1970–71 Northampton Town F.C. season

Northampton Town
1970–71 season
Chairman	Eric Northover
Manager	Dave Bowen
Stadium	County Ground
Division Four	7th
FA Cup	First round
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: John Fairbrother (15); All: John Fairbrother (18)
Highest home attendance	11,923 vs Notts County
Lowest home attendance	3,337 vs Workington
Average home league attendance	6,602
	← 1969–70 1971–72 →

The 1970–71 season was Northampton Town's 74th season in their history and the second successive season in the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in Division Four, the club also participated in the FA Cup and League Cup.

Players

As of match played 1 May 1971.

Name	Position	Place of Birth	Date of Birth (Age)	Apps	Goals	Previous club	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Kim Book	GK	Bath	(1946-02-12)12 February 1946 (aged 25)	94	0	Bournemouth & B A	July 1969
David Hill	GK	Kettering	(1953-09-28)28 September 1953 (aged 17)	1	0	Apprentice	August 1970	N/A
Defenders
Eric Brookes	FB	Darton	(1944-02-03)3 February 1944 (aged 27)	98	3	Barnsley	July 1969
John Clarke	CB	Northampton	(1945-10-23)23 October 1945 (aged 25)	139	0	Apprentice	July 1965	N/A
Ray Fairfax	FB	Smethwick	(1941-11-14)14 November 1941 (aged 29)	138	2	West Bromwich Albion	July 1968
Brian Heslop	U	Carlisle	(1947-08-04)4 August 1947 (aged 23)	10	0	Sunderland	March 1971
Phil Neal	U	Irchester	(1951-02-20)20 February 1951 (aged 20)	59	8	Apprentice	July 1968	N/A
Alan Oman	FB	Newcastle upon Tyne	(1952-10-06)6 October 1952 (aged 18)	2	0	Apprentice	October 1970	N/A
Frank Rankmore	CB	Cardiff	(1939-07-21)21 July 1939 (aged 31)	126	19	Peterborough United	August 1968	£12,000
Neil Townsend	CB	Long Buckby	(1950-02-01)1 February 1950 (aged 21)	50	1	Apprentice	September 1968	N/A
Barry Tucker	FB	Swansea	(1952-08-28)28 August 1952 (aged 18)	0	0	Apprentice	July 1970	N/A
Midfielders
John Buchanan	W	Dingwall	(1951-09-19)19 September 1951 (aged 19)	3	0	Ross County	October 1970
Graham Felton	W	Cambridge	(1949-03-01)1 March 1949 (aged 22)	145	13	Apprentice	September 1966	N/A
Trevor Gould	CM	Coventry	(1950-03-05)5 March 1950 (aged 21)	37	1	Coventry City	October 1970
Peter Hawkins	LW	Swansea	(1951-11-09)9 November 1951 (aged 19)	25	3	Apprentice	July 1968	N/A
Joe Kiernan	CM	Coatbridge	(1942-10-22)22 October 1942 (aged 28)	310	14	Sunderland	July 1963
John McGleish	CM	Airdrie	(1951-12-18)18 December 1951 (aged 19)	3	0	Apprentice	November 1968	N/A
Dixie McNeil	W	Melton Mowbray	(1947-01-16)16 January 1947 (aged 24)	76	22	Corby Town	May 1969	£5,000
Eric Ross	CM	Belfast	(1944-09-19)19 September 1944 (aged 26)	68	5	Newcastle United	August 1969
Forwards
Keith East	CF	Southampton	(1944-10-31)31 October 1944 (aged 26)	35	9	Bournemouth & B A	July 1970	£5,000
John Fairbrother	CF	Cricklewood	(1941-02-12)12 February 1941 (aged 30)	159	62	Peterborough United	February 1968
Frank Large	CF	Leeds	(1940-01-26)26 January 1940 (aged 31)	188	74	Fulham	August 1969

Competitions

Division Four

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
5	Chester	46	24	7	15	69	55	1.255	55
6	Colchester United	46	21	12	13	70	54	1.296	54	Qualified for 1971 Watney Cup^[a]
7	Northampton Town	46	19	13	14	63	59	1.068	51
8	Southport	46	21	6	19	63	57	1.105	48
9	Exeter City	46	17	14	15	67	68	0.985	48

