Former Cobblers player and manager Theo Foley dies, aged 83

The club confirmed on Friday afternoon that the Irishman has passed away, aged 83.

Foley was a Cobblers legend, having been a key player and captain of the team that rose through the divisions and played in the top flight of English football in 1965-66.

It is still the one and only season the club has played at that level, with Foley making 31 appearances as Town finished the campaign in 21st place and were relegated.

He also scored two first division goals. in a 1-1 draw with Leicester City at Filbert Street and in a 2-1 win over a West Ham United side including England captain Bobby Moore at the County Ground.

In all, Foley was with the club for six years and played 220 times for the Cobblers, mainly as a right-back, scoring 11 goals.

A Dubliner, Foley also won nine international caps for the Republic of Ireland and also played for Burnley, Exeter City and Charlton Athletic.

He also returned to manage the club in the summer of 1990, taking over following the departure of one of his 60s Cobblers team-mates, Graham Carr.

In his first season in charge, the team Foley built missed out on promotion due to a late season collapse that saw the Cobblers fail to win any of their last eight games, losing six of them, to miss out on the play-offs by four points

The club then hit financial difficulties, and Foley would lose his job as a cost cutting exercise went the club went into administration in April, 1992.

Away from the Cobblers, Foley also managed Charlton and Millwall, and was assistant manager to George Graham at the Lions and then at Arsenal, where he helped the Gunners to their famous title success at Anfield in May, 1989.

After leaving the Cobblers, Foley took up a coaching role at Fulham before moving on to Tottenham Hotspur, where he again teamed up with old pal Carr, who was chief scout at White Hart Lane.

While at Spurs, Foley also worked with two future Cobblers managers in Colin Calderwood and Justin Edinburgh.

In October 2018, Foley published his autobiography called Theo Give Us A Ball, which he wrote with his son Paul

A Cobblers statement read: "Northampton Town Football Club are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former Cobbler Theo Foley.

"We send our condolences and best wishes to Theo’s Family and friends."