'This is a very good football club' - Curle delighted to clinch new deal with Cobblers

Cobblers manager Keith Curle says he's looking forward to the 'challenge' of League One after signing a new two-year deal with the club.

The 56-year-old agreed a new deal following Town's play-off final victory over Exeter City, securing their return to League One.

"We have come a long way together, both on and off the pitch, in a short space of time," said Curle.

"It is very important to me that we have progressed forward and won a promotion while also showing good housekeeping as a club, which is particularly important during the current environment and the new financial landscape that the industry is facing.

"Everything we set out to do together and that was identified to me from the club from day one, we have achieved so far.

"This is a very good football club that has a good structure, a fantastic chairman and board of directors and excellent staff who have a desire to go the extra mile to help and are so keen to see the club succeed. There is a good work ethic and a really strong integrity throughout the club.

"Back in October 2018 we came into an under-performing footballing department that was not proving cost-effective. Any club needs value for money from their footballing department and we have helped achieve that. That has been helped by having everyone on the same page and everyone has bought into our ideas and our philosophies and that is very important."

Until last Monday's play-off final win at Exeter City, Curle had not always had full support from Cobblers fans.

"We have been and remain on a journey," he added. "We have had to work hard to earn the respect of the supporters, I fully understand and appreciate that takes longer with some supporters than others, we are all entitled to our own opinions, but I hope they recognise that we represent their football club with pride, honesty and integrity and we have a desire to do the best we can to make them proud of their club.

"We have had to make and will continue to make difficult decisions, but every decision we make is with the best interests of the club and the individuals concerned at heart.

"We are all really excited about the challenges that we will face in League One. There are some big challenges ahead next season, but we will face them head-on and we will recruit like-minded characters who will face them head-on with us."

Curle also wanted to express his gratitude to those who have helped the Cobblers reach the third tier.

"I need to say a lot of thank yous," he continued. T"hank you to all of the staff who have helped us in any way. I would like to mention the staff at the Hopping Hare in Northampton who looked after some of our players really well during the recent play-offs. They were a huge help to us.

"Thank you too to the groundstaff for their understanding and to both the club's media department and the local media here too. It is important we have the opportunity to communicate with supporters and explain our ethos, our fundamentals and our philosophy. Communication is a big part of this job and their role in helping us with that is very valued.

"I could go on and on with the thank yous, but there are far too many people to mention. To everyone who has helped - you know who you are - thank you.

"This not the end of our journey, far from it. We are not the finished article and there is a long way to go. We are creating a platform and a foundation that will allow us to be competitive in League One and that is our next target.

"To achieve that, we will need everyone, players, staff, supporters and everyone else, to be together and united and if that happens we can continue to move forward together."