Look over the Cobblers' first 125 years in Andy's latest book

The current season is a landmark one for Northampton Town Football Club, as it celebrates 125 years in existence since its formation above the Princess Royal pub on the Wellingborough Road in March, 1897.

To mark the big birthday, former Chronicle & Echo journalist and current chairman of the Nothampton Town Supporters' Trust, Andy Roberts, has put together a new book.

'No Finer Town! The Story of the Cobblers 1897-2022’ is available now in hardback and softback, and is a 'storybook' that details the history of the the club Roberts has supported since he was a young boy.

He says the book 'is not a stats-fest history book', and has 'more of a light touch approach' to the story of the club.

"The storybook has been great fun to put together, charting the club's beginnings through to the present day on a gentle rollercoaster topped off by that incredibly steep rise and fall of the 1960s," said Roberts, who was the Chron's Cobblers writer in the 1990s, covering the two memorable play-off final trips to Wembley in 1997 and 1998. He also released a book about those times called ‘Thanks For The Wembleys’ back in 2005.

"I learned a lot about the early days of Northampton Town in the process, and am grateful to Ethan Grande for material from the early days and also to Pete Norton for some wonderful photos as always.

"The book is not a statistical history, more a light touch season by season chronicle of the club's fortunes and a look at some of the memorable matches from the last 125 years."

A Northampton lad, Roberts has been a Cobblers fan for more than 50 years.

"My first Cobblers match was in March, 1972,” he said. "It was a defeat to Cambridge United at the County Ground with the nomadic Frank Large on the scoresheet.

"I stood on the duckboards with a packet of sports mixtures, which eased the pain.

"I graduated into D stand, the air filled with sweet cigar smoke, then to the exposed Spion Kop for the Bill Dodgin years and eventually, the ultimate rite of passage, to the atmospheric Hotel End in time for the unforgettable Graham Carr era and beyond.

"The club hasn't enjoyed much success since 1972, but indelible memories of the attractive Dodgin and Carr's sides, the gutsy team spirit under Ian Atkins and Chris Wilder, the Wembley appearances, one afternoon in Shrewsbury and one night in Liverpool are deeply rooted."

The book is out now and is available from Amazon or from Andy direct at [email protected]