Source: rsssf.com
Notes:

^ The two teams who scored the most goals in each division, and did not qualify for Europe and were not promoted, qualified for the Watney Cup.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
46	19	13	14	63	59	1.068	51	15	4	4	39	24	34	4	9	10	24	35	17

Last updated: 8 March 2022.
Source: ^{[citation needed]}

League position by match

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	D	L	W	L	W	W	D	W	L	W	D	W	D	L	D	W	W	W	D	L	W	D	D	L	L	D	W	L	D	D	L	W	L	D	L	W	L	L	L
Position	5	1	4	3	2	2	1	3	4	3	4	5	4	4	2	2	2	4	2	2	2	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	3	4	4	4	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	7	7

Source: 11v11.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Win Draw Loss

15 August 1970 (1970-08-15) 1	Newport County	0–1	Northampton Town	Newport, Wales
15:00 BST			F.Rankmore	Stadium: Somerton Park Attendance: 4,518

22 August 1970 (1970-08-22) 2	Northampton Town	2–1	Cambridge United	Northampton
15:00 BST	K.East Neal			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 7,901

29 August 1970 (1970-08-29) 3	Colchester United	1–1	Northampton Town	Colchester
15:00 BST	B.Owen 3'	Report	K.East 43'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 5,220 Referee: Harold Hackney

1 September 1970 (1970-09-01) 4	Northampton Town	2–1	Southport	Northampton
19:30 BST	F.Rankmore K.East			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,264

5 September 1970 (1970-09-05) 5	Northampton Town	3–2	York City	Northampton
15:00 BST	K.East F.Large G.Felton			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 7,038

12 September 1970 (1970-09-12) 6	Grimsby Town	0–2	Northampton Town	Cleethorpes
15:00 BST			F.Large J.Fairbrother	Stadium: Blundell Park Attendance: 4,760

19 September 1970 (1970-09-19) 7	Northampton Town	1–0	Barrow	Northampton
15:00 BST	G.Felton			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,509

22 September 1970 (1970-09-22) 8	Northampton Town	1–1	Stockport County	Northampton
19:30 BST	J.Fairbrother			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 7,873

25 September 1970 (1970-09-25) 9	Southend United	1–0	Northampton Town	Southend-on-Sea
15:00 BST				Stadium: Roots Hall Attendance: 9,623

3 October 1970 (1970-10-03) 10	Northampton Town	1–0	Brentford	Northampton
15:00 BST	E.Ross			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,282

10 October 1970 (1970-10-10) 11	Workington	2–0	Northampton Town	Workington
15:00 BST				Stadium: Borough Park Attendance: 2,564

17 October 1970 (1970-10-17) 12	Northampton Town	1–0	Newport County	Northampton
15:00 BST	D.McNeil			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,171

20 October 1970 (1970-10-20) 13	Northampton Town	3–1	Chester	Northampton
19:30 BST	K.East F.Large J.Fairbrother			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,152

24 October 1970 (1970-10-24) 14	Darlington	0–0	Northampton Town	Darlington
15:00 BST				Stadium: Feethams Attendance: 2,815

31 October 1970 (1970-10-31) 15	Northampton Town	2–0	Hartlepool United	Northampton
15:00 BST	D.McNeil P.Neal			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,049

7 November 1970 (1970-11-07) 16	Notts County	1–0	Northampton Town	Nottingham
15:00 BST				Stadium: Meadow Lane Attendance: 21,012

10 November 1970 (1970-11-10) 17	Northampton Town	2–0	Peterborough United	Northampton
19:30 BST	D.McNeil			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 8,190

14 November 1970 (1970-11-14) 18	Northampton Town	1–1	Crewe Alexandra	Northampton
15:00 BST	F.Rankmore			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,963

18 November 1970 (1970-11-18) 19	Lincoln City	1–3	Northampton Town	Lincoln
19:30 BST			J.Kiernan D.McNeil F.Large	Stadium: Sincil Bank Attendance: 3,689

