Northampton Town historian to publish new book

Who scored 30-odd goals for Barcelona in a season then joined the Cobblers for nothing?

And who was a member of FIFA’s 1970 World Cup committee?

The answers to all these questions and dozens more can be found in the latest project being undertaken by the club’s evergreen historian Frank Grande.

Frank is something of an institution when it comes to the Northampton Town, a matchless curator of history and a man whose knowledge of former Cobblers is rarely surpassed.

He most recently published a who’s who compendium of former Town players on the eve of the 1988-89 campaign and has almost completed an update to incorporate the hundreds of players who have passed through the club since.

It is hoped the book will comprise around 150 pages with photographs and be in paperback format.

As with the 1988 edition, it will include a short biography of every player who has played for the club since 1920 including all their clubs, record at Northampton and achievements and honours.

The planned price of the book is between £12 and £15.

“I was working on the book when my publisher suddenly announced his retirement,” says Frank.

“Not wanting to shelve the work completed I have found another publisher but I want to know what kind of interest there is for such a publication.

“I need to see if there is any interest out there hence I am asking for anyone interested to e-mail me.

“I’m not looking for money at this stage just enough interested people to make the publication viable.

“All I need is a list of names and hopefully the publication date should be around the autumn so would make a good Christmas present.”

Anyone who wishes to register their interest in the book should email Frank at [email protected].