Cobblers receive EFL Family Excellence Silver Award

Two mystery shopper visits over the season placed the club 9th out of 24 for the family matchday experience in Sky Bet League One in 2024/25 and 30th out of 72 in the entire EFL.

"We are thrilled to be awarded the Silver Family Excellence Award yet again for the family matchday experience we offer," said Chairman Kelvin Thomas.

"That we have been able to once again feature highly in the matchday experience ratings against other clubs in League One while being graded as we were opening the LCS Stand says a lot about the skill, the work and the commitment of the staff and volunteers and how much hard work was undertaken to maintain and improve the experience while also working to open the new stand.

"We work very hard on our matchday experience for all supporters and we are proud of what we offer. In the last few years we have seen the GRS Community Pitch open, the BEES Family Hive and of course the LCS Stand has opened to supporters recently, all of which adds to the Sixfields matchday experience."

The mystery shopper report commented: "The 2024/25 Family Excellence assessments highlight a very good matchday experience at Northampton Town.

"I dealt with Kelly Knowlton who was fantastic, really helpful and a polite, friendly tone over email. Kelly responded straight away to my ticketing query and also organised my First-Time Fan certificate. Really good customer service and the family stand steward was also very good.”

Chief Executive James Whiting added: “Full credit to the full time staff, the part time staff and the volunteers who work so hard to make Sixfields as welcoming as possible to families and first time fans.

“While we believe we offer an excellent matchday experience, to see that opinion validated by the mystery shopper reports is great to see and we will continue to work hard to develop that matchday experience even further in 2025/26.

“Both of the mystery shopper visits this season took place before the LCS Stand had been opened, and now that stand is open, based on the very positive early feedback we have received, we expect to be able to elevate the matchday experience even further for all supporters moving forward.”

The EFL’s Family Excellence Scheme assesses the matchday experience clubs provide for families. Throughout the season, clubs receive two visits from family assessors who evaluate the matchday experience for families from purchasing tickets right through to the moment they leave the stadium.

The family assessors consider the quality of matchday activations and experience, stadium accessibility and facilities, retail and refreshments, and how the club communicates with families.