28 November 1970 (1970-11-28) 20	Scunthorpe United	2–2	Northampton Town	Scunthorpe
15:00 BST			F.Large	Stadium: Old Show Ground Attendance: 3,463

5 December 1970 (1970-12-05) 21	Northampton Town	1–3	Oldham Athletic	Northampton
15:00 BST	D.McNeil			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,487

12 December 1970 (1970-12-12) 22	Stockport County	1–1	Northampton Town	Stockport
15:00 BST			J.Fairbrother	Stadium: Edgeley Park Attendance: 1,846

19 December 1970 (1970-12-19) 23	Cambridge United	0–2	Northampton Town	Cambridge
15:00 BST			F.Large G.Felton	Stadium: Abbey Stadium Attendance: 4,814

26 December 1970 (1970-12-26) 24	Northampton Town	2–0	Aldershot	Northampton
15:00 BST	K.East G.Felton			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,354

9 January 1971 (1971-01-09) 25	Northampton Town	2–1	Lincoln City	Northampton
15:00 BST	F.Large J.Fairbrother			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,957

16 January 1971 (1971-01-16) 26	Chester City	2–2	Northampton Town	Chester
15:00 BST			D.McNeil J.Fairbrother	Stadium: Sealand Road Attendance: 4,031

23 January 1971 (1971-01-23) 27	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	4–2	Northampton Town	Bournemouth
15:00 BST			D.McNeil F.Large	Stadium: Dean Court Attendance: 8,763

30 January 1971 (1971-01-30) 28	Northampton Town	1–0	Scunthorpe United	Northampton
15:00 BST	F.Large			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 4,607

6 February 1971 (1971-02-06) 29	Oldham Athletic	1–1	Northampton Town	Oldham
15:00 BST			F.Large	Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 12,806

9 February 1971 (1971-02-09) 30	Exeter City	1–1	Northampton Town	Exeter
19:30 BST			J.Fairbrother	Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 5,016

13 February 1971 (1971-02-13) 31	Northampton Town	2–3	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	Northampton
15:00 BST	J.Fairbrother			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 8,854

20 February 1971 (1971-02-20) 32	Peterborough United	1–0	Northampton Town	Peterborough
15:00 BST				Stadium: London Road Attendance: 8,066

27 February 1971 (1971-02-27) 33	Hartlepool United	2–2	Northampton Town	Hartlepool
15:00 BST			J.Fairbrother E.Ross	Stadium: Victoria Park Attendance: 1,288

5 March 1971 (1971-03-05) 34	Northampton Town	2–0	Darlington	Northampton
19:30 BST	K.East F.Large			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,040

13 March 1971 (1971-03-13) 35	Crewe Alexandra	3–0	Northampton Town	Crewe
15:00 BST				Stadium: Gresty Road Attendance: 3,242

16 March 1971 (1971-03-16) 36	Northampton Town	2–2	Exeter City	Northampton
19:30 BST	J.Fairbrother			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,724

20 March 1971 (1971-03-20) 37	Northampton Town	1–1	Notts County	Northampton
15:00 BST	F.Large			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 11,923

27 March 1971 (1971-03-27) 38	York City	4–1	Northampton Town	York
15:00 BST			J.Fairbrother	Stadium: Bootham Crescent Attendance: 7,393

3 April 1971 (1971-04-03) 39	Northampton Town	2–1	Colchester United	Northampton
15:00 BST	D.McNeil 6', 40'	Report	J.Kurila 49'	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 7,909 Referee: Clive Thomas

9 April 1971 (1971-04-09) 40	Brentford	3–0	Northampton Town	Brentford, London
19:30 BST				Stadium: Griffin Park Attendance: 10,058

10 April 1971 (1971-04-10) 41	Aldershot	1–1	Northampton Town	Aldershot
15:00 BST			R.Fairfax	Stadium: Recreation Ground Attendance: 4,461

13 April 1971 (1971-04-13) 42	Northampton Town	0–4	Grimsby Town	Northampton
19:30 BST				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 6,538

