Meet Joseph Mills: Why Forest Green's captain jumped at the chance to join Cobblers

As it turns out, securing promotion back to League One was not the only benefit of Cobblers’ superb play-off success last season.

As one of only a handful of League One and Two teams able to play at the time, and with the games broadcast live on Sky Sports, it was also an opportunity to showcase the club to the world.

The Cobblers could hardly have presented themselves in a better light. Following their magnificent performances and wins against Cheltenham Town and Exeter City, potential new signings, such as Jonathan Mitchell and Christopher Missilou, could not help but be impressed.

And now Joseph Mills, the third and perhaps most impressive arrival of the summer so far, has also cited Town’s play-off exploits as one of the many reasons why he turned down other offers to sign up at the PTS.

“Watching and playing against the team last season, there was a desire, a togetherness and a unity in the squad and that’s something that really attracted me to the club,” said the 30-year-old.

“I spoke to the manager during the off-season and he spoke highly of the infrastructure and the players and the team spirit they had among the squad.

“I watched the play-offs and the character of the players was obvious. To go from losing the first leg to winning and performing in the final, that was testament to the manager and the players.

“You saw the hunger and the desire of them to go and achieve something - I was a bit jealous watching because as a footballer you just want to be on the pitch!”

Mills scored eight and assisted six in 26 games for Forest Green Rovers last season and as an energetic wing-back, he looks tailor-made for Curle’s 3-5-2 system.

“The gaffer mentioned the playing style when I first spoke to him,” he added. “At Forest Green last season I played at left-back, wing-back and on the left of a front three so I can operate all the way up that side of the pitch, especially with the way that Northampton play.

“The wing-backs like to join in and they like to get forward. Obviously you have roles and responsibilities, defensively, but at the same time, if you can get in the final third and deliver and score goals and contribute to the team, that’s what the manager wants.”

Mills started his career with spells at Southampton, Burnley and Reading before moving down under for two years with Australian team Perth Glory in 2016.

Forest Green tempted him back to England in 2018 but despite being offered the chance to stay by manager Mark Cooper, he couldn’t resist jumping up a division.

“I spoke with Forest Green at the end of last season and they put an offer to me,” explained the former England U18 international. “We were in negotiations but it wasn’t really going far and it was my prerogative to see what else was out there in the market.

“As soon as Northampton came in, with the step up and playing in League One, that was my decision. That (promotion to League One) was what I wanted to achieve at Forest Green but unfortunately in my two years there I couldn’t do that so it was a big factor in making the move."

Mills joined his new team-mates in pre-season training for the first time this week.

“It’s been good so far," he continued. "I heard a lot of good things about the lads and the atmosphere here and within the first few days, you get a real feel for that and it’s just one of those where I’m looking forward to playing games, getting back into that competitive environment and getting started.

“We’ll be up against some big teams next season but that’s why you become a footballer – to test yourself against better players in bigger atmospheres.

“That’s all I want to do so it excites me as a player to make that step up this season and I’m really looking forward to getting started.”