New Cobblers owner João Xavier releases message after win at Grimsby

Xavier and some of his colleagues from Sports Alpha Capital, the consortium that now owns a 70 per cent stake in the club, were in attendance at Blundell Park as Cobblers picked up just their second win of the season thanks to goals from Matty Warhurst and Jon Guthrie.

After the game, Xavier joined the coaches and other club staff on the pitch. He also posted a message on the club’s social media.

“First of all, I want to send a message to the fans,” he said. “You will see much more of me in the bad moments than the good moments. The players and the manager and the supporters deserve the spotlight in the good moments.

“But after our first win since we came in, and our first away win for a long time, I wanted to say a few words. To the players, I’ve been interacting with them on the training ground for almost a week now and I can see we have a very good group of men and a group that cares and a group that respects this club. This is the most important thing. They are also a group with great quality.

“This is why we don’t talk about the table, it doesn’t reflect what we see on the pitch and on the training ground. It’s a great group of guys. Trust us, trust the manager and trust the players and keep pushing us on and great times will come.

“I also appreciate Kelvin (Thomas) because he is part of this and I want to praise him, as well as David (Bower) and Nigel (Le Quesne). We are now a group and we will only go forward.

“Last but not least, I lost a relative two weeks ago and I want to dedicate this win to him. He is part of my family, God bless him, and this is for him and for my mum, who cared a lot about him. Thank you.”