17 April 1971 (1971-04-17) 43	Northampton Town	5–0	Workington	Northampton
15:00 BST	D.McNeil F.Large T.Gould J.Fairbrother			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,337

24 April 1971 (1971-04-24) 44	Barrow	2–1	Northampton Town	Barrow-in-Furness
15:00 BST			D.McNeil	Stadium: Holker Street Attendance: 1,466

26 April 1971 (1971-04-26) 45	Southport	2–1	Northampton Town	Southport
15:00 BST			D.McNeil	Stadium: Haig Avenue Attendance: 1,550

1 May 1971 (1971-05-01) 46	Northampton Town	0–2	Southend United	Northampton
15:00 BST				Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,713

FA Cup

21 November 1970 (1970-11-21) First round	Hereford United	2–2	Northampton Town	Hereford
15:00 GMT			D.McNeil J.Fairbrother	Stadium: Edgar Street Attendance: 10,401

24 November 1970 (1970-11-24) First round (r)	Northampton Town	1–2	Hereford United	Northampton
19:30 GMT	F.Rankmore			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 10,641

League Cup

19 August 1970 (1970-08-19) First round	Scunthorpe United	2–3	Northampton Town	Scunthorpe
19:30 BST			E.Brookes K.East J.Fairbrother	Stadium: Old Show Ground Attendance: 4,470

9 September 1970 (1970-09-09) Second round	York City	0–0	Northampton Town	York
19:30 BST				Stadium: Bootham Crescent Attendance: 5,265

15 September 1970 (1970-09-15) Second round (r)	Northampton Town	1–1	York City	Northampton
19:30 BST	E.Brookes			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 7,247

28 September 1970 (1970-09-28) Second round (r2)	Northampton Town	2–1	York City	Birmingham
19:30 BST	K.East J.Fairbrother			Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 2,561

7 October 1970 (1970-10-07) Third round	Northampton Town	1–1	Aston Villa	Northampton
19:30 BST	F.Large			Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 15,072

13 October 1970 (1970-10-13) Third round (r)	Aston Villa	3–0	Northampton Town	Birmingham
19:30 BST				Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 25,822

Appearances and goals

Pos	Player	Division Four			FA Cup			League Cup			Total
Pos	Player	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals	Starts	Sub	Goals
GK	Kim Book	45	–	–	2	–	–	6	–	–	53	–	–
GK	David Hill	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	–
DF	Eric Brookes	38	–	–	2	–	–	6	–	2	46	–	2
DF	John Clarke	42	–	–	2	–	–	6	–	–	50	–	–
DF	Ray Fairfax	34	–	1	2	–	–	5	–	–	41	–	1
DF	Brian Heslop	10	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	10	–	–
DF	Phil Neal	18	–	2	–	–	–	2	–	–	20	–	2
DF	Alan Oman	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	–	–
DF	Frank Rankmore	25	–	3	2	–	1	6	–	–	33	–	4
DF	Neil Townsend	15	–	–	–	–	–	–	1	–	15	1	–
DF	Barry Tucker	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
MF	John Buchanan	2	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	1	–
MF	Graham Felton	26	1	4	–	1	–	3	–	–	29	2	4
MF	Trevor Gould	35	–	1	2	–	–	–	–	–	37	–	1
MF	Peter Hawkins	4	2	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4	2	–
MF	Joe Kiernan	42	1	1	2	–	–	6	–	–	50	1	1
MF	John McGleish	2	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	2	1	–
MF	Dixie McNeil	43	1	13	2	–	1	4	1	–	49	2	14
MF	Eric Ross	15	3	2	2	–	–	4	1	–	21	4	2
FW	Keith East	26	3	7	–	–	–	6	–	2	32	3	9
FW	John Fairbrother	40	2	15	2	–	1	6	–	2	48	2	18
FW	Frank Large	41	–	14	2	–	–	6	–	1	49	–	15

Notes

References

Books

Grande, Frank (1997). Northampton Town F.C.: The Official Centenary History. London: Yore Publications. ISBN 978-1874427674.

[table_note_res_WAC0.044799829854071-1] The two teams who scored the most goals in each division, and did not qualify for Europe and were not promoted, qualified for the Watney Cup.

[a]