008–09	↓ Lge 1 ↓		46	12	13	21	61	65	49	21st	R1	R3	R1			Andy Holt	50	Adebayo Akinfenwa	15	5,200
2009–10	Lge 2	4	46	18	13	15	62	53	67	11th	R2	R1	AQF			Ryan Gilligan	48		17	4,427
2010–11	Lge 2		46	11	19	16	63	71	52	16th	R2	R4	R1			Michael Jacobs	48	Leon McKenzie	10	4,605
2011–12	Lge 2		46	12	12	22	56	79	48	20th	R1	R2	R1				50	Adebayo Akinfenwa	18	4,809
2012–13	Lge 2		46	21	10	15	64	55	73	6th	R1	R2	AQF	League play-offs	RU	Ben Tozer	56		17	4,785
2013–14	Lge 2		46	13	14	19	42	57	53	21st	R2	R1	R1			Matt Duke	50	Darren Carter Luke Norris	5	4,548
2014–15	Lge 2		46	18	7	21	67	62	61	12th	R1	R2	AQF			Lee Collins	43	Marc Richards	18	4,599
2015–16	↑ Lge 2 ↑		46	29	12	5	82	46	99	1st	R3	R2	R2			David Buchanan	54		18	5,279
2016–17	Lge 1	3	46	14	11	21	60	73	53	16th	R2	R3	Grp				53		13	6,245
2017–18	↓ Lge 1 ↓		46	12	11	23	44	77	47	22nd	R1	R1	R2			Ash Taylor	52	Chris Long	9	5,830
2018–19	Lge 2	4	46	14	19	13	64	63	61	15th	R1	R1	R3			David Cornell	48	Andy Williams	12	5,100
2019–20[30]	↑ Lge 2 ↑		37	17	7	13	54	40	1.57	7th	R4	R1	R2	League play-offs	W	Sam Hoskins	47	Sam Hoskins	12	5,101
2020–21	↓ Lge 1 ↓	3	46	11	12	23	41	67	45	22nd	R1	R2	R3				49	Ryan Watson	9	n/a[31]
2021–22	Lge 2	4	46	23	11	12	60	38	80	4th	R1	R2	Grp	League play-offs	SF	Fraser Horsfall	53	Sam Hoskins	13	5,366
2022–23	↑ Lge 2 ↑		46	23	14	9	62	42	83	3rd	R1	R1	Grp			Mitch Pinnock	48		22	5,920
2023–24	Lge 1	3	46	17	9	20	57	66	60	14th	R1	R1	Grp			Marc Leonard	49		15	6,841
2024–25	Lge 1										R1	R1

Key

Key to league record: P = Played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost F = Goals for A = Goals against Pts = Points Pos = Final position

Key to divisions: Div 1 = Football League First Division Div 2 = Football League Second Division Div 3 = Football League Third Division Div 4 = Football League Fourth Division Lge 1 = Football League One Lge 2 = Football League Two SL = Southern League ML = Midland League NL = Northamptonshire League

Key to rounds: DNE = Did not enter PR = Preliminary round 1QR = First Qualifying Round 2QR = Second Qualifying Round 3QR = Third Qualifying Round 4QR = Fourth Qualifying Round 5QR = Fifth Qualifying Round 6QR = Sixth Qualifying Round R1 = Round 1 R2 = Round 2 R3 = Round 3 R4 = Round 4

R5 = Round 5 Grp = Group stage QF = Quarter-finals AQF = Area Quarter-finals SF = Semi-finals ASF = Area Semi-finals RU = Runners-up W = Winners

Champions

Runners-up

Play-offs

Promoted

Relegated

Semi-finals

Top scorers shown in bold are Northampton Town who were also top scorers in their division that season.

Footnotes and references

1. Northampton Town Football Club History Database. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
2. The League Cup was founded in 1960.
3. English League leading goalscorers 1889-2007 RSSSF. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
4. League matches only.
5. Includes substitute appearances. Bold indicates "ever-present". With equal number of appearances, starts take priority.
6. Albert Dunkley
   Maurice Jones
   F. Warner
7. Byles
   Albert Dunkley
   Everard Lawrence
   G.Sargent
   F.Warner
   Roger Warner
8. Ralph Howe
   Richard Murrell
   William Pell
9. Tim Coleman
   Jack Farrell
   James Frost
10. Len Benbow
    Fred Cooke
    Bert Dainty
    Peter Durber
    James Frost
11. Harry King
    Lloyd Davies
    Eric Tompkins
    Thomas Thorpe
12. 28 League goals.
13. Louis Page
    Billy Pease
    Charles Smith
    Billy Williams
14. Albert Dawes
    John Dowsey
    Tommy Wells
15. 32 League goals
16. Tommy Fowler
    Archie Garrett
    Dave Smith
    Bill Smith
17. Tommy Fowler
    Willie O'Donnell
    Ron Patterson
    Jack Southam
    Alf Wood
18. 31 League goals
19. Tommy Fowler
    Peter Pickering
    Ray Yeoman
20. 36 League goals
21. Joint winners with Peterborough United.
22. Joint winners with Peterborough United.
23. John Gregory
    Phil Neal
    Alan Starling
24. The 1981–82 season saw the introduction of three points for a win.
25. Peter Gleasure
    Keith McPherson
    Ian Benjamin
26. 29 League goals
27. The 22 top English clubs break away from The Football League to form the FA Premier League as the new top tier of the English football pyramid.
28. Northampton avoided relegation due Kidderminster not having the ground regulations to be promoted into the Football League
29. The three divisions in the Football League are re-named: Division One becomes The Championship, Division Two becomes League One and Division Three becomes League Two.
30. The 2019–20 season was ended early with nine fixtures left to play due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, On 15 May 2020, the clubs voted to end the season with immediate effect with the final table being determined on a weighed points-per-game basis
31. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, only a few games were played in front of a reduced crowd, the rest were played behind closed doors.

External links

• Northampton Town Football Club History Database.