Cobblers set to hit historic milestone in League One fixture against Cambridge United

The fixture will be Northampton’s 5,000th league game across all leagues the club have completed in since 1897/98, including the Northants League, Midland League, Southern League and the Football League/EFL.

The record would actually have been reached a little sooner had seven league games not have been expunged from the records, which included two games v Earls Barton in 1897/98, three in 1939/40 when World War 2 broke out and two v Aldershot in 1991/92 after the Shots were wound up.

Including club reformations and, in the early days, reserve sides, the Cobblers have played upwards of 150 different opponents in league matches, at almost 200 different venues.

The most common opponents have been Gillingham and Swindon Town, whom Cobblers have met 138 times each, followed by Bristol Rovers on 130. There are seven other sides the club have met more than a 100 times: Bristol Rovers, Exeter City, Southend United, Reading, Torquay United, Brighton & Hove Albion and Watford.

Although it is some time now since regional football, such as the Southern League and Division 3 North/South, Town’s most common opponents list is still clearly dominated by the sides they met in that era.

Of the 4,999 league games played, the Cobblers have won 1,913, drew 1,202 and lost 1,884. They have scored 7,294 goals and conceded 7,185. Just dealing with Football League/EFL games, the record breaks down to 1,650 wins, 1,060 draws and 1,657 defeats, with 6,252 goals scored and 6,224 goals conceded.

The club they have beaten most often is Gillingham, emerging victorious against the Kent side 67 times, Exeter City are second in that list (62 wins) with Southend United third on 50. Swindon and Bristol Rovers have both lost to the Cobblers 49 times each, while Brighton & Hove Albion have suffered 46 losses against the Sixfields outfit. Torquay are next with 45, followed by Crystal Palace with 41. NTFC have beaten Newport County 47 times, 39 of those were in their previous existence before they folded in the late 1980s, and eight of those wins have come against the reformed club.

In terms of draws, the spoils have been shared most with Bristol Rovers (36 times) and Exeter City (35). Southend are next with 31, followed by Swindon and Brighton (29 each).

The club have lost most often to Reading (61 times), who are due at Sixfields in three weeks. Swindon are next with 60, followed by Millwall on 49 and Bristol Rovers and Watford, both on 45. Gillingham come next on 44. Cobblers have found the net most often against Exeter City, 237 goals, followed by Gillingham (229).

The most common result has been a 1-1 draw, with 541 such results recorded. Cobblers have won 1-0 on 431 occasions and lost by the same score 409 times.

Going into further detail, an article on the club website continued: “Northampton Town finished 4th in our inaugural season in the Northants League behind Kettering Town Reserves, Rothwell Town Swifts and Wellingborough Town Reserves. Our first league game was a 0-2 defeat at Desborough Town, followed by the first home game a week later against Earls Barton. However that game was later expunged from the records when Earls Barton failed to complete the season.

“The Cobblers have played a league game against all the other 92 current Premier League and EFL clubs apart from Bromley who we have never faced at all in any competition.

“There are six current Premier League teams who we only ever met in a league game during our Division One season of 1965/66. They are Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United. Consequently we can boast a 100% league record against Aston Villa and also having never lost in the league to Arsenal.

“In terms of player records (league games only of course), Tommy Fowler is top with 521 appearances, followed by Ian Sampson with 390 and Sam Hoskins on 366.

“Hoskins is also 5th equal on the league goal scorers list with 85 and top of the list of successful penalty takers in league football for the club with 15.

“The most substitute league appearances is 86 by Derek Asamoah, with Hoskins also 5th on that list with 49 games off the bench.

“In terms of the biggest wins, we have won three games by ten goals, these were on December 30th 1909 with an 11-1 success v Southend United in the Southern League, a 10-0 win against Croydon Common on September 25th 1909 and a 10-0 success v Walsall in the Football League on 5th November 1927. On the other side of the coin, the biggest defeat was an 11-0 loss at Southampton on 28 December 1901. In terms of draws, we have drawn 4-4 six times in league football, the most recent coming at Scunthorpe United on December 13th 2008.”

With thanks to Tim Hickling for his help with the statistical information above.